FBT 2023
The Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) year ends on 31 March. We’ve outlined the hot spots for employers and employees. Important FBT issues FBT Exemption for Electric Cars Electric cars represent a small but growing proportion of the new car market in Australia. To encourage Australians to make the shift, the Government has passed legislation that […]
The ‘Super’ Wars
A consultation paper released by Treasury has sparked a national debate about the role, purpose and access to superannuation ahead of the 2023-24 Federal Budget. What is the purpose of superannuation? At first glance, the consultation released by Treasury in February titled Legislating the objective of Superannuation sounds innocuous enough. The consultation seeks to anchor […]
Super Balance increase but no Change for Contributions
The general transfer balance cap (TBC) – the amount of money you can potentially hold in a tax-free retirement account, will increase by $200,000 on 1 July 2023 to $1.9 million. The TBC is indexed to the consumer price index each December. The TBC applies individually. If your transfer balance account reached $1.7m or more […]
What will the ATO be asking about your holiday home?
Taxpayers claiming deductions on holiday homes are in the ATO’s sights. The ATO is more than a little concerned that people with holiday homes are claiming more deductions than they should and have published the starting questions they will be asking to scrutinise claims: The problem is blanket claims for the holiday home regardless of […]
What’s the deal with Working from Home?
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has updated its approach to how you claim expenses for working from home. The ATO has ‘refreshed’ the way you can claim deductions for the costs you incur when you work from home. From 1 July 2022 onwards, you can choose either to use a new ‘fixed rate’ method (67 […]
Section 100A
The ATO has released its final position on how it will apply some integrity rules dealing with trust distributions – changing the goal posts for trusts distributing to adult children, corporate beneficiaries, and entities with losses. As a result, many family groups will pay higher taxes because of the ATO’s more aggressive approach. The tax […]
Is ‘downsizing’ worth it?
Downsizer contributions are an excellent way to get money into superannuation quickly. And now that the age limit has reduced to 55 from 60, more people have an opportunity to use this strategy if it suits their needs. What is a ‘downsizer’ contribution? If you are aged 55 years or older, you can contribute $300,000 […]
Full throttle in 2023
In a volatile market, keeping to a strategy, or let’s face it creating one, can be tough. The downside of not taking time out for your strategy is that there is a tendency to keep a short-term focus at an operational level to try and pick quick wins to generate financial returns. Sometimes in the […]
How good is ChatGPT at tax?
Not being paranoid or anything but we were curious about the skills of the latest innovation to take the world by storm, ChatGPT, and its ability to work with the Australian tax system. Let’s start by saying that we were impressed. Not so much by ChatGPT’s ability to work with the complexities of the tax […]
SRJWW & Zoe (Life) My Way: Greg Browne
It all started with a boy. Greg Browne had just exited a motel business and was “looking for the next chapter” in his life when an old friend asked him to look after her son for a few hours a week. A non-verbal autistic child, this boy was in need of a strong male mentor. […]
Andrea Roberts
When Andrea Roberts, Human Resources Advisor at SRJ Walker Wayland, started her career, she didn’t know where she’d end up. Andrea had seen herself as a teacher, but after her mother encouraged her to get an office job, she found herself working as a receptionist at SRJWW – which was then just TBC. In her […]
ASIC Annual Review
Each year ASIC increase the Annual Review fee, although there are companies and schemes who choose to pay their fee 10 years in advance at a discounted rate. Note: Annual Review fees are tax deductible but late fees are not The table below shows fees as at today’s date: Type of company or scheme Annual […]
What do the ‘Secure Jobs, Better Pay’ reforms mean?
