News

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 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...

In a recent case, the Federal Court has agreed with the ATO that ‘ride-sourcing’ (such as that provided using Uber) is ‘taxi travel’ within the meaning of the GST law. The ATO has advised people who are taking up ride-sourcing to earn income should: keep records; have an Australian business number (ABN); register for GST,...

In addition to marketing and education activities to re-enforce the need for employers to meet their SG obligations, the ATO conducts audits and reviews to ascertain SG non-compliance, with 70% of cases stemming from employee notifications (the remaining 30% of cases are actioned from ATO-initiated strategies). On average, the ATO receives reports from employees which...

See what you should be aware of and what the new laws could mean for your future goals. The government’s May 2016 Federal Budget proposals and several subsequent modifications to its plans around super reform passed through both houses of parliament at the end of November. With new regulations set to become part of Australian...

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%...

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...

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...

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 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...