Latest News
Is Your Business Prepared For Single Touch Payroll?
What is Single Touch Payroll? Single Touch Payroll is a government initiative to streamline business reporting obligations, which is due to become compulsory from 1 July 2018. When a business pays its employees, the payroll information will be sent to the ATO via the business’s payroll software. Reporting under the Single Touch Payroll (STP) system […]
Third Party Fringe Benefits Tax Danger
Where some businesses have tripped up in the past is where the source of benefits provided is not clear cut — that is, where non-cash components of remuneration are sourced not directly from an employer, but from an associate, a related company or from a third-party provider. For fringe benefits tax (FBT) to apply, the […]
ATO Spells Out its Big FBT Concerns
March 31 and the end of the FBT year is around the corner, so to help taxpayers get things right, the ATO has made public the fringe benefits tax issues that attract its attention. Broadly (not just in relation to FBT), the ATO says the following behaviours and characteristics tend to raise a red flag: […]
Can a SMSF Invest in Property Development?
The ATO has been sending some mixed messages about property development involving an SMSF, and has indicated that it is one of the issues on its radar for 2018. So is property development an allowable investment for an SMSF? The short answer yes, but be careful. A longer answer is be very careful — it […]
Expanding the Empire and Retaining the CGT Main Residence Exemption
A question that surfaces now and then in regard to capital gains is whether the main residence exemption extends to additional land acquired after the time of acquisition of the residence. The short answer is yes — provided that certain requirements are met. It should also be noted that where the exemption applies upon satisfaction […]
When Refinancing, Loan Interest Can be Deductible to a Partnership
A general law partnership is formed when two or more people (and up to, but no more than, 20 people) go into business together. Partnerships are generally set up so that all partners are equally responsible for the management of the business, but each also has liability for the debts that business may incur. As […]
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 […]