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...

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed property owners, and tenants in many cases, in unfamiliar territory. Many tenants have been paying reduced rent or ceased paying because their income has been adversely affected. While rental income may be reduced, owners will continue to incur normal expenses on their rental property and will still be able to...

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...

There are no restrictions on how the money released under the new coronavirus compassionate ground early release scheme is spent. This means that an eligible individual is free to spend this money on anything they choose, or save it for future expenses. They are also free to recontribute any unused amounts back into their superannuation...

Despite the current COVID-19 world in which we live, the procedures for completing and lodging tax returns remains pretty much the same. So, before we sit down with you to go over your tax return, certain information will be needed. Of course these days pre-filling takes care of a lot of the “paperwork”, and if...

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...

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 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...

The government has temporarily changed bankruptcy law to help protect people who are facing unmanageable debt as a result of the economic impacts of COVID-19. If you are in financial difficulty, application can be made for temporary debt protection, which prevents recovery action by unsecured creditors, for six months. The threshold of debt that can...

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...