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The ATO is concerned that those earning money from the ‘sharing economy’ may not realise they have to declare these amounts on their tax return. In the sharing economy, buyers and sellers are connected through a facilitator who usually operates an app or website. Assistant Commissioner Graham Whyte said: “If you earn money from doing...

The ATO is also reminding Australians to protect themselves against identify theft this tax time.  Highly organised crime networks use a range of methods to steal personal information in order to commit refund fraud. The ATO recommends following a few easy steps for taxpayers to protect themselves against identity theft:     Put a padlock...

The ATO is reminding Australians to be on the lookout for tax-related scams during tax time, as scammers are particularly active because of the large number of people lodging their tax returns. Assistant Commissioner Graham Whyte said that, while most people were able to identify scams, it is important to remain alert during tax time....

Now that the government has been re-elected, it seems they are committed to proceeding with their superannuation policy, including the controversial measure to impose a ‘lifetime cap’ of $500,000 on the amount of non-concessional (i.e., undeducted) contributions that can be made into superannuation (calculated from all contributions made since 1 July 2007). The Treasurer Scott...

The CGT improvement threshold is $145,401 for the 2016/17 income year, up from $143,392 for 2015/16.

The benchmark interest rate for 2016/17, for the purposes of the deemed dividend provisions of Div.7A, is 5.40% (down from 5.45% for 2015/16).

The reasonable amount for overtime meal allowance expenses for 2016/17, where an allowance is paid under an award, order, determination, industrial agreement or a Commonwealth, State or Territory law, is $29.40 per meal.

The ATO has determined that the rate at which work-related motor vehicle expense deductions may be calculated using the cents per kilometre method is 66 cents per kilometre for the income year commencing 1 July 2016.

Many of our business clients like to review their tax position at the end of the income year and evaluate any year-end strategies that may be available to legitimately reduce their tax.   Traditionally, year-end tax planning for small businesses is based around two simple concepts – i.e., accelerating business deductions and deferring income. However, Small...

Tax saving strategies prior to 1 July 2016 A good strategy to reduce tax payable is normally to accelerate any income tax deductions into the current income year, which will reduce overall taxable income in the current year.  The tax rates for resident (adult) individual taxpayers for the 2015/16 income year are as follows: Taxable...