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As the festive season approaches, many businesses are planning Christmas parties and gifts. But how can you avoid giving an unexpected present to the Australian Tax Office (ATO)? Here are some key considerations for

The Federal Court recently decided against a sports company that wanted to claim tax benefits for research and development (R&D) work on an Australian signature basketball shoe.

with overseas, non-resident workers can be a great opportunity for Australian businesses, but it also brings some important tax responsibilities. Let’s break this down in simple terms to help you understand the basics.

alia prides itself on maintaining a more equitable approach to education compared to the United States, where access to higher education often depends on

While cost-of-living pressures have slightly eased this year, consumers and businesses alike continue to feel financial strain, making careful planning essential for companies navigating the holiday season.

The Australian government is planning to ban life insurers from using predictive genetic test results to discriminate against people. Predictive genetic tests can identify gene variants linked to diseases that might

A significant shift in the administration of the superannuation guarantee (SG) is set to take place, introducing what is known as payday super. . This change, aimed at improving the efficiency of super

Each month, we will explore various aspects of transferring property, such as estate planning, handling inheritances, and business succession. This month, let’s focus on the tax implications of inheriting assets—an

When accessing your myGov account, you notice that your activity statements from the past year have been modified, and $100,000 in GST credits have been issued. The problem? You weren’t the one who made these

Do you own an investment property or luxury lifestyle assets such as a boat, a high-end vehicle, or even an aircraft? If so, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is keeping a close eye on these assets to ensure that what

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has been at the center of debate, with politicians and the public questioning its policies on interest rates. There’s

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) recently reported a significant 39% uptick in corporate insolvencies compared to the previous financial year. Industries like construction,

In a recent Federal Court case, the Tax Commissioner successfully argued that over $1.6 million deposited into an Australian couple’s bank account constituted assessable income rather than a gift or loan from friends.

Divorce and separation are difficult life events, bringing not just emotional stress but also financial complications. One of the key issues that arise during a relationship breakdown is how assets are divided

Exciting news for small businesses! Two significant changes are happening for the 2024 financial year, thanks to new laws passed by Parliament recently. These changes provide fantastic opportunities for small

The main residence exemption typically shields your family home from capital gains tax (CGT) upon its sale. However, as with many tax matters, it’s not straightforward. Below, we delve into the key aspects of

As of 1 July 2024, personal income tax cuts are now active. Additionally, the superannuation guarantee (SG) rate has increased by 0.5% to 11.5%. Employers need to update their payroll systems, including salary sacrifice agreements, to accommodate these changes. PAYG

In the tax case of Duncan and Commissioner of Taxation [2024] AATA 974, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) looked at a situation where a taxpayer, Mr. Duncan

With the financial year-end approaching, here’s a concise guide on areas under ATO scrutiny and strategies to optimize your deductions.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued a stern warning to trustees, emphasizing the importance of carefully considering how and to whom trust income is distributed. In recent years, trust distribution

The ongoing transfer of wealth from the baby boomer generation is underscored by the pivotal role of homeownership, particularly as property prices soar, with

We take insight here of the mainly tax changes in the Federal Budget 2024-25 announced in May 2024, in relates to the topics of Individual & Families, Superannuation & Investors, Business & Employers. As announced before, the government has made permanent

Utilizing company resources for personal gain is a common practice among business owners, often blurring the line between their business and personal life. However, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is

Transitioning a family business from one generation to the next is a complex process that demands careful planning and execution. While the idea of passing the

The Australian Taxation Office has recently issued a stern warning directed at trustees of self-managed superannuation funds, underscoring a significant issue with the practices surrounding asset valuations.

For many small business owners, their business isn’t just a source of income; it’s their biggest investment, often meant to support their retirement. But figuring out exactly how much your business is worth

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is tightening its grip on professional services firms suspected of diverting profits to evade taxes. Two recent cases brought before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal

In recent times, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has been sending shockwaves through the taxpayer community by alerting individuals and their tax agents to unpaid historical tax obligations.

However, a recent case underscores the importance of understanding the tax consequences associated with withdrawing funds from a company for personal use.

In a recent case before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, the intricacies of tax law and property transactions came to the forefront as a taxpayer

Originally set to commence on July 1, 2024, the Stage 3 of the personal income tax cuts will undergo a significant overhaul as proposed by the Federal Government.

hanges, and changing work dynamics taking centre stage. This article explores the key factors that will shape the year ahead, breaking down the complex

related to rental properties, estimating an annual loss of approximately $1 billion in tax revenue. A significant contributor to this issue lies in the questionable practices surrounding the claiming of interest on

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) reveals a concerning statistic: workers are owed an estimated $3.6

Chobani’s plain yogurt is exempt from GST, but their ‘flip’ range is taxable. A recent case before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) highlights the fine line between GST-free and taxable foods. In 2000, when the Goods & Services Tax (GST) was initially introduced, basic food

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has recently issued a draft ruling on self-education expenses which clarifies what can and cannot be claimed as deductions. If you pursue education related to your current job, you can

Electricity is rapidly becoming the energy source of choice, supplanting traditional fossil fuels and natural gas in various industries. To encourage businesses to

The rise of OnlyFans, YouTubers, TikTokers, and other content platforms presents lucrative opportunities for content creators to monetize their audience. However, the tax authorities are now paying attention to this

Australia’s superannuation system has come a long way, focusing on securing people’s finances in retirement. Recently proposed laws define the purpose of

n a recent case heard by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), the timing of employment income plays a significant role in determining an individual’s tax obligations, especially in the context of changing tax

ticed a significant reduction in their expected tax refunds for financial year 2023, prompting questions about what’s behind this change. This article will tell you why.

