With information sharing occurring more than ever these days, not only between the Tax Office and other government departments but also banks, financial institutions, online auction sites such as eBay and more, being targeted for a tax audit is a very real possibility. Each year the Tax Office writes to tens of thousands of individuals...

The majority of people who set up their own SMSF say that “control” is a big reason for doing it. There is flexibility and benefits in running your own superannuation fund, but it is also a big responsibility to make sure your fund grows and provides for your retirement. Preparing an “investment strategy” is one...

The idea of making allowances to cover the cost of necessary travel by employees is not a new area of tax, but it is becoming increasingly significant, especially with today’s fast-moving and ever more global economy. Businesses are increasingly moving staff around to achieve expansion and build greater ties across greater distances. It can however...

Global upstart Airbnb is leading a charge with what is best described as open-source citizen subcontracting.  It’s a collectivist, internet-based concept whereby everyday people provide accommodation services as private entities on an ad hoc basis.  Airbnb basically sets up accommodation seekers with ideally placed property owners, making them provisional innkeepers.  The model fosters a personal...

Draft guidelines have been released by the Tax Office on how the general anti-avoidance legislation should apply to professional firms that allocate profits to individual professional practitioners with proprietorship in the firm. Firms potentially affected include those providing services in the accounting, architectural, engineering, financial services, legal and medical professions. Professional firms can be structured...

The Tax Office has issued a final warning — taxpayers with undeclared offshore assets or income are running out of time and need to act now if they want to take advantage of an amnesty that runs out by December 19. The Tax Office said that the rare opportunity provided by its offshore voluntary disclosure...

If the prospect of punishing electricity bills continuing to arrive has led you to think about installing solar panels at your business premises, further considerations could include the fact that not only will you be helping the environment, but you could also be helping your own bottom line — and not just through reduced energy...

It is possible to receive amounts that you do not need to tell the taxman about, and don’t have to include as income on your tax return. The Tax Office classifies these into two different categories (or three, if you count “other” as a category). Exempt income. This is simply amounts that have been deemed...

There is no denying that the internet pervades our everyday living in multiple and various ways these days. The commercial world is not only similarly tied-in with all things “cyber”, but in fact many businesses rely to such an extent on being “online” that they couldn’t survive without it. Of course the internet is not...

The Tax Office has warned property developers against using trusts to return the proceeds from projects as capital gains instead of income, warning that it has found many instances that had subsequently been shown to be contrived arrangements to allow developers to inappropriately claim CGT concessions. In a statement, the Tax Office said it had...