Blog

Federal COVID-19 support developments Additional financial support for child care providers The Prime Minister and the Minister for Education and Youth recently announced new support measures for child care providers that are impacted by extended COVID-19 lockdowns. Child care services in Commonwealth-declared hotspots will be eligible for new fortnightly payments of 25% of their pre-lockdown revenue, and outside school hours care (OSHC) services will be eligible for fortnightly payments of…  Read more

Single Touch Payroll update Phase 2 coming soon The ATO is expanding the information that businesses send through Single Touch Payroll (STP). From 1 January 2022, most employers will be required to send additional information such as the commencement date of employment and cessation date of employment for employees, their reasons for leaving employment and work type. The basic information about salary and wages and super liability information in Phase 1…  Read more

ATO tax time support: COVID-19 and natural disasters The ATO has a range of year-end tax time options to support taxpayers who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and recent natural disasters. Income statements can be accessed in ATO online services through myGov accounts from 14 July. The ATO also reminds those who may have lost, damaged or destroyed tax records due to natural disasters that some records can…  Read more

PERSONAL TAXATION Personal tax cuts: low–mid tax offset increase now; more rate changes from 2022 In the 2019–2020 Federal Budget, the Coalition Government announced its intention to provide further reductions in tax through the non-refundable low and middle income tax offset (LMITO). Under the changes, the maximum reduction in an eligible individual’s tax from the LMITO will increase from $530 to $1,080 per year. The base amount will increase from…  Read more

“Unexplained” bank deposits included in taxpayer’s assessable income The AAT has upheld tax assessments which included “unexplained” bank deposits totalling $133,579 in a taxpayer’s assessable income. Facts The taxpayer lodged a return for the income year ending 30 June 2014 but did not lodge a return for the income year ending 30 June 2015. The Commissioner was not satisfied with the amount declared as taxable income in the 2014 return…  Read more

Toxic leaders poison entire companies, and once they get authority over others, they don’t let it go willingly. Thankfully, any business can destroy their poisonous influence. Tell The Truth Toxicity thrives when no one tells the truth, but the reverse is also true. If your employees are honest about each other, they can uncover toxic conduct and destroy it. Employees know how obnoxious leaders can be, but reporting their actions…  Read more

Ask any successful entrepreneur about their path to greatness and you’ll get the same answer: failure is an inevitable part of the journey. It took Thomas Edison 1,000 failed attempts before he finally invented the light bulb. Tim Ferris received 25 rejections before his bestselling book, “The 4 Hour Workweek” was finally published and sold millions of copies. It’s a fact that 20% of businesses fail in their first year…  Read more

Removing tax deductibility of non-compliant payments From 1 July 2019, you can only claim deductions for payments you make to your workers (employees or contractors) where you have complied with the pay as you go (PAYG) withholding and reporting obligations for that payment. If the PAYG withholding rules require you to withhold an amount from a payment you make to a worker, you must: withhold the amount from the payment before…  Read more

Ask any successful entrepreneur about their path to greatness and you’ll get the same answer: failure is an inevitable part of the journey. It took Thomas Edison 1,000 failed attempts before he finally invented the light bulb. Tim Ferris received 25 rejections before his bestselling book, “The 4 Hour Workweek” was finally published and sold millions of copies. It’s a fact that 20% of businesses fail in their first year…  Read more

Inspector-General of Taxation’s annual report The Inspector-General of Taxation has tabled his annual report for 2017/18. As an outgoing IGT, Mr Ali Noroozi reflected on the evolution of the IGT and highlighted some of its achievements over the last 10 years of his tenure. Mr Noroozi noted that over the past 10 years, the IGT has become a mainstay in the tax landscape, both domestically and internationally, and has played a…  Read more

Toxic leaders poison entire companies, and once they get authority over others, they don’t let it go willingly. Thankfully, any business can destroy their poisonous influence. Tell The Truth Toxicity thrives when no one tells the truth, but the reverse is also true. If your employees are honest about each other, they can uncover toxic conduct and destroy it. Employees know how obnoxious leaders can be, but reporting their actions…  Read more

Businesses want to grow and help a larger audience, but too many make mistakes that cripple their growth. Even worse, they keep repeating them! Don’t do the same; avoid the blunders outlined below. Hiring Toxic Personalities Businesses hire more staff as they grow. But if they expand too quickly, they will feel pressure to fill positions on their team, even if the job candidates have a few personality flaws. While…  Read more

Lower tax rates brought forward for SMEs The government will bring forward the progressive reduction in the company tax rate for businesses with an aggregated turnover below $50m. Under current legislation, a tax rate of 25% will apply to such taxpayers (also known as base rate entities) from 2026/27. Legislation will be introduced to bring forward the 25% rate to 2021/22. The government has indicated that a similar change in…  Read more

Extension of $20,000 instant asset write-off now law An immediate deduction for depreciating assets costing less than $20,000 is now available for small business entities until 30 June 2019. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Accelerated Depreciation for Small Business Entities) Bill 2018 has received assent as Act No 109 of 2018 on 21 September 2018. The Act extends the current availability of the immediate deduction for depreciating assets as well as for amounts…  Read more