Posted in Tax Obligations

  The Australian Taxation Office has just released an updated version of their taxpayer assist App. You can find this App by simply searching ‘ATO’ in your relevant App store. The prominent features of the App are: Access current income tax rates for Australian residents, foreign residents and minors; Read the latest tax news, any important updates, frequently asked questions and give feedback; Calculate a payment plan for your tax liab...

  Some small business accelerated depreciation rules will be removed from 1 January 2014.
Since 1 July 2012 eligible small business taxpayers have been able to claim an immediate deduction for assets costing less than $6,500. This will revert to a threshold of $1,000 for assets that are first installed and ready for use on or after 1 January 2014.
If the value of a small business entity’s low-value pool is less than $6,500 at the end of the income tax year...

Proposed Taxation Changes 2013-14 The new Coalition Government has proposed various taxation changes for their first term. A large number of these are repeals of legislation that the Labor government only recently introduced. Some of the important proposed changes are as follows: Small Business Entities (SBE): Remove the increased immediate deduction for assets costing less than $6,500 Remove the accelerated depreciation deduction for the first $5,000 of the ...

There are a number of ATO scam emails currently circulating. These emails claim to come from the ATO and generally offer a tax refund. The emails go to great lengths to convince recipients that they are genuine and often contain a replica of the ATO’s logo. They usually link to a bogus ATO website asking for personal and credit card details. The ATO have confirmed they will never ask for personal or credit card details in an email. Key indicators of the scams include: ...

  If you carry on all or part of your employment activities from home, then you may be eligible to claim a portion of your expenses as a tax deduction. Ideally, you should have a room set aside as a home office. The area must be clearly identifiable as a place of work and used almost exclusively for work purposes. The expenses you can claim are: Heating, cooling and lighting Decline in value (depreciation) of home office furniture and fittings Dec...