Tax & Accounting Blog

Business

New casual employment laws to kick in with $66K penalties

Australian businesses with long-term casual staff could face fines in excess of $66,000 if they fail to offer them permanent positions, says the Fair Work Ombudsman. From 27 September 2021, employers will need to contact casual staff, employed for at least 12 months, with a written offer to convert them to permanent employment. The requirement

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Investors

Reminder for first-time share investors to declare income

With the growth of micro-investment platforms helping new investors enter the market, the ATO has issued a reminder for first-time share and Exchange Traded Funds (‘ETF’) investors. The ATO is concerned that first-time investors often do not understand their tax obligations in relation to reporting capital gains from the sale of shares and income in

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Business

Travel allowances and ‘LAFHAs’

The ATO has released a ruling explaining: When an employee can deduct accommodation and food and drink expenses when travelling on work; The FBT implications, including the application of the ‘otherwise deductible rule’, where an employee is reimbursed for accommodation and food and drink expenses, or where the employer provides or pays for these expenses;

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Tax planning

ATO warns property investors about common tax traps

In 2019/20, over 1.8 million Australians owned rental properties and claimed $38 billion in deductions, so the ATO is reminding property investors to beware of common tax traps that can delay refunds or lead to an audit costing taxpayers time and money. The most common mistake rental property and holiday homeowners make is neglecting to

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Business

Extending administrative relief for companies to use technology

The Government has passed legislation renewing temporary relief that allows companies to use technology to meet regulatory requirements under the Corporations Act 2001. These temporary relief measures will allow companies to hold virtual meetings and use electronic communications to send meeting materials and execute documents until 31 March 2022. This should ensure that companies can

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Economy

The ‘gigs up’ with a new sharing economy reporting regime

Treasury has released draft legislation introducing the long-awaited third party reporting regime (proposed to apply from 1 July 2022). The new regime will initially require ride-sharing and short term accommodation online platform operators to report transactions they facilitate directly to the ATO. This measure was first announced in the 2020 MYEFO (following a recommendation from

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Income Tax Offsets

Reminder of superannuation caps indexation for 2022

From 1 July 2021, the superannuation contributions caps have been indexed for the 2022 income year. The new concessional contributions cap for the 2022 financial year is now $27,500 (increased from $25,000). The new non-concessional (i.e., non-deductible) contributions cap for the 2022 financial year is now $110,000 or (where the ‘bring forward’ rules are applicable)

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Data Matching

New ATO data-matching programs

The ATO has advised that it will engage in two new data-matching programs, as outlined below: • The ATO will acquire novated lease data from McMillan Shakespeare Group, Smartgroup Corporation, SG Fleet Group, Eclipx Group, LeasePlan, Toyota Fleet Management, LeasePLUS, and Orix Australia for 2018/19 through to 2022/23 financial years (relating to approximately 260,000 individuals

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Business

Budget 2021 – 2021

To support household income and create more jobs, the Government will deliver an additional $7.8 billion in tax cuts by retaining the low and middle-income tax offset (LMITO) in 2021-22. This is on top of the $25.1 billion in tax cuts announced in previous Budgets that is expected to flow to households in 2021-22. Around

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Business

Passenger movement data-matching program

Passenger movement data-matching program The ATO will access data from the Department of Home Affairs on passenger movements during the 2016/17 to 2022/23 financial years, and match it with certain sections of ATO data holdings to identify taxpayers that can be provided with tailored information to help them meet their tax and superannuation obligations, or

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