News

The ATO has confirmed that, if intangible capital improvements are made to a pre-CGT asset, they can be a ‘separate CGT asset’ from that pre-CGT asset if the relevant requirements are satisfied. Example A farmer, holding pre-CGT land, obtains council approval to rezone and subdivide the land. Those improvements may be separate CGT assets from...

The ATO has issued a reminder that the government has changed the way fringe benefits will be treated for the calculation of several tax offsets from 1 July 2017. The meaning of ‘adjusted fringe benefits total’ (which is used to calculate a taxpayer’s entitlement for the low income superannuation tax offset, the seniors and pensioners...

The ATO is currently reviewing arrangements where individuals (at, or approaching, retirement age) purport to divert their personal services income to an SMSF, so that the income is taxed concessionally (or exempt from tax) in the fund, rather than being subject to tax at the individual’s marginal tax rate. These arrangements normally involve the individual’s...

An employee construction project manager/supervisor was denied deductions for overtime meal expenses, as he was not paid an overtime meal allowance under an industrial agreement (award). The taxpayer often worked at nights and on weekends during the relevant income years, and so additional amounts were negotiated and ‘rolled into’ his salary to cover the fact...

The ATO has notified taxpayers that, from 19 January 2017, newly registered small businesses have the option to report less GST information on their business activity statement (BAS). Therefore, if you plan to register for GST after receiving this Update, we can help you access the reporting benefits of the simpler BAS early. From 1...

The ATO has released a public taxation ruling covering the ATO’s views on the deductibility of expenditure incurred in acquiring, developing, maintaining or modifying a website for use in the carrying on of a business. Importantly, if the expenditure is incurred in maintaining a website, it would be considered ‘revenue’ in nature, and therefore generally...

A ‘UPE’ (or ‘unpaid present entitlement’) arises where a trust makes a beneficiary entitled to an amount of the trust’s income (and therefore the beneficiary may have to pay tax on their share of the trust’s taxable income that year), but that amount has not been physically paid to the beneficiary. If the beneficiary never...

The ATO is collecting new data from financial institutions and online selling sites as part of its credit and debit cards and online selling data-matching programs, specifically: the total credit and debit card payments received by businesses; and information on online sellers who have sold at least $12,000 worth of goods or services. The ATO...

The Ride Sourcing data matching program has been developed to address the compliance risk of the registration, lodgement and reporting of businesses offering ride sourcing services as a driver. ‘Ride sourcing’ = Uber (basically). It is estimated that up to 74,000 individuals (‘ride sourcing drivers’) offer, or have offered, this service. The ATO will request...

From 1 January 2017, tax rates changed for working holiday makers who are in Australia on a 417 or 462 visa (these rates are known as ‘working holiday maker tax rates’). If a business employs a working holiday maker in Australia on a 417 or 462 visa, from 1 January 2017, they should withhold 15%...