News

With over eight million Australians claiming work-related expenses each year, the ATO is reminding people to make sure they get their deductions right this tax time. Assistant Commissioner Graham Whyte said that, in 2014/15, the ATO conducted around 450,000 reviews and audits of individual taxpayers, leading to revenue adjustments of over $1.1 billion in income...

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 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....

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 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 has released the latest benchmarks for small business based on the data from 2014 income tax returns and business activity statements, covering over 1.3 million small businesses. Assistant Commissioner Matthew Bambrick said that, if a small business is inside the benchmark range for their industry and the ATO hasn’t received any extra information...

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

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.

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.