The 2023-24 Federal Budget was handed down on 9 May. It contains
changes to business and personal taxation, superannuation, social security
entitlements, as well as cost of living relief. Following are some of the
headline measures, many of which are subject to enabling legislation.

Are you an employer who needs to make superannuation guarantee (SG) contributions for your employees? If so, it may be worthwhile bringing forward these SG contributions to before 1 July to benefit from a tax deduction this financial year.

It’s now less than a week until the Federal Budget which is to be handed down on 9 May.

One of the most common decisions facing business is how to finance and account for the acquisition of a motor vehicle. There are numerous ways of doing so, with each resulting in differing accounting, taxation and GST treatment.

If you run your business through a family trust, there’s some good news on the distribution front.

In mid-April, the ATO responded to the landmark trust distribution case, namely the Guardian AIT appeal ruling in January by the Full Federal Court, with a decision impact statement that where the ATO concedes that it will have to amend its position on trusts, Section 100A of the Income Tax Act and reimbursement agreements. In the Guardian appeal, the Full Federal Court rejected the ATO’s position that a reimbursement agreement existed in the Guardian case and so section 100A did not apply.

With car fringe benefits one of the most common benefits provided by employers to employees, a new ATO fact sheet shines more light on the FBT exemption for electric vehicles.

The Government has welcomed the actions of an ATO-led taskforce in relation to what is termed “the biggest GST fraud in Australia’s history”.

With the end of the FBT year approaching, are your car logbooks in order?

The operating cost method is used by many employers to calculate their car FBT liability. This method is particularly effective where the business use of the vehicle is high. Keeping a logbook is essential to use the operating cost method.

The ATO is encouraging accountants to educate clients around varying PAYG instalments – this can potentially assist cashflow.

The ATO has released its new year’s resolutions…and there is not a gym in sight!

According to the ATO the five new year’s resolutions to keep if you want to stay on top of your tax and super in 2023 are:

Do you operate your business via a family trust? The ATO released its final guidance material on the application of section 100A on 8 December 2022 – TR 2022/4 and PCG 2022/2. In doing so, it has clarified a number of issues which is welcome.

Christmas is traditionally a time of giving, including employers showing gratitude to their workers for a job well done throughout the year. However, depending on the nature and value of the gift, and also who it is gifted to, such magnanimity can attract unwanted tax consequences. So how as an employer do you gift most tax-effectively this festive season?

Hiring additional employees to help with surging end-of-year demand? A New employment form,   accessed through ATO online services, will help reduce your compliance time.

The ATO has issued new draft guidelines around a new method (the revised fixed rate method) of calculating work-from-home running expenses from 1 July 2022 (as an alternative to calculating the actual work-related portion of all running expenses).

Electric vehicles are set to become more affordable for both households and businesses after the government sealed a deal with crossbench Senators on legislation to exempt low and zero emission cars from fringe benefits tax (FBT).

The 2022-23 Federal Budget was handed down on 25 October. The confirmation of lucrative income tax cuts, and the scrapping of a tax offset for low- and middle-income earners were the big-ticket items.

With hundreds of thousands of directors yet to apply for their director identification number (director ID) ahead of the looming November deadline, a last-ditch public information campaign has been launched.

All existing directors of a company, registered Australian body, registered foreign company, or a director of corporate trustees of an SMSF are required to apply for a director identification number (director ID) by 30 November 2022…so act now! If you are a director of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander corporation (CATSI), you have an additional 12 months to apply to 30 November 2023.