What you can expect after the election Headlines only explain so much. In this special update, we examine where the 2019-20 Federal Budget left us, and the pivotal policies from the ALP on tax, superannuation and business. There are no guarantees, however, that any policies or announcements not already legislated will come to fruition [...]
The Major Parties’ Superannuation and Tax Policies The federal election has been called for May 18 and both major parties have outlined their superannuation and tax policies. With the federal election only weeks away many of our clients have been asking what the major political parties’ policies are that may impact their SMSF, individual taxation [...]
Government delivers surplus election friendly 2019-20 Federal Budget – Leaves superannuation largely untouched A surplus election budget is the news coming out of the 2019-20 Federal Budget. With superannuation left largely untouched, the Government focused on further personal income tax cuts. However, three key announcements include providing more flexibility for individuals to contribute at ages [...]
International Women’s Day: Has anything changed? Women and girls make up just over half (50.7%) of the Australian population. While women comprise roughly 47% of all employees in Australia, they take home on average $251.20 less than men each week (full-time adult ordinary earnings). The national gender “pay gap” is 15.3% and it has remained [...]
Legislation in limbo A budget, an election and the legislation that hasn’t made it through. The February 2019 Parliamentary sitting days were the last opportunity before the Federal Budget for the Government to introduce or push through new legislation. Next month, on 2 April, Parliament reconvenes for the Federal Budget and it’s likely that an [...]
Single touch payroll extended to all employers From 1 July 2019, single touch payroll – the direct reporting of salary and wages, PAYG withholding and superannuation contribution information to the ATO – will apply to all employers. What employers need to report will also be extended to include certain salary sacrificed amounts. Employers with 20 [...]
You’ve been scammed, hacked or breached! Another year, another scam. While data driven crime is more sophisticated and difficult to address than ever, human error and judgement remains one of the major problems. The latest data breach report from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is surprising for the simplicity of the problems [...]
Tax warning on overseas income Do you earn income overseas? A recent case highlights why you might pay more tax than you thought on foreign income. If you are an Australian resident and earn income from overseas, such as income from investments, sale of assets such as property, distributions from foreign trusts, etc., you will [...]
What would happen if…. Life does not always go to plan. While we logically know that, most of us don’t plan for the worst - it’s all a bit morbid and time consuming. The downside of not planning is the potential for hard earned assets to be squandered, family fall-outs, and money handed to the [...]
Tax on shares: ATO extends data matching program The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is utilising data provided by the Australian Investments and Security Commission (ASIC) to data match share trades. The ATO is accessing more than 500 million records detailing price, quantity and time of individual trades dating back to 2014. The information complements information [...]