Transitioning a family business to the next generation is not just a theoretical legacy; it’s a practical endeavour that goes beyond wealthy clans. This process involves passing on the business operations, ownership, and

You possess a piece of land that is ideal for a subdivision. All the necessary arrangements have been sorted out with the Council, builders, and the bank. However, a crucial aspect has been overlooked: the tax

The 120% technology and skills ‘boost’ deduction is a tax incentive introduced in the 2022-23 Federal Budget for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Australia. The boost allows eligible SMEs to claim a 120% tax

Employers & Business:
• The Superannuation Guarantee has been raised to 11% from its previous rate of 10.5%.
• National and Award minimum wage increases have been implemented.

investments and skills and training expenditure by small and medium businesses (SMEs) has finally become law. People who follow our social media has been informed to record these types of expense into a separated

For the financial year 2023, taxpayers have the option to choose one of two methods to claim their deductions for working from home: the “fixed rate” method or the

To help you along the way, this article will outline the implication of tax on crypto assets in two aspects, which is Capital Gains Tax (CGT) for crypto investors and income tax for crypto traders.

The Australian Federal Budget 2023-24 is announced on 9 May 2023. As usual, in this article, we mainly look into the details of the business and super fund tax changes given there isn’t much individual tax changes in this budget including any amendment on the controversial

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has released updated information on electric vehicles just in time for the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) year that began on April 1.

The ATO has recently published its final position (TR 2022/4) on trust distributions that pose a risk to the integrity of the tax system. Specifically, the ATO has clarified how section 100A, an integrity rule that aims to

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has updated its approach to claiming expenses for working from home. Taxpayers can now claim 67 cents per hour for all expenses related to working from home, including

As a law firm in New South Wales or Victoria, one of the obligations is to have your trust account examined every year between 1 April and 31 May.

Not to be overly skeptical, but we are just curious about the ability of this latest AI software ChatGPT – in dealing with the Australian tax system, so we conducted a simple test.

have been set out by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for Australians who are the directors of companies and now have less than two weeks to take action to avoid a big fine of $13,000.

We take insight here of the mainly tax changes in the Federal Budget 2022-23 2.0 announced in October 2022, in relates to the topics of Individual & Families, Superannuation & Investors, Business & Employers, and

The NSW Government has announced a $1bn support package for the NSW small businesses affected by the Omicron outbreak.

The NSW Treasurer Matt Kean, acknowledging the difficulties that NSW small business are facing due

We summarise the NSW COVID-19 main government supports: 2021 COVID-19 business grant; JobSaver payment; 2021 COVID-19 micro-business grant; Payroll tax concessions; Land tax relief.

On 7 August, the Government modified the eligibility of JobKeeper Payment 2.0 (extended JobKeeper 1.0 to 28 March 2021), aiming to embrace more people and businesses who have been affected by the ongoing crisis. The change is in response to the undeniable second COVID-19 wave in Victoria,

Later last month, the government announced to extend JobKeeper Payment by six months to 28 March 2021 and the JobSeeker Payment to 31 December 2020. The extension is aiming to build up the confidence for economy recovery and continue to support the business and community.

2020 is already halfway and we are all heading into the new financial year. Despite there are quite many changes from the government stimulus package, there are still some key changes that we can take a look at for Financial Year 2021.

A new financial year is an important time for all kinds of businesses, from sole traders to big corporate. It is not only to meet your tax obligations with the Australian Taxation Office, but also the perfect time to plan for the next 12 months of your business.

Given the impact of Bushfire and COVID-19, Australia has entered into an economic recession first time in the last 30 years. Last a couple of weeks, we have witnessed the Federal Government announced that they have been working with States and Territories to offer a $25,000 HomeBuilder Grant

The last few months have shown a constant display of obscure challenges related to maintaining business during the COVID-19 pandemic for business owners and leaders everywhere. The latest obscure challenge is possibly the trickiest yet: how to cautiously recommence businesses after the government announced the major easing of coronavirus restrictions.

As the lockdown has been gradually lifted, how would SME self-adjust their business and catch up with the changing market in order to bring their business back to normal or even beyond?

Tax time is fast approaching and for some of you this might be the last thing on your mind. There might be other things that are more important for you to get through this uncertainty. However, now is the best time to get your tax affair in order and avoid last minute planning that can cost you.

