In the last Federal Budget the Government announced an extension to the measure providing an instant asset write-off for small businesses. This announcement has since been legislated and small businesses (now defined as businesses with turnover under $10m) can immediately deduct the business portion of most assets if they cost less than $20,000 and...
2016 Federal Budget
4 May 2016
Last night, on 3 May, the Treasurer Scott Morrison delivered his first Federal Budget. Two factors shaped this particular Budget – the need to transition Australia’s economy from the mining boom to a more diverse one, and the looming election. The result was a “campaign platform” Budget which shied away from substantial tax reform and, unlike the i...
SuperStream for employers and Self Managed Super Funds
26 June 2015
SuperStream – the new compulsory electronic regime for payment of employer super contributions and for submitting the related contribution information - commences from 1 July 2015. Additionally, SuperStream measures have implications for Self Managed Superannuation Funds which receive contributions from employers.
Federal Budget Bulletin - May 2015
13 May 2015
The Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey handed down his second Budget last night which was shaped by the Government’s experience with a politically unpopular prior year Budget and growing deficits. Delivering an upbeat outlook for Australia’s economic future, the Treasurer proclaimed the 2015/16 Budget to be “measured, fair and responsible” and designed t...
July 2014 Client Bulletin
11 July 2014
As we begin the 2014/15 financial year, a number of tax and compliance changes are coming into effect. Some changes remain announced but unlegislated while the Government is unable to get some measures through the Senate. In particular, the amendments to small business depreciation rules remain in limbo while we wait for the legislation to be reint...
SuperStream changes for employers and Self Managed Super Funds
24 June 2014
In 2011, the former government announced a raft of changes dubbed ‘Stronger Super’ designed to boost the superannuation system and to encourage people to become more educated and proactive with their super. One of these changes is the introduction of ‘SuperStream’ – the new compulsory electronic process for payment of super contributions and for ...
The proposed Mineral Resource Rent Tax repeal will reduce tax concessions for small businesses
9 Dec 2013
The Government has released draft legislation which proposes to abolish the Minerals Resource Rent Tax ('MRRT'), and the related tax concessions, introduced by the former Labor Government, as pledged by the Liberal Party at election time. The proposed repeal of the MRRT, which has been passed by the House of Representatives but is yet to pass the ...
The Government tackles the backlog of unenacted tax and superannuation announcements
7 Nov 2013
On 6 November 2013, the Treasurer Joe Hockey announced that the Government will address a large number of unlegislated tax and superannuation related announcements. These have been accumulating since 2001 and at the time of the Federal Election there were 96 unenacted announcements which have been causing a great deal of uncertainty for all potenti...
Pre-election Announcement Newsletter
3 Sept 2013
As we all prepare to cast our vote this Saturday 7 September in the 2013 Federal Election and no doubt looking forward to the end of the extraordinarily long pre-election campaign, it is worth considering the potential tax related outcomes of the Election.
Changes to Fringe Benefits Tax Announced by the Government
23 July 2013
As you may be aware, the Government has recently announced the abolition of the statutory formula method for calculation of Fringe Benefits Tax ('FBT') and employee reimbursements on cars. The statutory formula method frequently resulted in a more favourable outcome, in particular for cars with low business use, when compared to the operating cost ...