Latest News
Jobkeeper 2.0 – Tweaks To The ‘Decline In Turnover’ Tests
| | | On 21 July 2020, the Government announced that the JobKeeper Payment (‘JKP’) would be extended until 28 March 2021 (i.e., for a further six months beyond its original end date of 27 September 2020). As a result, JKPs will now be made over two separate extension periods, being: Extension period 1 […]
Superannuation Guarantee Rate Increase Update
| | | Recently, arguments both for and against increasing the rate of compulsory superannuation guarantee (‘SG’) have continued to be tossed around! The SG is the compulsory amount of superannuation an employer must pay into an eligible employee’s chosen super fund. The rate of SG has been frozen at 9.5% of an employee’s […]
Superannuation Guarantee Amnesty Ends 7 September 2020
| | | Speaking of the superannuation guarantee, time is rapidly running out for employers to apply for the SG amnesty and catch up on past unpaid super without incurring a penalty. The ATO encourages employers to apply for the amnesty and make payments as early as they can. Importantly, eligible amnesty amounts paid […]
Extension of the JobKeeper Payment
| | | Sadly, many Australian businesses are a long way from trending back to ‘normal’ as we approach 27 September 2020, the original date that JobKeeper was set to end. Thankfully the government has announced an extension of the JobKeeper Payment, with additional turnover qualifications. The JobKeeper Payment, which was originally due to […]
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 […]
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 […]