How long can the ATO hold on to your GST refund? Have you ever been under pressure with cash flow problems and wondered how long the ATO is able to hold on to your goods and services tax (GST) dollars? Up until relatively recently, the common practice with regard to GST credit refunds, should something...

Providing certain benefits to staff instead of cash as part of their remuneration is fairly common practice. The usual outcome for employers is an exposure to the joys of fringe benefits tax — at the FBT rate of 46.5%. There is also the added bother of keeping appropriate records, accounting for the benefits provided, and...

Tax time is when all the efforts you have made over the financial year to keep the right records pays off. Lodging your annual income tax return starts by gathering all the information you will need to give us – incoming amounts, outgoings, evidence of claimable expenses, documents to back up offsets and rebates, and...

Federal Budget 2013-14 The budget delivered by Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan could be reasonably described as anti-climactic in many respects. It comes as no surprise therefore that the budget was devoid of any attempt to genuinely work towards true reform of the overall tax system (rather than periodic band-aid measures) to adequately meet the challenges...

The fringe benefits tax (FBT) year has just ended and the FBT return lodgement deadline is now on the horizon. The ATO has taken the opportunity to remind employers that it is actively using data matching to identify potential FBT obligations associated with motor vehicles. Businesses that have bought a vehicle in the last two...

No one wants to pay more tax than required, especially when it is due to inadvertent mistakes that could have easily been avoided. This can occur when it comes to making super contributions that exceed contribution caps. The ATO takes a hard line on excess contributions – whether they are concessional (pre-tax) or non-concessional (after-tax)...

Unsure of what the valuation guidelines are for your self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF)? With the end of the financial year fast approaching, we have compiled a guide on what you need to know about asset valuation – a process that became mandatory for all SMSFs from the 2012-13 income year as SMSFs are now required...

Business owners of private companies often borrow money from their own companies for all sorts of reasons. However there is an area of the tax law that covers situations in which private companies dole out money to those within a business, in a form other than salary, that needs to be understood by business owners....

Active innovation and constant resourcefulness are vital to a business’s success. Tax incentives are available for those businesses undertaking research and development (R&D) activities. Such businesses should take note that the deadline to register R&D activities for the 2011-12 financial year is April 30, 2013 if they haven’t yet done so. The R&D Tax Incentive,...

The last thing on your mind when you first go into a business is the day you lock the door and walk away for the last time. But whether through selling up, retirement, or even due to health reasons, it’s inevitable that you will one day need to consider what is involved in winding up...