Category: Small Business
Employee Allowances
Do your employees travel for work? The ATO has issued new guidance to help employers determine whether to pay employees a travel allowance or a living-away-from-home allowance (LAFHA). There are some key differences between the treatment of the two types of payments: A travel allowance will generally need to be included in your employee’s assessable...
Paying employees super through a super clearing house
If you’re a small business owner, you’ll know that you’re required to pay your employees (and certain contractors) superannuation guarantee (SG) in addition to their salary or wages. But how do you pay your SG contributions in a simple and effective way? The answer is through a superannuation clearing house (SCH). What is a SCH?...
On-boarding new employees
With Australia now opening back up after the COVID restrictions, unemployment is tipped to fall to the lowest rate in just over 50 years – down to under 4%. If over the coming period you hire new staff, there are certain steps you should follow to cover off on your tax, workplace, and superannuation obligations....
Your Business Structure
At the start of each year, business owners typically review their affairs, including at times their trading structure. Others may be going into business and choosing their initial structure. There are four main business structures – sole trader, company, trust, and partnership (or a combination of these). Sole trader This is how many businesses commence....
What does Temporary Full Expensing (TFE) of assets mean for me?
As Australia looks to get back to work and continue its recovery, the Temporary Full Expensing (TFE) measures are available to support business and encourage investment. Eligible businesses can claim an immediate deduction for the business portion of the cost of most assets in the year they are first used or installed ready for use....
Single Touch Payroll 2: The time has come
In the May 2019 Federal Budget, the Government announced that Single Touch Payroll (STP) would be expanded to include additional information, building on the first stage of STP which was made compulsory for most employers from 1 July 2019. For background, the STP regime is a government initiative which is designed to reduce an employer’s...
Christmas and the Taxman
When do employee gifts and celebrations attract fringe benefits tax (FBT)? And when are they exempt? Christmas is traditionally a time of giving – including employers showing gratitude towards staff for a job well done. However, Christmas parties and gifts can attract the attention of the Taxman. In certain circumstances, an employer can hold a...
Home as a place of business during COVID: CGT implications
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in more employees working from home than ever before. This, in turn, has resulted in such people being able to claim a range of deductions for various “running expenses” associated with working from home. These expenses include electricity, phone service, cleaning, decline in the value of equipment, furniture and furnishing...
Bonus Article, Super and bankruptcy: Protecting your nest egg
The Federal Government has put measures in place to help protect businesses from insolvencies stemming from the COVID-19 economic downturn. Yet not all businesses will come through to the other side and bankruptcy will be a reality for some. So, what happens to super benefits (ie, lump sums and pensions) when a superannuation fund member...
Bonus Article, How can you dispute an ATO decision?
If you or your client are not satisfied with an ATO private ruling or decision, there are a number of ways you can dispute it. ATO INTERNAL DISPUTES POLICY The ATO’s in-house facilitation services deal with less complex disputes. This is essentially a mediation process where an impartial ATO facilitator meets with you and the...