Followed by the first Stimulus Package plan announced on 12th March 2020, the federal government has rolled out the second and third Stimulus Package plan with a total amount of up to 200 billion dollars in last two weeks aiming at helping small and medium business

As the coronavirus outbreak grows, more people are forced to work from home. While working from home can come with its benefits like getting to sleep in longer, avoid the daily commute and work from bed in your pyjamas, it can also hurt your hip pocket if you’re having to fork out for expenses your employer would normally cover, like increase utility bills, phone and home internet bills.

With the announcement from Federal Governments Economic Response to the COVIC-19 Coronavirus, the cash flow grant for employers measure is designed to support employing small and medium sized businesses and to improve business confidence. The measures also supports the activities of not-for-profits (including charities) at a time where they are facing increased demand for services.

The COVID-19 situation is bigger than any of us have ever faced. Our clients, professionals, mum’s and dad’s don’t understand how badly they need accountants and advisors’ help. They are scared and don’t know what to do, and most probably haven’t really thought through what the consequences will be for them.

Hit by the bushfire, Coronavirus (COVID-19) and global economy downturn, the Federal Government has announced a $17.6 billion Stimulus Package on 12 March 2020 to maintain Australians in jobs,

With the development of COVID-19 from epidemic to pandemic status, businesses across Australia are facing the possibility of harmful effect. We are all aware of the impact and potential expansion of Coronavirus on the world, but what are the potential…

The country is suffering billions of dollars’ loss during the bushfire season. Returning life to normal is a long way to go for most of us. Therefore, we summarize some assistance available offered by the ATO and other

The proposal in 2017-18 Federal Budget for stopping foreign residents from claiming CGT main residence exemption has passed by the Parliament before Christmas 2019 and takes effect retrospectively from 9 May 2017.

The Government has restored the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) amnesty aiming to provide employers who have fallen behind with their SG obligations the one-off opportunity to “self-correct”. However, this time those continually fail to take any action will be heavily

Cash flow is one of the most important components of success for a SME business. Without cash, profits are meaningless. Organisations that don’t implement good cash management may not be able to make the investments needed to compete, or they…

A new law has come into effect through the Parliament last month, denying the deductions for holding expenses associated with vacant land, which currently would be deductible in the ordinary course. The legislation is not only retrospective but also go beyond purely vacant land. Before, the old law allows those who hold vacant land with an intention to build a rental property on it to claim the tax deduction for costs of holding the land

We have received questions from our taxpayers wanting to know the recent tax relief of $1080. Although the immediate relief has been introduced in the 2019 Federal Budget, this article will explain in more detail aiming to provide you with a better understanding about this tax cuts. Firstly, tax offset of $1080 will not automatically come to you when you lodge your tax return. So what is the Low and Middle Income Tax Offset?

Government has passed a legislation right before Christmas 2018 which will prevent a deduction from being claimed for salary and wages (and certain other payments) by a business that fails to meet its PAYG withholding obligations. This change will apply to payments made from 1 July 2019 onwards. The existing penalties for failing to comply with PAYG withholding obligations are already significant, this adds another financial incentive for businesses to ensure that they are compliant with PAYG withholding obligations.

From 1 July 2018, ATO has enforced a new legislation on the payroll reporting system. The new legislation requests business with 20 or more employees to use the Single Touch Payroll (STP) enabled software to report employees’ payroll information including superannuation. Business with less than 20 employees has to implement Single Touch Payroll system too by 1 July 2019 (this hasn’t been lawed yet). Under the new Single Touch Payroll reporting system, payroll information will be instantly sent to ATO at each pay run.

Recently, the Australian government has introduced a new GST legislation on the imported low value goods. The new legislation will be effective from 1 July 2018 and it will affect thousands of online platform overseas sellers whose annual GST turnover is over $75,000,

If we metaphorize a business to a building, structure to the business will be as important as foundation to the building. A suitable structure can provide tax effectiveness and assets protection to a business. Contemporarily, sole trade, company and trust are common structures used in business. 

Investment property tax return can be very tricky and complicated, especially new laws will be enacted according to the recent federal budget. No matter you are in Australia or an overseas investor, you will have to lodge the tax return by 31 October every year if you are having an investment property and earning rental income or capital gain in Australia.

Along with the closing of financial year 2017, here comes the tax return time again. During the years, we have seen many clients made mistake with their tax return and led to either ATO penalty or hundreds and thousands dollars losing in tax payment

Recently, the NSW government has announced that the surcharge purchaser duty and land tax surcharge will be raised again to foreign person investing in residential

The Australian government has just announced 2017 Federal Budget tonight. At Pitt Martin, we closely keep update our knowledge with government tax legislation and economy changes. Here is some key points we think can be relevant to the tax payers and business owners.

From 1st January 2017, if you or your family and associates are a foreign person, your NSW residential land might be subject to 0.75% land tax surcharge charged by Office of State Revenue.

Are you a high wages owning employee or a self-employed business owner who paid too much tax last year? There is an effective way to reduce the tax liability by directing the income into your super.

In Pitt Martin, we specialized to help clients set up SMSF and manage the super fund tax affairs. Call us today on 02 9221 3345 or email to connect@pittmartingroup.com.au.