Latest News
PAYGW reminders for activity statement lodgments
The ATO will be sending certain employers a reminder to lodge their activity statements. The reminder will include the amounts the ATO has on record for them, such as: PAYG withheld amounts reported through Single Touch Payroll; and any other pre-filled amounts, including GST instalments and PAYG instalments (instalment amount option). The ATO’s reminders are […]
ATO AFCX data-matching program
The ATO will acquire relevant account and transaction data (data-matching) from the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange (‘AFCX’) for the 2025 to 2027 income years, including the following: Client identification details (names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, identity verification document details, IP addresses, etc); and Bank account transaction details (bank account details, transaction date and […]
Small Business Superannuation Clearing House is closing
The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (‘SBSCH’) will close on 1 July 2026. Editor: The SBSCH is a free online service provided by the Australian Government through the ATO. The SBSCH can be used by employers to pay superannuation for all their employees through a single payment. The SBSCH will then distribute the money to […]
Getting the main residence exemption right
The ATO has the following tips for taxpayers in relation to the CGT main residence exemption. They should consider if they have bought or disposed of property in the past income year. If they have sold property, were they using it solely as their primary place of residence, earning income from it (rental or business), […]
Bill to reduce student debt now law
Legislation has recently been enacted which delivers on the 2025/26 Federal Budget announcement to reduce student debts. Pursuant to this legislation: there is a one-off 20% reduction to Higher Education Loan Program debts and other student loans that were incurred on or before 1 June 2025; the minimum repayment threshold is increased from $54,435 in […]
ATO to include tax ‘debts on hold’ in taxpayer account balances
From August 2025, the ATO is progressively including ‘debts on hold’ in relevant taxpayer ATO account balances. Editor: A ‘debt on hold’ is an outstanding tax debt where the ATO has previously paused debt collection actions. Tax debts will generally be placed on hold where the ATO decides it is not cost effective to collect […]
Appointing an SMSF Auditor
The ATO reminds SMSF trustees that they need to appoint an approved SMSF auditor for each income year, no later than 45 days before they need to lodge their SMSF annual return. An SMSF’s audit must be finalised before the trustees lodge their SMSF annual return, as the trustees will need some information from the […]
ATO gives ‘green light’ to lodge
The ATO is giving taxpayers with simple affairs the ‘green light’ to lodge their annual income tax returns. ATO Assistant Commissioner Tim Loh said that most taxpayers with simple affairs will find the information they need to lodge has now been pre-filled in their tax return. Mr Loh also reminded taxpayers that some income may […]
Different meanings of ‘dependant’ for superannuation and tax purposes
On a person’s death, their superannuation benefits can only be paid directly to one or more ‘dependants’ as defined for superannuation purposes, unless they are paid to the deceased’s legal personal representative to be distributed in accordance with the deceased’s Will. Super death benefits can be tax-free to the extent that they are paid (either […]
NALI provisions did not apply to loan structure
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (‘AAT’) has held that interest income derived by a self-managed superannuation fund (‘SMSF’) as the sole beneficiary of a unit trust was not non-arm’s length income (‘NALI’), and so this income could still be treated as exempt current pension income. During the 2015, 2016 and 2017 financial years, the unit trust […]
Luxury car tax: determining a vehicle’s principal purpose
The ATO recently explained how to determine the principal purpose of a car for ‘luxury car tax’ (‘LCT’) purposes (since LCT is not payable on the supply or importation of cars whose principal purpose is the carriage of goods rather than passengers). Broadly, a luxury car (i.e., a car subject to LCT) is a car […]
2023/24 Budget Update
On 9 May 2023, Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down the 2023/24 Federal Budget. Some of the measures announced by the Government (including some which were actually announced prior to the Budget), include: from 1 July 2026, employers will be required to pay their employees’ superannuation at the same time as their salary and wages; providing […]