Our Recent Blogs
Small Business Tax Incentives: Skills and Training Boost.
The Government is consulting on exposure draft legislation to introduce a Skills and Training Boost to support small businesses to train and upskill their employees resulting in more staff productivity and retention.
Super comparison tool updated.
The YourSuper comparison tool helps individuals compare MySuper products and choose a super fund that meets their needs.
Further change to pandemic leave payment.
Following a National Cabinet meeting, the PM announced changes to current COVID-19 settings, which affect the disaster leave payment.
Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment reinstated.
In recognition of the risks associated with more infectious new Covid-19 variants through the winter period, the Federal Government has agreed to reinstate the ‘Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment’ to 30 September 2022, which was otherwise set to end as of 30 June 2022.
Contractor or Employee Argument: 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.
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.
ATO to target ‘wash sales’ this Tax Time.
The ATO is warning taxpayers to not engage in ‘asset wash sales’ to artificially increase their losses to reduce gains (or expected gains). Wash sales are a form of tax avoidance that the ATO is focused on this tax time.
ATO updates ‘cents per kilometre’ rate for individuals.
The ATO has updated the cents per kilometre rate relating to individual car expenses for the 2023 income year to 78 cents per business kilometre.
Downsizer contributions age changes from 1 July 2022.
From 1 July 2022, people aged 60 years and over will be eligible to make downsizer contributions of up to $300,000 per person ($600,000 per couple) from the sale proceeds of their home into their super. For downsizer contributions made prior to 1 July 2022, eligible individuals must have been aged 65 years or older at the time of making their contribution.
Super Guarantee Contribution due date for June 2022 quarter.
The due date for employers to make super guarantee contributions for their employees for the June 2022 quarter is 28 July 2022. Note that the super guarantee rate in relation to salary and wages paid on or before 30 June 2022 is 10%.
Get on the front foot with business tax debts.
The ATO have advised us that they have resumed their debt collection activities in the small-business sector after a pause last year during lockdown. This means businesses need to really focus on clearing the debt as the ATO pursues harder collection measures.
Employers need to prepare for changes under STP expansion.
Single Touch Payroll ('STP') reporting has been expanded.
This expansion, known as ‘STP Phase 2’, means that employers will need to start reporting extra information to the ATO each time they run their payroll.
Get ready for super changes from 1 July 2022.
As the new financial year approaches, employers need to be aware of two important super changes.
ATO priorities this tax time.
The ATO has announced four key areas that it will be focusing on for Tax Time 2022…
JobMaker Year 2 adjusting baseline headcount.
If you have been claiming the JobMaker Hiring Credit, please be aware that the ATO will now calculate an adjusted baseline headcount for the claim. The ATO will amend the prefill in the claim form based on information provided in earlier claims.
Higher PAYG withholding rates continue to apply to backpackers.
The High Court has held that the 'working holiday maker tax' (also known as the 'backpackers tax') did not apply to a taxpayer on a working holiday visa from the United Kingdom who was also an Australian tax resident.
Re-contribution of Covid-19 early release super amount.
Individuals can now re-contribute amounts they withdrew under the COVID-19 early release of super program without the re-contribution counting towards their non-concessional contributions cap.
Penalties for overdue TPAR.
The Taxable payments annual report (‘TPAR’) must be lodged by 28 August each year. Taxpayers who operate in certain industries and that make payments to contractors may need to report these payments in a TPAR.
Super changes and full expensing 12-month now law.
A plethora of superannuation law tweaks has recently been made (via recent legislative reforms)…
12-month extension of the temporary loss carry-back measure.
As announced in the 2020/2021 Federal Budget, legislation has now passed to allow eligible corporate entities (i.e., with, amongst other things, an aggregated turnover of less than $5 billion) a 12-month extension to claim a loss carry-back tax offset in the 2023 income year.