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2 Minute Quiz – Business Deductions
How well do you know your business deductions? Try these questions to find out! Answers at the bottom of this post. (No peeking!) Question 1 A company’s financial accounts show the following information in relation to its bad debts and doubtful debts for the year: Closing balance for doubtful debts from the previous year: $172,000 […]
Superannuation Work Test Contributions For Over 65s
Whether or not the trustee of a complying superannuation fund can accept member contributions for those aged between 65 and 75 depends on the member satisfying a “work test”. The work test requires a member to have been gainfully employed for at least 40 hours in a period of not more than 30 consecutive days […]
Federal Budget 2018 – 2019
Federal Budget Summary The item that may receive the most analysis from the whole of this year’s federal budget will be the incnrease of the 32.5% tax bracket, and an expansion of the Low Income Tax Offset. A win for small businesses in this year’s budget sees the retention of the $2o,000 instant asset write-off […]
Interest Deductibility After Income-Producing Activity Ceases
An issue that sometimes arises for business owners is whether interest expenses incurred on borrowed funds used in a business remain deductible after the business’s income earning activities have ceased. As a general rule, in order for interest expenses to be deductible in the relevant income year, a taxpayer is generally required to demonstrate that […]
Franchise Businesses and Tax
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the government body responsible for enforcing the Franchising Code of Conduct, and if you or someone you know are considering a franchise business Australia, this will probably be a good starting point to get an idea of what to expect. The code imposes strict obligations on franchisors […]
Dealing With Tax and Renting Via Airbnb
Airbnb is one of many examples of the “sharing economy” — connecting buyers (users) and sellers (providers) through a facilitator that usually operates an app or a website. Airbnb acts as this facilitator by allowing individuals, referred to as “hosts”, to rent out a room of their house or their whole house for a short-time […]
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 […]