Latest News
What’s New For Taxpayers
Before you complete your tax return for 2015, there are some changes you should be aware of in case they affect you. Mature age worker tax offset You can no longer claim the Mature age worker tax offset (MAWTO) in your tax return. Previously, to be eligible for the offset you needed to be an […]
Private Health Insurance Rebate and Medicare Levy Surcharge
If you have private health insurance cover, you may be eligible for the private health insurance (PHI) rebate. Most people claim the rebate as a reduction in the amount of premiums they pay to their insurer. The rebate is income tested, which means that if you have a higher income, your rebate entitlement may be […]
Records you need to keep
During the financial year you’ll receive documents that are important for doing your tax, such as payment summaries, receipts, invoices and contracts. Generally, you need to keep these for 5 years from when you lodge your tax return in case we ask you to substantiate your claims. Records you need to keep include: Payment summaries […]
What is Income For Tax Purposes
You pay income tax on assessable income you receive, such as salary and wages, most Centrelink payments, investment income from rent, bank interest or dividends, business income; and capital gains from selling assets like shares or property. Employment income You must show all employment income, payments and benefits on your tax return, including salary and […]
Identity theft crime & protecting your personal information
Identity theft crime happens when someone uses a stolen, manipulated, or assumed identity to commit fraud or other crimes. It can involve creating a new identity, false identity, or using stolen information to impersonate someone else. Identity Theft Crime and You Criminals can start using your identity with some basic details, such as your name, […]
What Is The Medicare Levy Surcharge
What is the Medicare levy surcharge and what is it for? The Medicare levy surcharge (MLS) is designed to reduce the demand on the public Medicare system. You will be required to pay the MLS if your income for MLS purposes is above the base income threshold and you or your family do not have […]
Work-related expense claims rejected by Administrative Review Tribunal (‘ART’)
The Administrative Review Tribunal (‘ART’) recently disallowed a taxpayer’s claims for many different types of work-related expenses. The taxpayer was employed full-time as an engineer, working from home two days a week. For the 2023 income year, he claimed deductions totalling over $61,000, in relation to (among other things) car expenses, travel expenses, clothing expenses, […]
Check GST credit claims before lodging BASs
Taxpayers who are registered for GST can get GST credit claims (or ‘input tax credits’) for the GST included in the price of goods and services they buy for their business. However, if they buy something for both business and private use, they need to apportion their GST credit to only claim the business use. […]
Government payments programs
The ATO is reminding taxpayers that receive government payments for delivering services under a Commonwealth program, such as healthcare, disability support or child care, that they have an obligation to: keep accurate records; and report any such income they receive in their tax return. The ATO recently advised that it would be contacting taxpayers and […]
Contractors omitting income
Through data matching, the ATO is seeing some contractors incorrectly reporting or contractors omitting income. Contractors need to report all their income in their tax return, including payments made by businesses for their contracting work. Note that, as part of the taxable payments reporting system (‘TPRS’), certain businesses must lodge a ‘Taxable payments annual report’ […]
Businesses using cash to dodge obligations
The ATO is ‘cracking down’ on businesses that use cash to dodge obligations on their tax, employer and business. Businesses that do this may: – fail to report all sales transactions and fail to issue receipts; – avoid paying GST, income tax, PAYG withholding, super guarantee, insurance and work cover protection; – report their income […]
$20,000 instant asset write-off extended
Editor: The Government recently passed legislation to extend the $20,000 instant asset write-off for small businesses by 12 months to 30 June 2026. Taxpayers should note that if their business has an aggregated annual turnover of less than $10 million, they may be able touse the instant asset write-off (‘IAWO’) to immediately deduct the business […]