Australian Business Number
Encyclopedia
The Australian Business Number, or ABN, is a unique identifier issued by the Australian Business Register (ABR) which is operated by the Australian Taxation Office
(ATO). The ABN is a component of the reform known as A New Tax System introduced by John Howard
's Liberal
government on 1 July 2000.
For an entity to be entitled to an ABN, it must be:
Whether or not an entity is carrying on an enterprise is a question of fact and there are many circumstances where an entity will be carrying on an enterprise. Without being exhaustive, an entity will be carrying on an enterprise if:
The Registrar of the ABR can refuse an entity's application to be registered. Equally, the Registrar can cancel an entity's registration and thus their ABN. Both of these decisions are reviewable taxation decisions
.
. Unlike with the Tax File Number
(TFN), the ATO has publicised the formula for checking and creating valid ABN checksums. Also, the nature of the ABN algorithm means that any 9 digit number can be made into a valid ABN.
In the case of companies, the ATO determines the ABN by using the company's Australian Company Number
(ACN) to which is prefixed the two-digit checksum.
Australian Taxation Office
The Australian Taxation Office is an Australian Government statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for the Australian Government. The ATO has responsibility for administering the Australian federal taxation system and superannuation legislation...
(ATO). The ABN is a component of the reform known as A New Tax System introduced by John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
's Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
government on 1 July 2000.
Australian Business Register
The Australian Business Register (ABR) is maintained by the Registrar of the ABR, who is also the Commissioner of Taxation. The Registrar registers entities and, in doing so, issues them with an ABN.Entitlement to an ABN
The Registrar issues ABNs only to entities who are entitled to an ABN. Entities do not have to be individuals (natural persons) or companies (legal persons). An entity can be:- an individual; or
- a body corporate; or
- a corporation sole; or
- a body politic; or
- a partnership; or
- any other unincorporated association or body of persons; or
- a trust; or
- a superannuation fund.
For an entity to be entitled to an ABN, it must be:
- carrying on an enterprise in Australia; or
- carrying on an enterprise that makes supplies connected with Australia; or
- a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
Whether or not an entity is carrying on an enterprise is a question of fact and there are many circumstances where an entity will be carrying on an enterprise. Without being exhaustive, an entity will be carrying on an enterprise if:
- it is in the form of a business; or
- it leases property; or
- it is a religious institution; or
- it is a superannuation fund; or
- it is an arm of the government; or
- it is a charity.
The Registrar of the ABR can refuse an entity's application to be registered. Equally, the Registrar can cancel an entity's registration and thus their ABN. Both of these decisions are reviewable taxation decisions
Reviewable taxation decisions
The decisions of by Australia's Commissioner of Taxation broadly fall into two categories: reviewable and non-reviewable. Reviewable decisions may be objected against first through an administrative process.-Process:...
.
Format of the ABN
The ABN is an eleven digit number where the first two digits are a checksumChecksum
A checksum or hash sum is a fixed-size datum computed from an arbitrary block of digital data for the purpose of detecting accidental errors that may have been introduced during its transmission or storage. The integrity of the data can be checked at any later time by recomputing the checksum and...
. Unlike with the Tax File Number
Tax File Number
Tax File Number is an 8 or 9 digit number issued by the Australian Taxation Office to each taxpayer to identify that taxpayer's Australian tax dealings. When it was introduced in 1988, individuals received a 9 digit TFN and non-individuals were issued an 8 digit TFN. Now both are issued 9 digit...
(TFN), the ATO has publicised the formula for checking and creating valid ABN checksums. Also, the nature of the ABN algorithm means that any 9 digit number can be made into a valid ABN.
In the case of companies, the ATO determines the ABN by using the company's Australian Company Number
Australian Company Number
An Australian Company Number is a unique nine-digit number issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to every company registered under the Commonwealth Corporations Act 2001 as an identifier. The number is usually printed in three groups of three digits. It must be quoted...
(ACN) to which is prefixed the two-digit checksum.