Bushfires, floods, storms – natural disasters come in many forms. Even strong winds and heavy rain are very capable of wreaking a lot of damage, and with these destructive events can come loss of income, either from damage to your workplace or business vehicle, let alone your tools of trade and essentials such as computers....

Many are taking the plunge and establishing a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) these days – especially the younger demographic – but it is not a decision that should be taken lightly. Do you know what the optimum conditions are to set up an SMSF, how it compares to APRA-regulated funds and what the average account...

The Tax Office is currently homing in on a few problem areas when it comes to the SMSF sector by: engaging with new trustees to ensure they can operate their SMSF and are not seeking illegal early access to their retirement benefits ensuring annual returns are lodged, and on time focusing on new funds and...

Small businesses may want to act now and bring forward their capital purchases if they still wish to utilise the instant asset write-off of $6,500 or the $5,000 motor vehicle write-off in 2013-14. The details of the government’s repeal of the Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) make it clear that some small business tax concessions...

Talk of Australians’ rising life expectancies has been making headlines as of late. The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics projects a “life expectancy at birth” age of 79.9 for men and 84.3 for women. But representative body the Actuaries Institute said those who have already reached the age of 65 can expect...

The treatment of excess superannuation contributions has been a contentious issue for some years, with many people falling victim to the punishing excess contributions tax through inadvertently going over the limits. The reasons this can happen include an employer making contributions that may fall within a different financial year, expense reimbursement or debt forgiveness which...

With the year steadily making its way towards the festive period, businesses that are turning their attention to end-of-year celebrations will need to keep in mind the tax implications of throwing a Christmas party or handing over gifts to staff. Of course there’s nothing wrong with getting into the yuletide spirit, but business owners should...

The worryingly early start to Australia’s bushfire season in New South Wales means scores of local volunteers are standing on the frontline, battling and protecting residents from the devastating fires. This raises the important practical question – do payments to volunteers constitute assessable income and are their expenses tax deductible? There is no legal definition...

The Tax Office has published a list of the top 10 types of compliance mistakes made by SMSF trustees. The data from which the list is taken is based on the type of contraventions reported by approved SMSF auditors since 2005 (when compulsory contravention reporting started) up to June 30, 2012. The top 10 contravention...

The Tax Office has issued advice regarding fuel tax credits after it noticed some errors creeping into recent activity statements — also reminding businesses that rates can change regularly (and have done so recently) and that this can be a common source of the mistakes being made. For those businesses eligible to claim fuel tax...