Month: February 2021

Travel and accommodation costs #5 – Can I claim a deduction for my food while traveling Draft Taxation Ruling TR 2021/D1 Income tax and fringe benefits tax: employees: accommodation and food and drink expenses, travel allowances, and living-away-from-home allowances To be able to claim a deduction for food while travelling, you first need stays away […]

Here in Canberra we have lots of people who love living in Canberra, but work in Sydney. They drive up, stay there two or three days and drive back… and they ALWAYS want to claim a deduction or the travel. What does the Commissioner say about this???? The mere fact that an employee lives a […]

In Taxation Ruling TR 2021/1 Income tax: when are deductions allowed for employees’ transport expenses? the Commissioner considers deductions for those on call or on standby. This may not be the most relevant of all the issues in this Ruling but as I seem to disappoint lots of people when I have advised on these issues, so […]

We always start with the position that travel between home and work is not deductible… And then the arguments begin. So, to end these arguments, the Commissioner states in TR 2021/1 Income tax: when are deductions allowed for employees’ transport expenses? that the usual position that the cost of travel between home and the employee’s regular place […]

The Commissioner has released 3 documents covering the income tax and FBT issues that arise from travel and accommodation costs. These three documents are: TR 2021/D1 Income tax and fringe benefits tax: employees: accommodation and food and drink expenses, travel allowances, and living-away-from-home allowances TR 2021/1 Income tax: when are deductions allowed for employees’ transport […]

A surgeon who did not pay taxes (either GST or income taxes) for 6 years found that he owed $1.2 million when the Commissioner caught up with him. He argued at the AAT that he should be released from his tax debt as he would suffer serious hardship if he was required to satisfy the […]

Let’s start with that fact that if you have any arm’s length employees in addition to your related employees, they must be reported on or before each payday under the normal STP rules. And let’s confirm that up to 30 June 2021 employers with 19 or fewer employees are exempt from reporting closely held payees […]

Here is the letter I wrote today to the Treasurer explaining why… Dear Minister, On 6 February the Commissioner of Taxation announced that, starting 1 July 2021, not-for-profit clubs or associations (for example, school parent associations or local sporting clubs) will need to report under single touch payroll per pay event rather than quarterly. Many of […]

What is the Company Tax Rate? This once was an easy question. Only a few years ago the answer was easy… 30%. But recently there have been numerous changes to the company tax rate. In addition to the 30% tax rate we now have a lower rate, which is… Year                        BRE tax rate (%)2017-18                       27.52018-19                       27.52019-20                       27.52020-21                       26.02021-22 onwards        25.0 Note […]

Sorry I keep writing about US taxes but they are going quite crazy with tax changes… and the craziest I have seen is the proposed Washington State Wealth Tax. It only applies if you have more than $1 billion in wealth and the tax each year is 1% of your wealth. But according to the […]