News

In the face of ongoing criticism, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has finally confirmed major revisions to the proposed Division 296 tax, announcing the government will no longer apply the tax to unrealised capital gains on superannuation balances above $3 million. The announcement is a result of significant industry feedback and reflects the delay in the government...

Employers that supply work vehicles to their employees need to check how the work vehicles are used and whether any exemptions apply to determine if they attract fringe benefits tax (‘FBT’). FBT generally applies when a work vehicle is made available for private use, even if it is not actually used.  Private use includes any...

The ATO is seeing sole traders make mistakes in the following areas: not reporting all income — this includes income earned outside their business (like a ‘side hustle’), cash jobs, or payments in-kind/barter deals; overclaiming expenses — this includes claiming the portion of an expense related to personal use, or overstating the cost of goods...

The ATO is warning businesses that if they incorrectly treat an employee as an independent contractor, then they risk receiving penalties and charges, including: PAYG withholding penalty for failing to deduct tax from worker payments and send it to the ATO; Super guarantee charge (‘SGC’), which is more than the super that would have been...

The way the ATO applies and remits interest on unpaid tax debts is attracting close scrutiny. With the Tax Ombudsman now conducting a review into how these charges are managed, it’s an issue that may affect many taxpayers and small businesses already under financial pressure. We’re sharing the following article from AccountantsDaily, which outlines the...

The ATO will acquire relevant account and transaction data from the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange (‘AFCX’) for the 2025 to 2027 income years, including the following: Client identification details (names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, identity verification document details, IP addresses, etc); and Bank account transaction details (bank account details, transaction date and amount,...

The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (‘SBSCH’) will close on 1 July 2026. The SBSCH is a free online service provided by the Australian Government through the ATO and can be used by employers to pay superannuation for all their employees through a single payment. The SBSCH will then distribute the money to each employee’s...

The ATO has the following tips for taxpayers in relation to the CGT main residence exemption. They should consider if they have bought or disposed of property in the past income year.  If they have sold property, were they using it solely as their primary place of residence, earning income from it (rental or business),...

From August 2025, the ATO is progressively including ‘debts on hold’ in relevant taxpayer ATO account balances. A ‘debt on hold’ is an outstanding tax debt where the ATO has previously paused debt collection actions. Tax debts will generally be placed on hold where the ATO decides it is not cost effective to collect the...

Since February 2023, the Australian government has been planning to introduce a new tax of 15% on a portion of “earnings” relating to total superannuation balances over $3 million. The idea was to inject some equity in a system with generous tax concessions weighted in favour of the wealthy. The tax change was proposed to...