New work from home deduction rules

13 December 2022

The ATO has issued new draft guidelines around a new method (the revised fixed rate method) of calculating work-from-home running expenses from 1 July 2022 (as an alternative to calculating the actual work-related portion of all running expenses).

The new revised fixed rate method will replace both:

  • the 52 cents fixed-rate method set out in paragraph 5 of Practice Statement PS LA 2001/6 (for electricity and gas expenses, home office cleaning expenses and the decline in value of furniture and furnishings), and
  • the short-cut (COVID-19) 80 cents method (for all additional running expenses).

You are eligible to use the revised fixed-rate method from 1 July 2022 if you:

  • work from home to fulfil your employment duties or to run your business (a separate home office or dedicated work area is not required)
  • incur additional running expenses that are deductible, and
  • keep and retain records of the time spent working from home and of the additional running expenses incurred.

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Xmas gifts from employers

5 December 2022

Christmas is traditionally a time of giving, including employers showing gratitude to their workers for a job well done throughout the year. However, depending on the nature and value of the gift, and also who it is gifted to, such magnanimity can potentially attract unwanted tax consequences. So how as an employer do you gift most tax-effectively this festive season?

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Federal Budget

2 November 2022

Business and Individual Taxation

The confirmation of lucrative income tax cuts, and the scrapping of a tax offset for low and middle-income earners were the big-ticket items. That said, labor’s first federal Budget in nine years was as noteworthy for the changes it didn’t make as for those that it did. Unmentioned were current outstanding issues impacting the taxation of trusts, the long-awaited simplification of 7A, the future of business depreciation after this financial year and more.

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GST Health Check

9 August 2022

Now that the financial year has come to a close, it’s good time to check all things GST.

Registration

If you are not already registered, you may over the coming period need to register for GST if:

  • your business or enterprise begins to have a GST turnover of $75,000 or more per year (gross income from all businesses minus GST)
  • your non-profit organisation begins to have a GST turnover of $150,000 or more.

Even if you are under these thresholds, it may be advantageous to register for GST if you typically end up in a GST refund position each tax period. By registering, this will enable you to claim the GST tax credits on certain purchases rather than missing out on those credits because you are not registered. Talk with us further if you are uncertain around this.

Conversely, if your turnover drops below these thresholds or you are contemplating ceasing business, you may deregister from GST. There are certain consequences that flow from deregistering which we can run through with you.

If you are not registered for GST and therefore cannot claim GST credits on business-related purchases, you can claim the GST as a tax deduction – though this is not as profitable as claiming the credit in full if you were GST-registered.

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Tax and Property Price Increases

6 July 2022

With residential property values on a sharp upward trajectory, from a tax standpoint, what does this mean for owners and investors of this style of dwelling?

 Introduction

Domain’s End of Year Wrap revealed that in 2021, Australian house prices rose an astonishing 21.9%, the fastest annual rate of growth on record! Viewed through a taxation prism, these increases mean practically nothing unless the owner is selling or otherwise disposing of their property. If the property is retained, then the increases are merely a “paper gain”. By holding onto the property there generally won’t be any CGT consequences.

The obvious question then arises, what are the consequences from a tax perspective where an owner does decide to cash in on the boom and sell their residential property?

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Four priorities for the ATO this Tax Time

8 June 2022

In the middle of May, the ATO announced that there will be four focus areas on their radar during Tax Time 2022 – record-keeping, work-related expenses, rental property income and deductions, and capital gains from crypto assets. It is reminding taxpayers that there are three golden rules when claiming a deduction:

  1. You must have spent the money yourself and weren’t reimbursed
  2. If the expense is for a mix of income producing and private use, you can only claim the portion that relates to producing income, and
  3. You must have a record to prove it.

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FBT Year-End Checklist

9 April  2022

March 31 marks the end of the 2021/2022 fringe benefits tax (FBT) year which commenced 1 April 2021. It’s time now for employers and their advisors to turn their attention to instances where non-cash benefits have been provided to employees, and also where private expenses have been paid on their behalf.

Although it will generally fall to your accountant to prepare the FBT return, it may not always be apparent to them from your software file or other records, all of the instances where you have provided employees and their associates (e.g. spouse) with a potential fringe benefit. To assist you in bringing these potential benefits to the attention of your accountant, following is a general checklist (non-exhaustive):

Cars

  • Did you provide or make available a car that your business (or an associate of the business) owned or leased, to an employee or their associate for private purposes?

Exemptions include minor, infrequent and irregular non-work-related use by an employee of certain commercial vehicles.

  • Did you as an employer reimburse expenses of an employee in relation to a car they owned or leased?

Exemptions include where the business compensates the employee on a cents per km basis for estimated travel and where the car has not been used for private purposes.

Loans

  • Did your business provide a loan to an employee or their associate?

Exemptions include where the loan is strictly related to meeting an employment expense (which must be incurred within sixth months of the loan being made).

Exemptions also include loans made by private companies to employees who are also shareholders but the loan is Division 7A compliant.

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Christmas and the Taxman

28 November 2021

When do employee gifts and celebrations attract fringe benefits tax (FBT)? And when are they exempt?

Christmas is traditionally a time of giving – including employers showing gratitude towards staff for a job well done. However, Christmas parties and gifts can attract the attention of the Taxman.

In certain circumstances, an employer can hold a Christmas party for staff and the cost of the party be exempt from Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT).

Take, for example, an employer who holds a Christmas party at a restaurant for employees and their partners and, apart from perhaps the Melbourne Cup, it is the only social function they provide for employees each year.  Where this is the case, the party is very likely to be exempt from FBT provided the per-head cost (dinner and drinks) is kept to less than $300 per person. To enjoy this exemption, the employer must use the “actual method” for valuing FBT meal entertainment.

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Avoid common mistakes in your business return, and include appropriate income

26 October 2021

We know you want to get your tax right, so it may help you this tax time to know how to avoid making what the ATO has found are the most common tax mistakes.

To do this make sure you have:

  • declared all income, including cash and online sales, dividends, interest, capital gains or one-off transactions such as selling equipment
  • accurately recorded the value of goods taken for private use and directors’ fees or other money drawn out of your business
  • correctly apportioned expenses that are used both privately and in your business, including adjusting your rent expenses if you store personal assets at your business premises
  • only claimed expenses you’re entitled to claim (for example capital improvements can’t be written off as a repair)
  • correctly claimed any business losses.

It’s important to have good records that are up to date. It can help to have a dedicated business bank account to help keep business transactions separate from your other finances.

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