The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued a suite of draft guidance documents and a Taxpayer Alert on the topics of Section 100A and Division 7A of the Income Tax Assessment Act. The documents focus on arrangements commonly seen in family and private groups, and are likely to have significant impacts on the way trusts distribute income to ben...

From 1 July 2021 the superannuation guarantee (SG) is set to increase to 10% from the current rate of 9.5%.

Many Australian retirees find that they want a smaller home, or a home more suited to their empty-nest requirements. For some, selling the family home can be a great way to release built-up equity to pay for retirement living expenses or in-home support that will allow them to stay at home longer. Older Australians are the beneficiaries of the fed...

It is the season to be jolly! Well that is what the Australian Taxation Office says when providing a reminder to employers about Christmas gifts and parties!

Since that time the ATO has been working in conjunction with the software industry to ensure the transition for these business types would be as smooth and as low cost as possible. We have been proactively encouraging or facilitating our clients to transition to STP and looking for solutions to lodgement requirements under the new regime.Whilst 1 J...

From July 1, super funds are required to cancel default life insurance policies in funds where members have not made a contribution for 16 months, unless members actively "opt in" to the policy or reactivate the account.

As part of the government’s efforts to combat the black economy, and in response to the recommendations from the Black Economy Taskforce, a raft of new measures have been introduced to impose additional incentives for businesses to comply with their obligations.

With the Federal Election now out of the way, many businesses will turn to considering whether there might be any opportunities to reduce their tax liability for the year about to end on 30 June 2019. Just prior to calling the election, the Government managed to pass legislation extending the scope of its instant asset write-off. As a result, eli...

As we approach the inevitable but as yet unannounced 2019 Federal Election, Australians are starting to consider policies of the major parties, and we are particularly interested in the policies related to tax and superannuation.

After a long period of uncertainty, the legislation extending the electronic Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting regime to employers with 19 or fewer employees was agreed to by the Senate on 5 December 2018.