Latest News
Court Confirms ATO’s Position On Foreign Income Tax Offsets
| | | The ATO has welcomed the decision of the High Court to basically uphold the decision of the Full Federal Court in a case which the ATO won, in relation to foreign income tax offsets (‘FITO’). An Australian tax resident had sold some US investments and paid US tax on the gains. […]
Further STP Developments
In an indication of the far-reaching changes that Single Touch Payroll (‘STP’) will be bringing, Treasury has recently finished consulting on draft legislation that expands the data that may be collected through STP by the ATO (as announced in the 2019/20 Budget). The legislation, if enacted, will broaden the amounts that employers can voluntarily […]
Valuing Car Parking Fringe Benefits
| | | Where businesses provide car parking fringe benefits to their employees, the taxable value of these benefits must be calculated correctly to ensure they are meeting their fringe benefits tax (‘FBT’) obligations, regardless of the method used. The ATO has advised they may directly contact businesses who have engaged an arm’s length […]
Changing Business Structures
| | | Are you outgrowing your current business structure or is your business growing at a rate you cannot keep up with? You may need to consider changing your business structure. Here are the four main business structures. Sole trader Partnership Company Trust Each structure has different reporting requirements. So, it’s imperative you understand […]
Have You Declared ALL Your Business Income?
When it comes to reporting your business income, make sure you are including all your income. If you are lodging through a tax agent, such as Taxwise, make sure you tell us about all your income. It’s crucial to get this right, as you can only claim a deduction for expenses that are related to […]
Disclosure Of Business Tax Debts – Declaration Made
| | | Following the enactment of legislation in late 2019, the ATO can disclose certain business tax debt information to external credit reporting bureaus. This information will primarily be used when issuing external creditworthiness reports in relation to relevant businesses, effectively treating tax debts in a similar manner to other business debts. More […]
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What’s New For Taxpayers
Before you complete your tax return for 2015, there are some changes you should be aware of in case they affect you. Mature age worker tax offset You can no longer claim the Mature age worker tax offset (MAWTO) in your tax return. Previously, to be eligible for the offset you needed to be an […]
Travel between home and work and between workplaces
While trips between home and work are generally considered private travel, you can claim deductions in some circumstances, as well as for some travel between two workplaces. If your travel was partly private and partly for work, you can only claim for the part related to your work. What you can claim You can […]
Investment Property – Claiming Repairs and Maintenance Expenses
Can you claim the cost of repairs you make before you rent out the property? You cannot claim the cost of repairing defects, damage or deterioration that existed when you obtained the property, even if you carried out these repairs to make the property suitable for renting. This is because these expenses relate to the […]
Gifts and donations
You can only claim a tax deduction for gifts or donations to organisations that have the status of deductible gift recipients (DGRs). Deductions for gifts are claimed by the person that makes the gift (the donor). For you to claim a tax deduction for a gift, it must meet four conditions: The gift […]
Capital gains tax checklist
The following questions will help you to identify possible capital gains tax (CGT) obligations. If you answer ‘yes’ to any of these questions, CGT may apply. Some questions are intended to highlight the possibility of a capital gain or loss arising in the current year, others to alert you to the possibility of a […]
Tax on Super Contributions
The tax you pay on your super contributions generally depends on whether the contributions were made before or after you paid income tax, you exceed the super contributions cap or you are a very high-income earner. Before-tax super contributions The super contributions you make before tax (concessional) are taxed at 15%. Types of before-tax contributions […]
