Talk of Australians’ rising life expectancy has been making headlines as of late. The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics projects a “life expectancy at birth” age of 79.9 for men and 84.3 for women. But representative body…
The treatment of excess superannuation contributions has been a contentious issue for some years, with many people falling victim to the punishing excess contributions tax through inadvertently going over the limits. The reasons this can happen include an employer making…
Investors are frequently faced with questions and issues regarding the correct tax treatment of certain aspects of financial products, and sometimes the various features of these products. An important question that crops up on a regular basis is whether investors…
With the recent major bush-fires in New South Wales, the Tax Office implemented a freeze on the requirement for affected taxpayers to meet their tax obligations. Support measures included a blanket deferral of lodgement deadlines for tax returns and activity…
Small businesses may want to act now and bring forward their capital purchases if they still wish to utilize the instant asset write-off of $6,500 or the $5,000 motor vehicle write-off in 2013-14. The details of the government’s repeal of…
One of the big motivations for considering using a trust will be to protect assets. Property and other assets can be moved into a trust for protection from creditors, to maintain an estate until a beneficiary becomes old enough to…
With the year steadily making its way towards the festive period, businesses that are turning their attention to end-of-year celebrations will need to keep in mind the tax implications of throwing a Christmas party or handing over gifts to staff.…
If you identify a goods and services tax (GST) error for a previous period or on an already lodged business activity statement (BAS), there is always scope to make a correction. The Tax Office has realized that it is necessary…
Fate of unresolved tax reforms announced by Treasurer Joe Hockey The government has outlined its plans regarding several announced but as yet un-legislated or unresolved tax and super proposals. Treasury will “definitely not” proceed with seven initiatives – including the…
What are “ordinary time earnings” for calculating the super guarantee? The Tax Office stipulates that a business must use “ordinary time earnings” to calculate the minimum compulsory superannuation guarantee contributions for employees. It says that using ordinary time earnings will…