An “employee” for superannuation guarantee purposes includes anyone who is an employee at common law. The relationship between employer and employee is often described as a “contract of service” whereas the relationship between principal and independent contractor is a “contract for services”. However, defining the contractual relationship between the employer and employee can be a […]
CURRENCY: This issue of Client Alert takes into account all developments up to and including 27 April 2016. Tax incentives to promote innovation The Government has released draft legislation to implement more of the tax incentive measures announced as part of its National Innovation and Science Agenda (released in December 2015). The measures are designed […]
Tax incentives to promote innovation Innovative companies with an interest in getting involved in the “ideas boom” need to be aware of the Government’s proposed tax incentives to help promote innovation. The Government has released draft legislation to implement more of the proposed tax measures announced as part of its National Innovation and Science Agenda […]
It costs money to start a business, and generally you cannot deduct those expenses because they are not incurred as part of running a company. Money spent to start a business is not considered as the cost of carrying on business. For example, before your company starts operating, it cannot deduct such costs as: Performing […]
Electronic data-matching is a key tool used by the ATO to check compliance. Most people are willing to meet their tax and superannuation responsibilities. However, there are a small minority of taxpayers who don’t fully meet their responsibilities. The ATO says it uses a range of measures to identify those taxpayers, including the use of […]
Source: http://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/professional-development/9168-sme-missing-out-by-not-seeking-accountants-advice The Voice of Australian Business survey, undertaken by Bentleys, shows SMEs are missing out by not taking advantage of this expert advice. The survey revealed a number of alarming statistics such as less than half of all surveyed businesses used an accountant or financial adviser to review their banking relationship in the last year. […]
Here are some useful tax tips and reminders concerning trusts: Beneficiaries Trustees should check their trust deed and make sure that they only make distributions to eligible beneficiaries. Only an eligible beneficiary can be presently entitled to income of a trust estate. If distributions are not made to eligible beneficiaries then the net (taxable) income […]
The ATO has released information on claiming deductions for mobile, home phone and internet expenses for work purposes. The following are some key points made by the ATO. Substantiating claims Taxpayers need to keep records for a four-week representative period in each income year to claim deductions of more than $50. These records may include diary entries, […]
Voluntary compliance of taxpayers is the ATO’s main goal. However, the ATO also undertakes a range of compliance activities to detect, deter and address non-compliance. If the ATO considers that a taxpayer may not be meeting certain tax obligations, or if it does not believe that a review can be sufficient, it may conduct an […]
The Treasurer has handed down his first Budget, an “election Budget”. Labor has made it clear that it will reject some of the key revenue measures announced in the Budget. A number of Bills containing important tax changes have been enacted and some other Bills have lapsed. With less than two months for an election […]