Early Release of Super
From 1 July 2018, responsibility for the administration of the early release of superannuation benefits on compassionate grounds will be transferred from the Department of Human Services (DHS) to the ATO. Superannuation benefits can be released on compassionate grounds to meet expenses related to medical treatment, medical transport, modifications necessary for the family home or […]
Tax for Children
Taxing children’s savings accounts: Whose money is it? Back in the 1980s, people could reduce tax by havingtheir money in bank accounts belonging to their kids. In 1988, the Tax Office intervened for its position by issuing guidance. Thanks to a simple criterion and penal tax rates, parents cannotpass off their money as mere pocket […]
Tax in the sharing economy
Have you ever let a room on the popular accommodation site Airbnb? Ever shared a ride with pseudo taxi service Uber? If you participate in what’s now called the “sharing economy”, you may have some tax to pay. The Tax Office says the sharing economy is a new way of “connecting buyers (‘users’) with sellers […]
Amending a BAS
Once we have lodged your latest activity statement, you may realise that something has been left out or you have neglected to include a particular item. The Australian tax system is based on “self assessment”, which means the ATO generally takes your word, under our guidance, and bases its assessment on the information it has […]
Profit motive for asset acquisition
A profit that arises from the carrying out of a profit-making undertaking or plan (that is, one with a profit-making intention) will be assessable as statutory income where the proceeds of the profit-making undertaking or plan are not otherwise assessable as ordinary income. Any capital profit on the disposal of assets acquired before 20 September […]
Tax of Foreign Income For Australian Residents
Under Australia’s taxation regime, resident taxpayers are subject to income tax on both income derived in Australia and on foreign sourced income. As a general rule, where foreign income is derived by an Australian resident, the gross amount (including any foreign tax paid on the income) must be included as assessable income. A foreign income […]
Bitcoins and SMSFs
While bitcoin may be the most well-known cryptocurrency, there are nearly 1,500 in existence. In its simplest form, a cryptocurrency is a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system”, which means that the currency is not in a physical form like cash but sits in an electronic register. What makes bitcoin work, where previous attempts at electronic cash […]
Tax and Airbnb
Airbnb is one of many examples of the “sharing economy” — connecting buyers (users) and sellers (providers) through a facilitator that usually operates an app or a website. Airbnb acts as this facilitator by allowing individuals, referred to as “hosts”, to rent out a room of their house or their whole house for a short-time […]
Is your Div 7A Compliant?
Division 7A of Part III of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA36) is an integrity measure that was designed to prevent companies from making tax-free distributions to shareholders or their associates. This can occur where distributions of profit are disguised as loans or other transactions. This effectively allows the shareholder or their associate to […]
Ways of thinking around Div 7A
Abstract: When a private company makes a loan to a shareholder or an associate during an income year, Div 7A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) can deem the company to have paid a dividend. The dividend is assessable to that shareholder/associate. However, no deemed dividend will arise if the loan is either repaid or placed […]
