May 27, 2019

Government rules out GST changes following ATO report

The government has turned down suggestions that it is considering broadening the GST base, following reports that the ATO had called for GST to be revisited on certain exempt food items. Reports by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have suggested that the ATO was calling for the government to reconsider the GST treatment of certain [...]

May 22, 2019

LRBAs, guarantees in need of review after property market falls

Consulting

With property markets taking a tumble in recent times, some SMSF clients may need to review the loan arrangements and guarantees they have, particularly where the loan-to-value ratio has significantly dropped, says an industry lawyer. Speaking in a seminar in Sydney, DBA Lawyers director Daniel Butler said the property market has been under some stress recently, and [...]

May 20, 2019

Biggest personal tax cuts in a decade a priority for Government

Business, Consulting

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has signalled that getting his tax changes through parliament will be a top priority for his re-elected government. As per Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s announcement in the April federal budget, the Liberal Party plans on introducing the biggest round of income tax cuts since the era of John Howard and Peter Costello. Headline tax [...]

May 16, 2019

ATO clears up FAQs about Single Touch Payroll

Accounting

Ahead of the 1 July deadline for small business to be compliant with the new Single Touch Payroll (STP) regime, the ATO and professionals alike have cleared up some common points of confusion about associated AUSkey and myGov requirements. The ATO’s project lead for STP, John Shepherd, joined a panel of professionals to discuss the [...]

May 10, 2019

GST reporting: common errors and how to correct them

Business

Some businesses are making simple mistakes reporting their GST. Common GST reporting errors are: transposition and calculation errors – these mistakes often happen when manually entering amounts, so it’s important to double-check all figures and calculations before submitting your BAS; no tax invoice – you must keep tax invoices to be able to claim GST [...]

May 9, 2019

Victorian Property Valuation Cycle

Consulting

Valuations of Victorian properties are now undertaken annually instead of every two years. When you review the council rate notices for Victorian properties, the valuation is likely to be higher for Melbourne properties. No so, in the country. Thereafter a benefit to the revenue of each Melbourne based council. Since this change seems to be [...]

May 8, 2019

Australian Taxation Office (ATO) expects 200,000 to miss out on refunds by failing to lodge

Consulting

The ATO expects that 200,000 people could miss out on a tax refund this year because they haven’t lodged a tax return. Many salary and wage earners end up with a tax refund, but some are missing out because they fail to lodge on time. Taxpayers had until 31 October to either lodge their own [...]

Month: May 2019