Latest News
80 Cents Per Hour ‘Shortcut’ Method For Home Expenses Has Been Extended
| | | Back in April 2020 the ATO announced that a ‘shortcut’ method was to be made available to use from 1 March 2020 until 30 June 2020 for individuals claiming home office expenses due to COVID-19. The ATO has recently announced an extension of this shortcut method to also include 1 July […]
COVID-19 and Division 7A Relief
| | | The ATO has announced some limited relief for private companies that have loans to their shareholders or related parties that are governed by what are referred to as “complying loan agreements”. A complying loan agreement is entered into to avoid triggering an assessable deemed dividend that could potentially be equal to […]
Regulations Confirm No SG Obligation On Jobkeeper Payments Where Work Is Not Performed
| | | The federal government has registered the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Amendment (Jobkeeper) Payment Regulations 2020. These regulations ensure that amounts of salary or wages that do not relate to the performance of work and are only paid to an employee to satisfy the wage condition for getting the JobKeeper payment are prescribed […]
Treasury Laws Amendment – Testamentary Trust Distribution To Minors
| | | Treasury Laws Amendment (2019 Measures No 3) Bill 2019 has passed both Houses of Parliament and is now law. Testamentary Trusts and Minors This legislation contains amendments to ensure the tax concessions available to minors in relation to income from a testamentary trust only apply in respect of income generated from […]
Treasury Laws Amendment – Extending The Instant Asset Write-Off
| | | Treasury Laws Amendment (2020 Measures No 3) Bill 2020 has passed both Houses of Parliament and is now law. Extending the Instant Asset Write-Off This legislation amends the income tax law to allow a business with an aggregated turnover for the income year of less than $500 million to immediately deduct […]
COVID-19 And Tax Depreciation Reports – Are Physical Inspections Necessary?
Property investors and businesses will often engage a specialist quantity surveyor to prepare a tax report on capital works and depreciation deductions available to them under the tax law in respect of their income-producing properties – for example, a rental property, office building or factory. A thorough physical inspection of the property by a quantity […]
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 […]
Travel between home and work and between workplaces
While trips between home and work are generally considered private travel, you can claim deductions in some circumstances, as well as for some travel between two workplaces. If your travel was partly private and partly for work, you can only claim for the part related to your work. What you can claim You can […]
Gifts and donations
You can only claim a tax deduction for gifts or donations to organisations that have the status of deductible gift recipients (DGRs). Deductions for gifts are claimed by the person that makes the gift (the donor). For you to claim a tax deduction for a gift, it must meet four conditions: The gift […]
Capital gains tax checklist
The following questions will help you to identify possible capital gains tax (CGT) obligations. If you answer ‘yes’ to any of these questions, CGT may apply. Some questions are intended to highlight the possibility of a capital gain or loss arising in the current year, others to alert you to the possibility of a […]
Tax on Super Contributions
The tax you pay on your super contributions generally depends on whether the contributions were made before or after you paid income tax, you exceed the super contributions cap or you are a very high-income earner. Before-tax super contributions The super contributions you make before tax (concessional) are taxed at 15%. Types of before-tax contributions […]
Zone Tax Offset – exclude ‘fly-in-fly-out’
In the 2015–16 Federal Budget, the government announced that it will exclude ‘fly-in-fly-out’ and ‘drive-in-drive-out’ (FIFO) workers from the Zone Tax Offset where their normal residence is not within a ‘zone’. Currently, to be eligible for the Zone Tax Offset, a taxpayer must reside or work in a specified remote area for more than 183 […]