Independent Contract Agreements are simply agreements between a business and its Independent Contractors which are usually 12-month agreements signed annually.

Basically, any industry that engages Independent Contractors but predominantly,

 Commercial Cleaning Industry,

Courier and Transport industry,

IT Services,

and the Security Industry.

The main reason for using Independent Contractor Agreements is to formalise the relationship between your business and your Independent Contractors which is designed to negate any potential liability.

Generally, you can use the one Independent Contractor Agreement for all your Independent Contractors. In most cases, the description of services being supplied which is incorporated into each Subcontract Agreement is where each Subcontract Agreement will differ.  

A Taxable Payment Annual Report is a report required by legislation that needs to be submitted to the Australian Taxation Office by all businesses who engage Independent Contractors by the 28^TH of August each year.

Taxable Payments Annual Reports are used by the Australian Taxation Office to identify undeclared income by comparing submitted Taxable Payments Annual Reports against a business’s reported income.

There is approximately $172 000 000 000 in unreported income which is being identified by the Australian Taxation Office each year. It doesn’t take much to imagine a Subcontractor who has been caught by the ATO using the words, “I thought I was an Employee” or “well I was wondering about that, I don’t think I can be classed as an Independent Contractor”.

Who do you think will be the ATO’s next phone call?

Standard Independent Contractor Agreements are normally for a 12-month duration which of course are resigned every 12 months.  

The ATO Media Release can be located here –

https://www.ato.gov.au/Contractors-reminded-to-declare-$172-billion-of-income/

The ATO Media Release can be located here –

https://www.ato.gov.au/general/gen/making-a-tip-off/