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Employee or contractor?
Being an employee is different from being a contractor. If you’re a contractor, you’re self-employed and you’re running your own business. If you’re an employee, you’re working in another person’s business. Whether you’re a contractor or an employee could change for each job you do. Click here to see the ATO outline the […]
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 […]
Private Health Insurance Rebate and Medicare Levy Surcharge
If you have private health insurance cover, you may be eligible for the private health insurance (PHI) rebate. Most people claim the rebate as a reduction in the amount of premiums they pay to their insurer. The rebate is income tested, which means that if you have a higher income, your rebate entitlement may be […]
Records you need to keep
During the financial year you’ll receive documents that are important for doing your tax, such as payment summaries, receipts, invoices and contracts. Generally, you need to keep these for 5 years from when you lodge your tax return in case we ask you to substantiate your claims. Records you need to keep include: Payment summaries […]
What is Income For Tax Purposes
You pay income tax on assessable income you receive, such as salary and wages, most Centrelink payments, investment income from rent, bank interest or dividends, business income; and capital gains from selling assets like shares or property. Employment income You must show all employment income, payments and benefits on your tax return, including salary and […]
Identity theft crime & protecting your personal information
Identity theft crime happens when someone uses a stolen, manipulated, or assumed identity to commit fraud or other crimes. It can involve creating a new identity, false identity, or using stolen information to impersonate someone else. Identity Theft Crime and You Criminals can start using your identity with some basic details, such as your name, […]
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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 […]
