The ATO has clarified its position regarding loans, and the repayments of loans that may have been put on hold for the period that COVID-19 has a grip on the economy and our lives. An important sidebar to the ATO’s announcement is the implications regarding Division 7A — just in case you have had some...

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted state and territory governments to temporarily ease the manner in which documents are executed. It is now possible under multiple jurisdictions to sign and witness certain documents electronically or via audio visual links. The changes address difficulties in executing documents amid social distancing and stay-at-home restrictions. However the requirements for...

From the outset, it has been emphasised that JobKeeper payments are assessable income. However some concerns had been raised as to JobKeeper payment status in regard to being statutory income or ordinary income. And if the latter, whether it is ordinary income derived in the ordinary course of carrying on a business.  If so, JobKeeper...

Legislation has been put in place to extend the JobKeeper scheme beyond its original sunset date, although the rates of payment and certain other details have been altered. The scheme is now to run until March next year, with one version lasting until 3 January and another version in place from then until 28 March....

The pandemic period under which we labour continues to have outcomes that may at first have not been obvious, but as time and lodgement considerations come to pass, more taxation consequences edge their way out of the woodwork. One such outcome is where employees have been garaging work cars at their homes due to COVID-19,...

The extension of the instant asset write-off from $30,000 to $150,000 until 31 December 2020, as part of the Federal Government’s COVID-19 stimulus measures, provides an opportunity to look at its application to motor vehicles. Note that in addition to the higher write off amount, the business turnover threshold test for eligibility was increased to...

If your business has made tax losses in years to the current one, but you haven’t yet offset all those losses, you can still carry these forward and claim a deduction for them in a later year — as long as you meet all the requirements of the tax law. Your business structure will affect...

There have been some changes made to JobKeeper since our last newsletter. Businesses will need to meet one of the decline in turnover tests for the September 2020 quarter alone (rather than for both the June and September quarters as announced in July) to be eligible for JobKeeper for the period 28 September 2020 to...

With many having received cash flow boost and JobKeeper payments, there can arise some unique issues where these amounts are received within a trust or company. The cash flow boost and JobKeeper payment have been flowing to eligible businesses for some time now. These stimulus payments have differing tax treatments, which are: the cash flow...

As a general rule, expenses relating to travel between home and work (and vice versa) are non-deductible. A numberof exceptions to this principle exist, including for situations that require bulky equipment be transported to and fromwork. In order for transport expenses to be deductible under this “bulky equipment” exception, it is usually necessarythat all of...