TaxRambling.com

Today a change passed through the Parliament (still has to go back to the House of Reps to approve amendments but this is pretty much a formality) that allows individuals aged 65 and 66 who were not previously able to access the bring forward non-concessional contributions cap due to their age may do so, starting […]

In the case of VNBM and Commissioner of Taxation [2021] AATA 1626 the directors of a company made the following payments… So why would the directors (spouses with the husband being an accountant and tax agent) decided to pay such a large salary in the March 2020 quarter? Have a look at the PAYGW for […]

On 12 February I told you about the surgeon who did not lodge tax return for years and ended up owing $1.2 million in taxes. As a reminder, he argued the tax debt should be forgiven as if he had to pay the $1.2 million, he would suffer the following “serious hardships”: He could no […]

If you support NZ sporting teams playing in Australia, and you are not a rugby fan, it has been a long time since you have been on top. But now these NZ teams playing in Australian comps can boast that they won in the best way… not on the pitch or court, but in the […]

I am always getting asked about bonuses, and generally it is around the timing idea of declaring the bonuses before 30 June so the employer gets the deduction in year 1, but paying the bonus after 30 June so the employee has to pay tax in year 2. Yes, you can do this… But I […]

Since 1996, the place to go to work out if an employer has to pay FBT on car spaces it owns or leases has been Taxation Ruling TR 96/26, titled “Fringe benefits tax: car parking fringe benefits”. Note: reimbursing someone who has used a third party car park is not a car parking fringe benefit […]

What do we have in this year’s Federal Budget for all our tax and super practitioners? First, we have the announcements that we are keeping what we already have for a bit longer… Retaining the low and middle income tax offset for the 2021-22 income year  The Government will retain the $1,080 low and middle […]

I have been waiting for a case like this for some time. In Spencer and Commissioner of Taxation [2021] AATA 1106, the taxpayer claimed all his home internet and all his phone costs (including buying the phone). His employer had given him a work phone and a tablet with a SIM card so he could […]

According to ATO data modelled by Deloitte Access Economics… This is just for personal income tax, and it is Access updating the ATO data from 2018. Just because it makes people angry, let me say that is you earn more than $180,000 you are in the top 3.4% of Australians (now for the excuses). But […]

Now that JobKeeper is over, the only concern I hear from practitioners is about the possibility of having to pay it back. Many of us estimated a projected loss well over 30% back in March 2020 but that loss never came and they wonder whether the Commissioner is going to come after this. Well, the […]