SERR report common mistakes

Whether you are using an intermediary (for example, a software provider, data manager, agent or parent company acting on behalf of an EDP) or you are preparing your report yourself, avoiding these common mistakes when preparing your SERR report will help you get it right the first time.

If you make a mistake in your report, it may be rejected by our system and will not be recorded as lodged.

Gross income

You need to report the gross amount of income. Gross income is the sum of all income for an activity. This amount is the total of payments for bookings or services minus refunds that may have been made for cancelled bookings or services. This is the total amount of payments to the seller for the reporting period including GST and fees and commissions.

Non-allowed characters

Non-English characters need to be converted to English characters allowed by the schema, which are ([0-9a-zA-Z \.,\?\(\)\{\}:;'\|\-_=\\/@#$%\*=&"])*.

For conversion rules you can use for some characters, see our Non-ASCII character translation conversion listExternal Link.

Note the page says a character conversion process can be done by the ATO after the file is lodged, but this does not work with the SERR.

For characters we do not have any conversion rules for (including Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters) you can use any reliable conversion method. For example, the Chinese name 王 can be written in English as either Wang or Wong. Either of these would be acceptable, as long as the characters do not use tones or accents.

For names like O`Loughlin, the grave (`) can be converted to an apostrophe (').

Number of activities

The 'number of activities' is counted based on the number of payments or invoices issued to the developer by the platform. For example, if an EDP makes one payment a month for all of the developer’s transactions, we will report the number of activities' as one in relation to that month.

Titles in seller name

Titles and suffixes (for example, MR, MRS, ESQ, JNR and so forth) should be removed from the individual name fields.

If you have a name with 'Exec for', 'Rep for' or 'Trustee for', there are 2 options available:

• for an individual name, such as 'Exec for John Smith', you can remove 'Exec for'
• for a name such as 'The Trustee for Smith Family Trust', you can record them as a non-individual seller instead.

Timestamp

The file creation timestamp must fit a specific format or the file will be rejected, which will require you to amend the timestamp and lodge again.

The following ISO 8601 UTC formats are accepted:

• 2024-03-20T14:32:23.66Z
• 2024-03-20T14:32:23.66+00:00
• 2024-03-20T14:32:23.66+0000
• 2024-03-20T14:32:23.66+00.

Duplicate document reference ID

Document reference identifiers must be unique across all space and time, and only used once. They must not be the same as each other within a report and must never be repeated in any new reports. SERR reference identifiers are:

• SETP1 Message Reference Identifier
• SETP30 Reporter Platform Document Reference Identifier
• SETPP1 Document Reference Identifier.

The format must start with the receiving country code (Australia is AU and the ATO is the receiver), followed by reporting calendar year, then the reporting company/platform identifier (ABN or ARN), before a unique identifier.

{Receiving country}{Report calendar year}{Reporting Platform ABN/ARN}{unique identifier}

Example: AU202396153841493d120c3cb-b006-4960-b125-e0ea361a0002

Bulk Business Document Message (BBDM) wrapper header not present or incorrect

All SERR reports that are lodged to the ATO must contain Bulk Business Document Message (BBDM) wrapper header information in order to be received via File transfer in ATO online services.

If the BBDM wrapper header is not present or incorrect, you will receive the error ‘the version of this file type cannot be sent by this channel’ in the validation report received via the File transfer test facility or through File transfer in ATO online services.

Details and guidance on the implementation of the BBDM header and solutions to common errors can be found on the Bulk Data Exchange common information artefactsExternal Link page.

If issues persist relating specifically to the BBDM Wrapper, you can contact the Bulk Data Exchange support team by emailing ATOBulkDataTransfer@ato.gov.au.

Which period to report a transaction in

The period you need to report a transaction in depends on when you pay the supplier. You report the transaction in the reporting period in which payment for the supply is made. This is important where the making of the agreement for the supply, supply and payment by the operator of the EDP to the supplier occur in different reporting periods. Where this occurs, the operator of an EDP must report the transaction in the period when it pays the supplier, not the reporting period when the agreement or delivery of the supply occurs.

If part of a supply occurs before the first reporting period

The SERR started on 1 July 2023 for taxi travel, ride-sourcing and short-term accommodation. The SERR started for other industries and reportable transactions on 1 July 2024.

The supply of taxi travel, ride-sourcing or short-term accommodation made through an EDP must be reported (unless an exemption applies) if:

• the booking, the supply and payment by the operator of the EDP to the supplier all occur on or after 1 July 2023
• the booking is made prior to 1 July 2023, however the supply and payment by the operator of the EDP to the supplier occur on or after 1 July 2023
• the booking and the supply occur before 1 July 2023 but the payment by the operator of the EDP to the supplier is made on or after 1 July 2023.

For other industries and types of supply covered by the SERR, these will be reportable under the SERR if:

• the booking, the supply and payment by the operator of the EDP to the supplier all occur on or after 1 July 2024
• the booking is made prior to 1 July 2024, however the supply and payment by the operator of the EDP to the supplier are made on or after 1 July 2024
• the booking and the supply are made before 1 July 2024 and payment by the operator of the EDP to the supplier is made on or after 1 July 2024.