The Government has resurrected the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) amnesty giving employers that have fallen behind with their SG obligations the ability to “self-correct.” This time however, the incentive of the amnesty is strengthened by harsh penalties for those that fail to take action. Originally announced in May 2018 and running between 24 May 2018…
The investment strategies of Self Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSFs) are under scrutiny with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) contacting 17,700 trustees about a lack of asset diversity. The ATO is concerned that, “a lack of diversification or concentration risk, can expose the SMSF and its members to unnecessary risk if a significant investment fails.”…
ATO crackdown on laundry expense overclaims. The ATO is airing the ‘dirty laundry’ on work-related clothing and laundry expenses warning that it is closely reviewing claims. “Last year around 6 million people claimed work-related clothing and laundry expenses, with total claims adding up to nearly $1.8 billion. While many of these claims will be…
The ATO has announced its focus on the scrutiny of 2019 tax returns, particularly those with rental property tax deductions. It’s fair to say that the ATO’s decision to increase audit activity of rental property deductions has come about with justification. A random sample of tax returns, which included rental property tax deductions, revealed that…
Will your business be denied this tax deduction? Non-compliance with the new PAYG Withholding rules could cost your business thousands in income tax. Are you a business owner with employees or contractors? You need to be aware that new PAYG withholding rules are now in place to deny tax deductions for salary and wages…
Single Touch Payroll has now extended to all employers. Is your business ready? For a couple of years now, there has been a great deal of talk about Single Touch Payroll (STP). Single Touch Payroll was introduced on 1st July 2018 for all businesses with 20 or more employees. However, the law was recently…
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has announced a new data-matching program targeting taxpayers earning income from the exploding popularity of short-term rentals available on platforms like AirBNB and Stayz. Utilising information from online platform sharing sites matched to information from financial institutions, the ATO is targeting 190,000 individuals to make sure they have not…
Will you find yourself in the ATO spotlight this year? Avoid these costly tax return errors and reduce your chances of appearing on the ATO’s audit radar.
It’s becoming more and more common for people to spend at least a small portion of their time working from home. For this reason you may be entitled to claim deductions in your tax return for home office running expenses or home office occupancy expenses. But there is a distinct difference between the two claim…
The ATO has warned that they will be auditing more taxpayers this year. Avoid a tax audit with this very handy tax-time tool.
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