Accounting & Tax
Accounting Compliance is the broad term for a list of services that come together to ensure that your company financial matters are up to Government and regulatory standard.
Read More
Business Advisory and Planning
Whether you are preparing for your business startup or devising a long-term strategy, we can offer a range of advisory services, ensuring that you’re on the right track with the right business structure in place.
Read More
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)
Strategic M&A advisory, business valuation, post-merger integration, and cloud migration services tailored for accounting and professional firms in Australia.
Read More
Self-Managed Super Fund
SMSF Compliance is becoming more and more complex, The methodology at Pace Advisory Group involves a complete understanding of your SMSF to ensure that your fund complies with all tax and superannuation regulations.
Read More
Taxpayer’s claim for travel expenses denied01/08/2025In a recent decision, the Administrative Review Tribunal (‘ART’) denied an offshore worker’s claim for work-related travel expenses, although it did allow his claim for home office expenses.
During the relevant period, the taxpayer resided in Queensland with his family, while his employment as an engineer was primarily based at an offshore facility located off the coast of Western Australia.
In his tax return for the 2022 income year, the taxpayer claimed work-related expenses of over $30,000, relating to accommodation, meal and incidental expenses for stays in Perth, Darwin and Broome between rotations on the offshore facility.
The ART noted that the taxpayer’s permanent work location was the offshore facility. It accordingly largely disallowed the work-related expenses on the basis that they were “either preliminary to the commencement of those (employment) duties, or occurred after employment duties had ceased, and the (taxpayer) was on leave.”
The ART also did not accept the taxpayer’s claim for travel-related expenses with reference to the substantiation exception, as the allowances he received were not ‘travel allowances’.
However, the ART did accept the taxpayer’s claim for home office expenses of $579, noting that “As an engineer, he is required to engage in continuing professional development and the Masters and other studies completed in the home office were for this purpose.”
Please note: Many of the comments in this publication are general in nature and anyone intending to apply the information to practical circumstances should seek professional advice to independently verify their interpretation and the information’s applicability to their particular circumstances. [...]
Changes to tax return amendment period for business01/08/2025Businesses with an annual aggregated turnover of less than $50 million now have up to four years from the date of their tax return assessment to request amendments (increased from two years). This applies to assessments for the 2024/25 and later income years.
If businesses make a mistake on a tax return and need to request an amendment, they should lodge their requests well before the end of the amendment period to make sure the ATO can process it within the time limit.
They should keep accurate and complete records to support their amendment request. [...]
Taxpayers who need to lodge a TPAR01/08/2025Taxpayers may need to lodge a Taxable payments annual report (‘TPAR’) online by 28 August if they have paid contractors to provide any of the following services on their behalf:
n building and construction;
n cleaning;
n courier and road freight;
n information technology; or
n security, investigation or surveillance.
If the ATO is expecting a TPAR from a taxpayer who does not need to lodge one, they can complete a ‘TPAR non-lodgment advice form’ by 28 August.
Taxpayers who no longer pay contractors can also use this form to tell the ATO they will not need to lodge a TPAR in the future (although if their circumstances change they may need to lodge a TPAR).
Editor: Please contact our office if you need assistance with completing and/or lodging a TPAR.
Note that paper lodgments of TPARs will no longer be accepted after 28 August 2025.. [...]
ATO warns of common Division 7A errors01/08/2025The ATO reminds shareholders of private companies that understanding how Division 7A of the tax legislation applies is crucial to avoiding costly tax consequences when accessing the company’s money or other benefits.
When Division 7A applies, the recipient of a payment, loan or other benefit can be deemed to have been paid an unfranked dividend that will be included in their assessable income.
While Division 7A can be complex, most errors the ATO sees that result in its application are simple in nature, including:
u shareholders not recognising that a company’s money is not their money, and they cannot access it for personal use without tax consequences;
u loans being made without complying loan agreements; and
u applying the wrong benchmark interest rate when calculating Division 7A loan repayments.
These errors are often the result of common myths about Division 7A and how it works.
To support taxpayers’ understanding of their tax obligations when managing private company money, the ATO has launched new content: ‘Division 7A Myths debunked’ on its website.
This page debunks common myths about Division 7A, breaking them into topics such as ‘business structure’, ‘record keeping’, and ‘payments to other entities’. [...]