What to do if you engage contractors If you engage contractors, it is essential to get the facts of the relationship right. Business owners need to take a proactive approach to reviewing arrangements to ensure that the business is not exposed to material liabilities. Key factors include: Whether the work involves a particular profession or…
No tax deductions if you don’t meet your tax obligations New laws passed by parliament last year directly target the behaviour of taxpayers that don’t meet their obligations. Tax deductions denied If taxpayers do not meet their PAYG withholding tax obligations, from 1 July 2019 they will not be able to claim a tax deduction…
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 that the ATO…
Super provides income for your workers in retirement Here’s how to run a quick check of your super obligations to make sure you’ve got everything sorted. 1. Check you’re paying super to all eligible workers. Some contractors may be entitled to super. 2. Check you’re paying the right amount. Currently, you…
Travelling to and from your investment property From 1 July 2017, new rules came into effect that prevent taxpayers claiming a deduction for expenses they incur travelling to and from their residential investment property. The Government restricted travel deductions to curb “widespread abuse around excessive travel expense claims relating to residential investment properties….This will stop…
The new rules for gift cards – what you need to know In Australia, around 34 million gift cards are sold each year with an estimated value of $2.5 billion. On average, an estimated $70 million is lost because of expiry dates. Until recently, there was no national regulation for the minimum length of time…
Accelerated tax rate reduction for small business Small business is still a vote winner with the Government and Opposition teaming up to accelerate tax cuts for the sector by 5 years impacting on an estimated 3.3 million businesses. Parliament recently passed legislation to accelerate the corporate tax rate reduction for corporate tax entities that are…
Do your homework when working from home Technology-driven changes to the employment market are seeing record numbers of Australians claiming deductions for expenses incurred while working from home. But a high level of mistakes, errors and questionable claims has prompted the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to increase attention, scrutiny and education for home office expenses…
Crowd Sourced Funding launched 19 October 2018 Crowd Sourced Funding Equity Raising for small proprietary companies is now available in Australia without requiring a proprietary company to convert to an unlisted public company. The UK, Europe, USA, Canada and New Zealand have been allowing their private companies to utilise crowd source funding equity raising for…
ASIC Financial Reporting Threshold Changes The Government has announced that it will be raising the ASIC financial reporting thresholds in a bid to save small and medium-sized business more than $300 million over the next four years. The thresholds are to be doubled to: $50 million or more in consolidated revenue (was $25 million) $25…