More support for taxpayers in the face of the COVID-19 health crisis has just been announced in the form of a suspension of the indexation of tax instalments for the 2020-21 income year. Both income tax (PAYG) and GST instalments are included, which the government says affects 2.2 million and 81,000 taxpayers respectively. Indexation, using...

Note that the boost to the instant asset write off rules that the government put in place to help stimulate the Australian economy in the face of the COVID-19 crisis has been extended to the end of this year. Businesses with a turnover of up to $500 million a year will be allowed to continue...

Think your business is too small or that your data and information isn’t important enough to be targeted by hackers? Think again. Much of our communication, be it personal or businesses-related, has increasingly moved online in the last two decades, and continues to do so, especially in these recent times of COVID-19 with nearly everyone...

Companies should note that the government made a determination just before the end of the financial year that permits companies to hold annual general meetings by electronic format. Also, companies may execute a document, without using a common seal, by electronic communication. The determination is to be repealed on 6 November 2020. Annual general meetings...

PAYG instalments is a system that helps you manage your expected tax liability on income from your business or investments for the current income year by making smaller regular payments. To assist taxpayers experiencing financial difficulty as a result of COVID-19, the ATO is providing added flexibility to manage your instalments to suit your circumstances....

The government’s National COVID-19 Coordination Commission (NCCC) has released an online planning tool to help businesses develop a plan to keep their workers, customers and the community safe as they reopen or increase their activities in the weeks and months ahead. The NCCC tool, in the form of a template called “My business’s COVIDSafe plan”,...

The ATO has announced an important tax residency concession for foreign incorporated companies during the COVID-19 crisis. BackgroundOn 24 March 2020, the government announced a ban on Australians travelling overseas, using powers given to it under the Biosecurity Act 2015. The ban is aimed at preventing travellers returning to Australia with COVID-19. There are limited...

When assessing eligibility for JobKeeper assistance, the first question that must be answered is whether the entity was carrying on a business as at 1 March 2020. This question is of particular relevance to entities that have solely or predominantly rental income (other than input taxed supplies). Whereas one Administrative Appeals Tribunal case noted that “the...

The ATO has announced that it has identified some common errors regarding luxury car tax (LCT) claims, but also says there are issues it has identified with LCT that are more associated with actively trying to pay less tax than required. Common errorsSome common errors the ATO has identified when taxpayers report or claim LCT...

While many of the COVID-19 stimulus changes such as the JobKeeper payment  are grabbing headlines, it is easy to overlook the significance of the $150,000 instant asset write off provisions. The key changes for the instant asset write off include the following. Certain business entities can access an immediate deduction for the full cost of...