Who owns the assets of a trust? It’s not uncommon for people to put assets such as their family home into a trust, particularly professionals working in litigious fields or family groups wanting to protect assets. A recent case highlights some of the tax problems that can occur. The taxpayer in this case had [...]
Laundry expenses hung out to dry The ATO is airing the ‘dirty laundry’ on work-related clothing and laundry expenses warning that it is closely reviewing claims. “Last year around 6 million people claimed work-related clothing and laundry expenses, with total claims adding up to nearly $1.8 billion. While many of these claims will be [...]
New pay rates from 1 July New pay rates came into effect from 1 July 2019 with the minimum wage increasing by 3% from the first full pay period. The new national minimum wage is now $740.80 per week or $19.49 per hour. The national minimum wage applies to employees who aren’t covered by an [...]
Super, insurance and exit fees: The 1 July changes From 1 July 2019, new laws prevent superannuation providers from eroding member balances with unwanted or unnecessary insurance and exit fees. Plus, inactive accounts with low balances will be moved to the ATO to try and unite the unclaimed super with its owner. These changes [...]
Single touch payroll exemption for directors and family members The ATO has provided a concession from single touch payroll for payments by small employers to closely held payees. Single touch payroll (STP) was extended to cover all employers on 1 July 2019. For directors of their own company or for family businesses employing family [...]
Tax time: Are you in the ATO’s sights? A consistent theme this tax time is overclaiming and under reporting. With the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) getting more and more sophisticated in its data matching approaches, taxpayers can expect greater scrutiny where their claims are more than what is expected. We take a look at the [...]
How to Prepare for a Tax Office Visit The Tax Office is actively targeting geographic areas for special visits as part of a nationwide crackdown on the black economy. This financial year, the ATO has visited 22 regions with another four in progress. Next financial year they plan on visiting over 10,000 businesses. [...]
ATO doubles rental deduction audits In the 2017-18 financial year, more than 2.2 million Australians claimed over $47 billon in deductions and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) thinks that is too much - one in ten is estimated to contain errors. 4,500 audits of rental property deductions will be undertaken this year with the [...]
Budget 2019-20: The pre-election announcements that are now law The Federal Budget announced a series of measures, some of which were legislated before the election was called. Extension and increase to the instant asset write-off The popular instant asset write-off for small business has been extended and increased. The new laws: increase the threshold below [...]
A Labor Government on Tax & Super Tax on investment property In general, taxpayers are able to deduct from their assessible income any expenses they incur generating or producing that income. An investment is negatively geared when the cost of owning the asset is more than the return. Negative gearing is not limited to property [...]