On 15 February 2021, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) published updated guidance about the income tax and goods and services tax (GST) implications of a wide range of COVID-19 financial support measures provided by the commonwealth, state/territory, and local governments during the pandemic. The guidance is relevant to business taxpayers and to individual taxpayers. Taxpayers in receipt […]
By: Steve Burnham Most small business owners stay on top of their GST refunds, mainly because of the cash flow concerns that very much seem to dog many small businesses. However you may now and then have a business client that lets these things slip, and what they may not know is that they have four years […]
By: Steve Burnham With the end of the financial year in sight, there is one more thing your clients will need to be aware of regarding changes to the tax landscape — especially those thinking of purchasing a residential property. From 1 July this year, buyers of new residential premises (or “potential residential land”) will […]
By Steve Burnham There have been some important developments for GST and cross-border transactions regarding taxing digital products and low value goods. Simon Dorevitch, Senior Tax Consultant at A&A Tax Legal Consulting, reviews the changes. When the GST Act and Regulations were drafted in 1999, e-commerce was in its infancy – it was not fully envisaged that […]
By Steve Burnham The concept of a “going concern” exemption for the purposes of the goods and services tax (GST) can still cause confusion when businesses are sold. The sale of a business may be GST exempt if the enterprise is deemed to be a “going concern” — which refers to an enterprise’s ability to […]
By Max Newnham Among the many changes introduced with the GST, one of the more far reaching income tax changes was the establishment of the Australian Business Number system. From July 1, 2000 strict regulations have required businesses to quote their ABN on official documentation, especially on invoices that they issue. Like many things to do with […]
The status of the humble invoice took on immense significance in the year 2000 when the goods and services tax was introduced. It was a big year for the country, with Sydney hosting that year’s Olympics in the last half of September, Y2K proving to be a fizzer, as well as the introduction […]
By Max Newnham At the same time the GST system was introduced the personal services income rules were also introduced. Where a business is caught by the PSI rules there are severe tax limitations placed on that business. Where a business receives more than 50 per cent of its income from a contract purely for the […]
By Max Newnham When the GST system was introduced the income threshold that required a business to compulsorily register was $50,000. This income threshold was later increased to $75,000. In addition to the income threshold, businesses operating in one industry must register for GST, no matter what income they generate, and if a business wants to […]
By Max Newnham Small businesses, those that have a total annual income turnover of less than $10 million, can use the simplified depreciation rules. They can also use the cash method of accounting, rather than the accrual method, for calculating the profit or loss each year. Under the cash method a business only pays tax […]
