By: Max Newnham Some business owners make the mistake of regarding the Australian Tax Office as the enemy. It can be said the ATO at times places an unfair interpretation on income tax legislation to maximise revenue collection. But on the whole, when the ATO is dealt with in a reasonable manner, that is the way it will […]
Trusts are an important and very useful concept for managing one’s financial affairs, as well as estate planning. The pros and cons of ‘electing’ to be a family trust A trust is established whenever there is a separation of the legal ownership (for example, the name appearing on a land title) from the beneficial […]
By: Steve Burnham You may not get many clients who can use this tax offset, but one day you may very well get one in the door who will appreciate your familiarity with, and knowledge about the application of, the delayed income tax offset. The offset has also been labelled the lump sum payment in […]
By: Steve Burnham The ATO says it can help fund your client’s reasonable litigation costs if the outcome of their case will affect a significant number of taxpayers by: Funding litigation costs for tax cases clarifying the law, and/or developing legal precedent. Its test case litigation program was established to fund cases that have broader […]
By: Steve Burnham The ATO says that it has “listened to the concerns of small businesses, tax professionals, industry associations and software providers”, and is working towards reducing GST compliance costs for small businesses. “We are reducing the amount of GST information required for the business activity statement (BAS) to simplify GST bookkeeping and reporting […]
By: Steve Burnhum The ATO says that it has “listened to the concerns of small businesses, tax professionals, industry associations and software providers”, and is working towards reducing GST compliance costs for small businesses. “We are reducing the amount of GST information required for the business activity statement (BAS) to simplify GST bookkeeping and reporting […]
By: Steve Burnham The ATO has issued guidance on making claims for mobile phone use as well as home phone and internet expenses. Substantiation for mobile, home phone and internet costs It says that if a client uses any of these for work purposes, they may be able to claim a deduction if there are records […]
By: Steve Burnham Home office expense claims are subject to the same general substantiation requirements as other deductions – that is, records must be kept for five years. But in practice, full compliance with the substantiation rules may be difficult. It may be simple to keep a receipt for a printer purchased for a home […]
By: Rod Myer The Australian Taxation Office has fired a shot across the bows of plans by DomaCom, an investment company, to allow self-managed super fund (SMSF) investors to live in houses their funds own. In response to enquiries from The New Daily, the ATO issued a statement signed by Assistant Commissioner Kasey Macfarlane, saying it was not […]
By: Steve Burnham Even though tax reform is more than likely on hiatus for the next three years, it is worthwhile to re:visit that Tax & Super Australia made a submission to the government last year for the “Re:think” tax discussion paper. One aspect of our submission dealt in part with work-related expense deductions, and how […]