The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 passed Parliament on 2 December 2022. The legislation is extensive and brings into effect a series of changes and obligations that will impact on many workplaces. The Bill also addresses many of the complexities of the enterprise bargaining process by streamlining the initiation and approval […]
ATO Online Services
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) are further strengthening the security of their online services by adding an extra step into linking our accessibility with our clients. As at 13 December 2022, businesses and organisations will need to use the nomination feature in their Online Services for business if they: Once you have completed the agent […]
From Cadet to Emerging Leader
With warm smiles and welcoming demeanours, Danielle Dimmick and Ellie Gowlett are the epitome of professional success. Although young, the two women have achieved so much in their emerging careers as Chartered Accountants (CAs). Both are currently managing large client accounts and have senior responsibilities within their departments. So how did Danielle and Ellie grow […]
Director Identification Number
The deadline for existing directors of Australian companies to obtain a Director Identification Number is 30 November 2022. All directors of a company, registered Australian body, registered foreign company or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation (ATSI) will need a director ID. This includes directors of a corporate trustee of a self-managed super fund (SMSF). […]
How high will Interest Rates go?
Low interest rates have been a mainstay since the global financial crisis of 2008. When the pandemic hit, Governments pushed stimulus measures through the economy and central banks reduced interest rates even further. Coming out of COVID, housing market demand was strong and prices boomed but at the same time, supply chains remained restricted and […]
The ATO’s U-Turn
Sportspeople, media personalities, celebrities and ‘insta’ influencers beware. The ATO has taken a U-turn on how fame and image should be taxed. If you’re famous and make an income from your fame and image, the way the ATO believes you should be taxed on the income you make may change under a new draft determination […]
Can you prevent a Hack?
In the wake of the Optus data leak, legislation before Parliament will lift the maximum fine for serious or repeated breaches of the Privacy Act from $2.2m to up to $50m. But there are no guarantees that even the strongest safety measures will prevent an attack. So, what does that mean for business and their […]
The Creative Accountant
Ask SRJWW Director Shaun Reeves about ‘creative accounting’ and you’ll get more than the usual response. “Compliance accounting always swims between the flags” says Shaun, “but great business advisory is all about imagining better—and that’s always a creative act”. Shaun’s made creativity a major tool in his accounting practice and his life. He shares its […]
Australian Super Funds gorge on Cryptocurrency
The value of cryptocurrency assets inside Australian self managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) increased by 589.9% ($1.17bn) between June 2019 and June 2022, according to the latest ATO statistics. While cryptocurrency is a relatively small asset class at only 0.16% of the $837bn held in SMSFs, it is a growing asset class, larger than collectibles and […]
States move on Property based Taxes
Queensland backs down on Australia wide Land Tax Assessment The Queensland Government has backed away from an amendment that would have seen the land tax rate for investment property in Queensland assessed on the value of the investor’s Australia wide land holdings from 1 July 2023, not just the value of their Queensland property. The […]
Lessons from a Data Breach
The Optus data breach is top of mind for a lot of Australians, particularly those who have had their data breached. For business, the breach is a timely warning on the importance of understanding what data is held on your customers (and should you hold it?), how it is secured, how your systems work and […]
QBCC Annual Reporting
The Category licences have until 31 December 2022 to lodge and the SC (Self Certification) holders until March 2023, for their 2022 financial information. Although the annual reporting due dates are some time away, it is best to start looking at your 30 June 2022 financial information early. The due dates are 31 December 2022 […]
Who to turn to when your footprint overflows…
How SRJWW supported Anthony Beasley during times of turbulence, business growth and financial freedom As the director of Jarah Corporate, Anthony Beasley is renowned internationally as a specialist in the fields of mining, resources, leadership and health and safety systems design. But the one area he hasn’t been able to master? Financial management. “We’re very […]
Tax Audit Insurance
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and other government revenue authorities are consistently active in conducting audits, inquiries, investigations, reviews and examinations (audit activity) in response to lodged client returns. When you are subjected to audit activity instigated by the ATO or other government revenue authorities – we, as your Tax Agent, are faced with two […]
Xero & Multi-factor Authentication
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is introducing new regulations to help better protect Australian businesses which will impact all software providers servicing Australian organisations, including Xero. They are committed to helping protect your businesses data and complying with the ATO regulations, which is why they’re letting us pass on information to you, our clients & […]