With Australia now opening back up after the COVID restrictions, unemployment is tipped to fall to the lowest rate in just over 50 years – down to under 4%. If over the coming period you hire new staff, there are certain steps you should follow to cover off on your tax, workplace, and superannuation obligations.

Do your employees travel for work? The ATO has issued new guidance to help employers determine whether to pay employees a travel allowance or a living-away-from-home allowance (LAFHA).

Now more than ever businesses should consider preparing cashflow forecasts.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, half of all small to medium businesses fail in the first three years of operation. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission states that poor cash flow is cited as a factor in 40% of business failures. Indeed, as Australia emerges from an economic recession, cashflow will be a key issue for all businesses – not just start-ups.

In the May 2019 Federal Budget, the Government announced that Single Touch Payroll (STP) would be expanded to include additional information, building on the first stage of STP which was made compulsory for most employers from 1 July 2019.

As Australia looks to get back to work and continue its recovery, the Temporary Full Expensing (TFE) measures are available to support business and encourage investment. Eligible businesses can claim an immediate deduction for the business portion of the cost of most assets in the year they are first used or installed ready for use.

At the start of each year, business owners typically review their affairs, including at times their trading structure. Others may be going into business and choosing their initial structure. There are four main business structures – sole trader, company, trust, and partnership (or a combination of these).

The director identification number (director ID) regime is now in place with Australia’s newest company directors having to comply first.

Director IDs are a unique 15-digit identifier that a director will apply for once and will keep forever, similar to a tax file number (TFN). A director can only have one director ID and they must use it for all relevant entities.

From wine-fuelled political debates over Christmas lunch to overly competitive games of Monopoly, there are many reasons family members can find themselves at loggerheads with one another. A particularly serious scenario is when a parent passes away and leaves behind an estate that becomes a source of bitter conflict between siblings.

Rental property investors can claim capital works deductions for construction costs for a rental property, however there are limits imposed in relation to the dates such works were completed. The deductions are only available on residential properties if these were built after 17 July 1985. Generally, up to 15 September 1987 the rate is 4% a year (over 25 years) and after then is 2.5% (but over 40 years).

Who can (and can’t) be part a family group for the purpose of making a family trust election (FTE)?

As you can see by the diagram below, the ‘family group’ is dependent on the choice of the ‘test individual’. Once that person is chosen, the family group includes the person’s spouse, plus any of their children, grandchildren, parents, grand- parents, brothers, sisters, nephews, or nieces. The spouses of any of these people are also included.

The purpose of a trust is to separate the legal and beneficial ownership of assets. The legal ownership of the asset rests with the trustee. The beneficiaries benefit from the income that flows from the assets.

A trust is not a legal entity. It is best described as a legal “relationship” that is controlled by the trustee of the trust under the terms of the trust deed.

The Government has decided not to go down the austerity path, which will be a relief for many taxpayers and businesses.

Rather, the Government has decided to put its foot on the accelerator with the hope that the growth in the economy over a long period of time will help to pay down the debt that has been central to the Government’s response to COVID-19.

Loans for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are available until 31 December 2021 under the Federal Government’s SME Recovery Loan Scheme. The scheme is designed to support the economic recovery, and to provide continued assistance, to firms that received JobKeeper and also to firms that are eligible flood-affected businesses.

A general law partnership is formed when two or more people (and up to, but no more than, 20 people) go into business together. Partnerships are generally set up so that all partners are equally responsible for the management of the business, but each also has liability for the debts that business may incur.

Government agencies regularly access data contained in the ABN registration, and where this is not up-to-date the taxpayer may be missing out on stimulus measures, grants, and other government support.

This became painfully evident during the 2019-20 bushfires, and is now re-surfacing during COVID-19 when it was found that a concerning amount of ABN data was out-of-date.

The ATO and the Australian Business Register are making efforts to remind businesses and relevant taxpayers that it is essential to ensure ABN registration details are accurate and completely up-to-date.

The ATO has produced a “Cash Flow Coaching Kit”, which is a free resource and designed as a value-add advisory tool for small business owners. It does not replace any existing accounting or financial tools, although it can be used to complement software accounting packages.

The Director Identification Number (DIN) regime may have been lost in many business owners’ peripheral vision, or even dropped off the radar completely, as it has been on the horizon for some time. But it is worth keeping in mind the ramifications of the measure, as the details could become important sooner than many realise, even before this year is out.

When you first went into business, either buying an established enterprise or starting from scratch, probably the last thing on your mind was the day you would close the door for the last time.

But in a way it’s inevitable, whether through the outcomes from COVID-19, retirement, health reasons or, in a more ideal scenario, pursuing another career. But it’s important for you to know what’s involved when you come to the time when you close your business, as this can go a long way to smoothing the transition.