Tax and disasters
Now that we are heading into bushfire season, it is perhaps timely to be reminded that as well as the more obvious immediate devastation inflicted on people’s property, destructive events such as fires or floods can also mean loss of income for the many affected people. This can come about not only directly, but also […]
Home office substantiation
Home office deductions: What substantiation will the ATO accept?
Selling your house as a non resident
You may lose the main residence exemption if you sell after 1 July 2019 What happened? Currently, any individual (regardless of their tax residency status) who sells their home can qualify for either: However, there is currently a Bill2 before Parliament that, if enacted, will mean that any individual vendor that is a non-resident (for tax purposes) […]
Managing Cash in a SMSF
The cornerstone to any successfully operating self-managed super fund (SMSF) is its bank or cash account. After all, it’s the first thing that will be opened whenever an SMSF is established.
Ask the accountant
When you are about to make that next big business decision are you often left wondering whose advice you should seek? Your accountant should be your first point of call. Whilst many people often underutilise their accountants, it is important to remember they have a wide range of experience and skills that business owners should leverage […]
Volunteering and tax
What you need to know about volunteering & tax The worryingly early start to Australia’s bushfire season in New South Wales means scores of local volunteers are standing on the frontline, battling and protecting residents from the devastating fires. This raises the important practical question – do payments to volunteers constitute assessable income and are […]
Travelling to work
A recurrent topic of conversation and enquiry when it comes to possible tax deductions is when taxpayers travel to a work location, and the eligibility or otherwise of certain claims in regard to that travel. Work-related travel is a hot focus area of the ATO as taxpayers can often get claims wrong. While trips between […]
Depreciation pool
The simplified depreciation rules are attractive for small businesses as they allow an immediate write-off for assets costing less than $20,000. In contrast, tax paying entities that do not qualify as a small business must use the general depreciation rules (also known as the uniform capital allowance rules), where assets costing more than $100 need […]
Business interest expenses
If a business racks up an interest bill from borrowing funds to pay for the expenses of running the business, or to acquire other income-producing assets or investments, this expense is generally allowed as a tax deduction for the relevant year. For business taxpayers under the accruals accounting method, a claim can be made for […]
Buying assets on gumtree
A recent case before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) brought into focus a growing phenomenon that you should keep in mind for work-related or business expense deduction claims, especially where the acquisition of claimable assets is made in a certain way. The engineer and his “invoice” The case involved a taxpayer’s attempt to make a […]
