The changing financial circumstances of many tenants (and landlords) have had a significant impact on many residential tenancy arrangements. The ATO has provided brief guidance on its approach to the most common changes, including: Tenants being unable to pay rent: In these cases the ATO indicates landlords can still claim deductions for rental expenses where tenants … Read more
Tax treatment of State government COVID-19 assistance The ATO has released guidance on the tax treatment of a range of State and Territory business support measures, including direct grants, payroll and other tax relief, and expense reimbursements. Cash grants The ATO has confirmed that these payments (both lump sums and ongoing payments) should be included … Read more
Employers that have fallen behind with their superannuation guarantee (SG) obligations will have 1to “self-correct” under a new amnesty.
The super guarantee (SG) amnesty is a one-off opportunity to correct past unpaid SG amounts. Employers have a six-month window, until 7 September 2020, to disclose, lodge and pay unpaid SG amounts for their employees.
Help for business JobKeeper 2.0 The Government has announced further changes to the JobKeeper scheme. The good news is that employees that missed out on JobKeeper because they were not employed on 1 March 2020 might now be eligible. The proposed changes would enable employees employed on 1 July 2020 to receive JobKeeper payments from … Read more
On Friday 14 August 2020, the Treasurer released the updated JobKeeper Rules dealing with eligible employees which apply from 3 August 2020 onwards. Specific rules dealing with JobKeeper 2.0 have not yet been released. New test date for employees Under the original JobKeeper rules, an employee generally needed to have been employed by the entity at 1 … Read more
We always knew that a Government scheme swiftly distributing cash during a crisis was going to come with equally swift compliance and review measures, particularly when eligibility was self-assessed. Two major Australian Taxation Office (ATO) initiatives are searching out fraud and schemes designed to take advantage of the Government’s Coronavirus Economic Response Package. Tip lines, … Read more
With the increased numbers of taxpayers working from home due to COVID-19, the ATO has released specific guidance softening the rules around claiming deductions for home office expenses, including a ‘shortcut’ set rate method. Firstly, the ATO has reduced the usual requirements to be ‘eligible’ to claim the expenses, which usually require a specific area … Read more
Important reminders – Trust distributions The Template We Sent The template may mention of a Clause and any relevant schedules you may have to specifically mention. These are highlighted in the template by a red colour, this is where you check your Trusts Deed to enter the correct clause in regards to decisions being made … Read more
As announced earlier in the week, the Government is planning to extend the $150,000 instant asset write-off threshold for a further 6 months until 31 December 2020. This means that the higher threshold can apply to assets that are first used or installed ready for use for a taxable purpose on or after 12 March … Read more
The Government has announced grants of $25,000 to encourage people to build a new home or substantially renovate their existing home. The HomeBuilder scheme targets the residential construction market by providing tax-free grants of $25,000 to eligible owner-occupiers, including first home buyers, to build a new home or substantially renovate their existing home. The grants … Read more
