Latest News
ATO security safeguards for victims of fraud recently enhanced
Where a taxpayer has been the victim of identity, tax or super fraud, the ATO may apply security safeguards to their account to prevent further harm. This may require the impacted taxpayer to contact the ATO each time they need to access their information and cause inconvenience for the taxpayer as well as their tax […]
myGovId changing its name to myID
The digital identity app ‘myGovID’ will soon be changing its name to ‘myID‘. While the name is changing, the login and security will not change. Taxpayers who have already set up their myGovID and use it to access government online services will not need to do anything when the app changes to myID. They will […]
Reminder of September Quarter Superannuation Guarantee (‘SG’)
Employers are reminded that employee super contributions for the 1 July 2024 to 30 September 2024 quarter must be received by the relevant super funds by 28 October 2024 in order to avoid being liable to pay the SG charge.
Avoid a tax time shock
Individual taxpayers can take the following steps right now to ensure the correct amount of tax is being put aside throughout the year: let their employer know if they have a study or training support loan, such as a HECS or HELP debt; check they are only claiming the tax-free threshold from one employer; consider […]
Penalties imposed on taxpayer who falsely amended tax returns
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (‘AAT‘) recently affirmed the ATO’s decision to impose shortfall penalties on a taxpayer who had lodged false amended income tax returns. The taxpayer had lodged income tax returns for the 2020 and 2021 income years through her tax agent. The taxpayer subsequently lodged amended returns to claim deductions regarding a non-existent […]
Tax incentives for early stage investors
The ATO is reminding investors who purchased new shares in a qualifying ‘early stage innovation company’ (‘ESIC’) that they may be eligible for tax incentives. These tax incentives provide eligible investors who purchase new shares in an ESIC with: a non-refundable carry forward tax offset equal to 20% of the amount paid for their eligible […]
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 […]