As a result of the new Sharing Economy Reporting Regime (SERR), Agoda Company Pte Ltd ("Agoda") has a legal obligation to report information about our partners with properties in Australia to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). In this article you’ll find everything you need to know about SERR.
SERR and what it means for you
SERR is a third-party reporting system that requires operators of electronic distribution platforms (EDP) to collect, verify, and report seller transactions to the ATO.
As Agoda operates in Australia and is considered an EDP, we’re obligated to collect, verify, and report tax information about certain qualifying partners that conduct business through our platform, as well as business transactions made via our platform by those partners. The data collected for SERR will be reported to the Australian Taxation Office bi-annually before 31 January and 31 July every year.
Partners included within the scope of SERR
Partners with properties located in Australia or any of its external territories* are within the scope of SERR, irrespective of whether their primary address is within or outside of Australia.
*External territories of Australia:
- Christmas Island
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands
- Norfolk Island
- Heard Island
- McDonald Islands
Updating the SERR Tax Compliance Information Form
All partners with properties located in Australia or one of its external territories and listing on our platform will be requested to complete the Tax Compliance Information form to comply with the SERR reporting requirements. Please ensure that the information is always correct and updated.
How to access the Tax Compliance Information Form:
- Login to Host Manage and click on “Settings”
- Go to “AU Compliance – SERR” and fill in the necessary information on Tax Compliance page
Key Information
In the Tax Compliance Information Form, you will need to indicate your business type/structure with the following criteria in mind:
- Individual: a natural person conducting business through our platform and considered
a business by Agoda from a tax perspective - Business entity: a legal entity or arrangement. For example, a corporation, partnership, trust or foundation
You will also provide personal/business details, address, and other individual/business tax details. You will need the following:
- If you are registered in Australia, add your Australian Business Number (ABN)
- If you are registered as a business outside of Australia, add your business registration number and/or TIN from the country of your business establishment and provide other required details
The SERR implementation guideline also requires other mandatory information such as the “Financial Account Reference.”
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This Financial Account Reference, as defined in the guideline, refers to the account number to which the payment was made, or the most recent bank account used on the seller’s (partner) record. This will be either your bank account number, International Account Identifier, or Online Account Identifier.
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When payments are made to more than one account within a reporting period, this reference indicates which bank account was most recently used.
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Regardless of the method by which you receive payments from Agoda, you are required to provide the Financial Account Reference mentioned above.
For more information on mandatory information/fields you are required to provide, you may refer to the full text of the SERR Implementation Guide which the ATO regularly updates here: https://softwaredevelopers.ato.gov.au/sharingeconomytaxablepaymentsspecification
We will send regular reminders for partners to complete the form and provide the required details.
Once you’ve submitted your Tax Compliance Information form (the "Form"), we will validate certain data points per the guidance of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Please note that the data you provide in this Form will be used only for Australia's Sharing Economy Reporting Regime ("SERR") reporting purposes. Any similar information that you may have or will provide to Agoda through any channels will not be automatically updated by the information collected through this Form. Conversely, the information that you may have or will provide to Agoda through any channels will not be reflected in this Form.
Please note that data about you will be submitted to the ATO and in case the data is not complete or incorrect, this might result in an audit or further requests from the ATO to you.
How would my data be processed?
For more info on how we process your personal data, please read our privacy notices at Agoda NHA Host Privacy Policy