News

The Government has moved to put an end to ‘eternal students’ who constantly study and never earn an income and speed up the payment cycle for those with outstanding debt.

When someone inherits a dwelling there are some special rules contained within the main residence exemption provisions that can provide a full exemption if certain conditions are met. If the conditions are not met, the beneficiary might face a nasty capital gains tax (CGT) bill for their good fortune.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has announced a new data-matching program targeting taxpayers earning income from the exploding popularity of short-term rentals available on platforms like AirBNB and Stayz.

Legislation passed by Parliament late last month introduces a new test that will restrict some companies from accessing the lower company tax rate from the 2017-18 financial year.

In the same month that desperate farmers made headlines preparing to destroy starving flocks and pleading with the public to pay a few cents more for their dairy products, Dick Smith’s nationalistic brand announced its closure. The question is, will Australians pay more for a cause?

The ATO says that clothing claims are up nearly 20% over the last five years with people either making mistakes or deliberately over-claiming. Common mistakes include people claiming ineligible clothing, claiming for something without having spent the money, and not being able to explain the basis for how the claim was calculated.

An issue that many business owners and investors will need to grapple with is uncertainty on the tax rate that applies to companies for the year ended 30 June 2018 and the maximum franking rate on dividends paid during the 2018 income year.

The cash sitting in your superannuation fund can be tempting, particularly if you are short of cash. But, the reality is there are very few ways you can take advantage of your superannuation once it has been contributed to the fund – even if you change your mind.

No one wants to pay more tax than they need to or face unnecessary risks. We’ve compiled a list of our top tips for you.

Employers that have fallen behind with their superannuation guarantee (SG) obligations will have 12 months to “self-correct” under a new amnesty announced late last month.

Every year, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) compiles the tax data they collect. The recently released 2015-16 ‘tax stats’ encapsulate the data from 16 million income tax returns lodged for the 2016 income year for 13.5 million individuals, 940,000 companies, as well as superannuation funds, partnerships, and trusts.

Reward for work is a dominant theme in this year’s Budget. The seven year personal income tax plan initially targets low to middle income earners before making significant changes to the tax brackets.

Have you heard about Single Touch Payroll (STP)?

STP is a significant change affecting your business and you need to make sure you are ready.

New data breach rules in effect from 22 February 2018 place an onus on business to protect and notify individuals whose personal information is involved in a data breach that is likely to result in ‘serious harm’.