Latest News
Hybrid vehicles and FBT changes
Employers that provide plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (‘PHEVs’) to employees (or associates) for personal use should remember the following. Home-charging expenses — new shortcut method The ATO has updated its guidelines to include a new method to make it easier to calculate PHEV electricity costs when a vehicle is charged at an employee’s home. To […]
When a hobby becomes a business
Taxpayers may not think they are running a business from their hobby or ‘side hustle’ activities. However, if they start to earn money from doing these activities regularly, they may be carrying on a business without realising it. Generally, carrying on a business involves ongoing and repeated activities with the intention of making a profit. […]
Know when a new logbook is required
Editor: Keeping a car logbook may be required to accurately calculate the business-use percentage of vehicle expenses (e.g., fuel, registration, insurance and depreciation) for tax deductions. Taxpayers can keep the same logbook for their car for five years, but there are circumstances where they may need a new one during that period. Relying on a […]
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 […]
Super comparison tool updated
The YourSuper comparison tool helps individuals compare MySuper products and choose a super fund that meets their needs. It ranks the performance of these products by fees and net returns. Each year, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (‘APRA’) assesses the performance of each MySuper product, and this information is displayed in the comparison tool. Updated […]
ATO reminder about appointing an SMSF auditor
The ATO is reminding trustees of self-managed super funds (‘SMSFs’) that they need to appoint an approved SMSF auditor no later than 45 days before the lodgment of their fund’s SMSF annual return (for example, for the 2022 income year). In particular, the ATO says: “Don’t risk approaching an auditor the day before you need […]
More COVID-19 business grants are now tax-free
The Federal Government has expanded the list of State and Territory COVID-19 grant programs that may be tax-free to eligible businesses. A State or Territory Government COVID-19 grant payment will generally be tax-free if: the payment is received under a grant program that is formally declared to be an eligible program; the recipient carried on […]
Tax Time Focus On Rental Property Income And Deductions
The ATO is focusing on four major concerns this tax season when it comes to rental properties. Concern 1: Include all rental income When preparing tax returns, make sure all rental income is included, such as from short-term rental arrangements, renting part of a home, and other rental-related income like insurance payouts and rental bond […]
Sessional Lecturer Entitled To Superannuation Support
The Federal Court has agreed with the ATO that a lecturer providing services to a higher education provider was a common law employee and therefore entitled to superannuation support, despite being engaged as an independent contractor. The ATO reviewed the situation and concluded that the lecturer was entitled to receive superannuation support. This was on […]
Discretionary Trusts And Corporate Beneficiaries
When a trustee of a trust makes a decision to create an entitlement to income of the trust in favour of a corporate beneficiary (i.e., a privately held company), certain steps need to be taken to ensure that if the entitlement to the distribution remains unpaid (that is, no cash equal to the amount of […]