Latest News
Taxpayer’s claim for home office and car expenses successful
The Administrative Review Tribunal (‘ART’) recently held that a taxpayer was entitled to claim deductions for home office and car expenses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The taxpayer was employed full time by the ABC producing the ABC Sport Digital Radio station (‘Digital Role’) and producing ABC live sports broadcasts, mainly NRL football (‘Live Role’). […]
Beware of tax advice from ‘finfluencers’
The Tax Practitioners Board (‘TPB’) warns that the number of ‘finfluencers’ is on the rise. These are influencers who offer financial advice, including tax advice, on various social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Unfortunately, they do not always have the necessary qualifications to give out this advice or provide all the information taxpayers […]
TBAR for June quarter due 28 July
All SMSFs must report relevant transfer balance account (‘TBA’) events using transfer balance account reporting (‘TBAR’). All events must be reported regardless of the member’s total superannuation balance. Editor: TBA events include starting or commuting a retirement phase pension. TBARs for the June quarter are due by 28 July 2025. If no TBA event occurred […]
Notice of data exchange for skilled visa program compliance
The Department of Home Affairs will obtain data from the ATO to identify whether business sponsors are complying with their sponsorship obligations (e.g., paying visa holders correctly) and whether temporary skilled visa holders are complying with their visa conditions (e.g., to work only for an approved employer). The Department will provide to the ATO biographical […]
Taking Charge of Upcoming Employer Obligations
As the end of the financial year has just past, the ATO is reminding employers that they should check what they need to do and take note of the following upcoming key dates. Pay as you go (‘PAYG’) withholding — From 1 July 2025, some withholding schedules and tax tables will be updated (but not […]
Reminder of June 2025 Quarter Superannuation Guarantee (‘SG’)
Employers are reminded that employee super contributions for the quarter ending 30 June 2025 must be received by the relevant super funds by Monday, 28 July 2025. If the correct amount of SG is not paid by an employer on time, they will be liable to pay the SG charge, which includes a penalty and […]
SMSF stats just keep getting better
The ATO has recently released the latest of what has become a regular update on the state of the SMSF market. The Self-managed super fund statistical report, with the latest covering the quarter to March this year, has become an anticipated overview for many in the SMSF arena — containing as it usually does some […]
Tax Deductions Specifically for SMSFs
One overarching fundamental that SMSF trustees should ideally keep in mind is the sole purpose test – that is, every decision made and action taken is required to be seen as being undertaken for the sole purpose of providing retirement benefits for the fund’s members. lf an SMSF trustee incurs an expense in the usual operation […]
The Transitional CGT Relief Measure and Your SMSF
Transitional capital gains tax (CGT) relief is temporary relief available to all complying superannuation funds, not just SMSFs, for certain CGT assets that would otherwise give rise to a taxable capital gain through the necessary efforts to comply with the new transfer balance cap and new conditions to be applied to transition to retirement income […]
SMSFs And The In-House Asset Rules Explained
A not-uncommon conundrum for many SMSF trustees is what to do when the fund is found to have breached the in-house asset rules. There are also some common misconceptions about these regulations that keep resurfacing. WHAT DOES THE ATO SAY IN RELATION TO THE IN-HOUSE ASSET RULES? Recent ATO statistics on the SMSF sector show […]
Is the Peer-to-Peer Lending Investment Option Right for Your SMSF?
One investment option that has surfaced relatively recently, and that SMSF trustees may consider as a part of their strategy to grow their fund, is investing through peer-to-peer lending. Peer-to-peer lending involves an investor – a trustee of the SMSF in this example – providing funds to an online lending platform. This platform, which must have an […]
SMSFs need to prepare for the new transfer balance cap
Recent legislation introduced several superannuation rule changes. Among them is a new “transfer balance account”, which each recipient of a superannuation pension will be required to have. In other words, individuals receiving superannuation income stream benefits will need to keep such a transfer balance account. The use of “accounts” for tax law purposes is not new. […]