Australian Taxation & Compliance Updates

From 1 July 2019, government contracts worth over $4m (incl. GST) will require an ATO Statement of Tax Record (STR) to be attached to all tenders. The STR is required for all entities listed on the tender, and potentially some sub-contractors as well.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Increasing the Instant Asset Write-Off for Small Business Entities) Bill 2019 was passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the morning of 4th April 2019, with 18 government amendments which give effect to the federal budget announcement to increase the threshold to $30,000 and expand the eligibility to medium-sized businesses with a turnover of less than $50 million.

Our office will be closed from 11am Friday 21st December 2018 and reopen on Monday 7th January 2019. Limited monitoring of emails will occur during this period. If you wish to contact us during this time.

As a general rule, expenses incurred by a taxpayer for the purpose of earning assessable rental income will be deductible, provided they are not private or capital in nature, and that they are not explicitly excluded from deduction.

If you are a NSW business owner, you may be eligible for a payroll tax rebate. Businesses that create and fill new jobs on or after 31 July 2016 will receive payroll rebates worth A$6,000. New jobs commencing on or after 31 July 2016 will receive a rebate of up to $2,000 payable on the first anniversary and up to $4,000 on the second anniversary.

Self-education expenses generally are deductible under ITAA 1997 s 8-1 when two elements are met. The first of which is that the expense is from a “prescribed course of education”.

The ATO has released a draft practical compliance guideline providing a safe harbour approach for beneficiaries or trustees of deceased estates seeking to claim the CGT exemption for disposal of a deceased persons’s main residence within two years of their death.