ATO Data Matching: Increased Scrutiny Of Tax Residency Positions Residency status can materially affect an individual’s Australian tax position, including how income, capital gains, the...
Holiday Home or Tax Trap? The ATO’s New Rental Property Rules For many Australians, a coastal apartment, ski chalet or beach house serves two purposes:...
Are these work from home expenses actually work related deductions? There are numerous items that can be deducted as a work related expense. And though...
CGT Changes- Apportioning The PRE 2027 Discount And Post 2027 Indexed Gains – Part 1 The capital gains tax (CGT) changes enacted by the Australian...
Towards the end of each year trustees of discretionary trust start considering how the trust’s income is going to be distributed. Part of this process...
From 1 July 2026, one of the most significant changes to Australia’s superannuation system in decades will take effect. Known as “Payday Super”, the reform...
Private groups frequently encounter situations where company payments, loans or benefits are provided to shareholders, directors, or their associates. In such cases, both the Fringe...
Last week the Government introduced the Tax Reform No. 1 Bill, which includes significant proposed changes to Australia’s capital gains tax regime following the 2026–27...
PERSONAL INCOME TAX CHANGES Treasurer Jim Chalmers also announced the $250 Working Australians Tax Offset (WATO) which will be a permanent annual tax offset for...
30% MINIMUM TAX ON DISCRETIONARY TRUST INCOME From 1 July 2028 trustees of discretionary trust will be required to pay a minimum tax of 30%...
SME TAX MATTERS The Government announced a number of measures to aid business cash flows during turbulent periods or “shocks” to the economy. Some of...
CHANGES TO NEGATIVE GEARING The Government has announced reforms to negative gearing as part of the 2026–27 Federal Budget. The changes are intended to apply...
TAX REFORM OR TAX WARS! As expected, the Treasurer announced a “Tax Heavy” Federal Budget last night including a raft of proposed tax changes that...
Recent ATO crackdowns on nil and non-lodgers, together with expanded data matching and review activities, indicate that fringe benefits tax (FBT) obligations can no longer...
In dealing with Family Groups, there may be occasions where a beneficiary who is owed a UPE from a Trust decides to release or forgive...
It can be a rare thing to have all the assets of a business held by one entity. Often the business structure contains various entities...
The Government, after much push back from industry and the community has announced sweeping changes to their proposed Division 296 tax. The start date for...
As the property market continues climbing to new heights, the key question facing clients engaging in property activities is whether their property activities constitute an...
The summer holidays are approaching. For some, they are already here! To celebrate the season the ATO has issued Draft Taxation Ruling 2025/D1 that sets...
The Burden of Proof It appears that we have been inundated with “burden of proof” cases recently, with some involving taxpayers who didn’t fully understand...
A taxpayer has a four-year period in which to claim an ITC/FTC to which they are entitled. The ATO takes a strict application of this...
The January and February period each year sees an influx of new cases into the Family Court as couples end their relationship post the Christmas...
As all SME advisers would be aware, on 19 February 2025 the Full Federal Court unanimously decided that an Unpaid Present Entitlement (UPE) due from...
The Australian tax system is a self-assessment system. We prepare and lodge your returns, then pay your tax or collect your refund. It is possible...
Federal Tax Reform We left you in December with a New Year’s wish list in the tax space that highlighted the Top 5 areas that...
What will shape the Tax Landscape in 2025? As we reach the end of another year, with all of its challenges, it is worthwhile considering...
Statistics from December 2023 showed that the ATO’s collectable debt from taxpayers amounted to approximately $50 billion. A sizeable increase from the $7 billion in...
Start the clock. That is not what someone is generally thinking when they have an asset stolen, lost or destroyed. When it comes to the...
Entitlement to claim input tax credits (ITC) requires a nexus between the supply and the acquirer of the good or service. This is easily identifiable...
The ATO recently finalised its Tax Determination and accompanying Practical Compliance Guideline dealing with the Australian tax consequences for an Australian beneficiary of a Foreign...
When the Small Business Restructure Rollover (SBRR) was introduced from 1 July 2016 it promised to enable relief to Small Businesses who needed to restructure...
Family Trust Election (FTE) An FTE is an election that is made in order to make a trust a “family trust” (FT) for taxation...
Dealing with Family Trust Elections and Interposed Entity Elections when they close the loop too tightly Discretionary Trusts offer a great structure for clients...
The ATO has long had a focus on entities who generate income from the personal exertion of individuals. The Personal Services Income (PSI) rules were...
Why lodge a Voluntary Disclosure? The purpose of making a voluntary disclosure is to correct a misstatement in a lodgement submitted to the ATO....
Question – ‘What’s the value?’ Answer – ‘How long is a piece of string’ Starting point – key terms ‘Market value’ is not...
The ATO is becoming less liberal in its application of the Commissioner’s Discretion under 109RB where a taxpayer breaches Division 7A with respect to loans...
The ATO’s recent Decision Impact Statements (DIS) on two Court cases provides some guidance on the term ‘employee’ for the purposes of the Superannuation Guarantee...
Subject to certain conditions, it is possible in Western Australia for someone who is married or has been in a de facto relationship for...
According to the most recent Intergenerational Report released by the Federal Government in August 2023, the next 15 to 20 years will see the greatest...
In a recent AAT judgment Huang and FCT [2024] AATA 397, Deputy President Boyle said that the penalty of some $1.4m imposed by the...
Choosing the most appropriate business structure(s) to facilitate all that is important for an SME often requires the following competing factors to be taken into...
It is notably obvious that owing debt to the ATO is not as simple as it used to be. With the amount of collectable debt...
One of the basic conditions required to be able to access the generous small business CGT concessions is that the asset passes the Active Asset...
Determining whether GST is payable on the sale of sub-divided property is difficult where the primary issue is whether the activities amount to a taxable...
