Fuel Crisis Relief: What It Means for Your Business
The Federal Government Has Acted — Here’s What You Need to Know Australia is in the middle of a fuel supply crisis triggered by escalating conflict in the Middle East, which has disrupted global oil supply chains and pushed retail petrol above $2.60 per litre in some parts of the country, with diesel exceeding $3.00 […]
Prepare for Payday Super: Key Readiness Steps for Employers
From 1 July 2026, the way you pay your employees’ super is changing. Instead of making quarterly super payments to your employees’ funds, contributions will essentially need to be paid at the same time as salary and wages. ‘Payday Super’ marks a significant change for employers. To make sure your business isn’t caught out, make […]
Taking steps to stay compliant with ATO rules
“Every year we see small businesses run into avoidable issues because they haven’t kept accurate records, reported all their income or managed their cashflow effectively” Angela Allen, ATO Assistant Commissioner The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is encouraging Aussie small businesses to stay compliant. By doing so, you avoid the problems, penalties and fines that can […]
Work-related expense claims rejected by ART
The Administrative Review Tribunal (‘ART’) recently disallowed a taxpayer’s claims for many different types of work-related expenses. The taxpayer was employed full-time as an engineer, working from home two days a week. For the 2023 income year, he claimed deductions totalling over $61,000, in relation to (among other things) car expenses, travel expenses, clothing expenses, […]
Check GST credit claims before lodging BASs
Taxpayers who are registered for GST can claim GST credits (or ‘input tax credits’) for the GST included in the price of goods and services they buy for their business. However, if they buy something for both business and private use, they need to apportion their GST credit to only claim the business use. For […]
Government payments programs
The ATO is reminding taxpayers that receive government payments for delivering services under a Commonwealth program, such as healthcare, disability support or child care, that they have an obligation to: keep accurate records; and report any such income they receive in their tax return. The ATO recently advised that it would be contacting taxpayers and […]
Contractors omitting income
Through data matching, the ATO is seeing some contractors incorrectly reporting or omitting contractor income. Contractors need to report all their income in their tax return, including payments made by businesses for their contracting work. Note that, as part of the taxable payments reporting system (‘TPRS’), certain businesses must lodge a ‘Taxable payments annual report’ […]
Businesses using cash to dodge obligations
The ATO is ‘cracking down’ on businesses that use cash to avoid meeting their tax, employer and business obligations. Businesses that do this may: fail to report all sales transactions and fail to issue receipts; avoid paying GST, income tax, PAYG withholding, super guarantee, insurance and work cover protection; report their income below the $75,000 […]
$20,000 instant asset writeoff extended
Taxpayers should note that if their business has an aggregated annual turnover of less than $10 million, they may be able to use the instant asset write-off (‘IAWO’) to immediately deduct the business portion of the cost of eligible assets which cost less than $20,000. Eligible assets must basically have been first used (or installed […]
Why ESG is your new competitive edge
As transparency in business reporting has increased, so has our awareness of environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting. But ESG reporting isn’t something that just applies for big corporations and large multinationals. According to recent research from Sage and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), 70% of SMEs now say sustainability is central or important […]