Company directors personally liable for GST
New laws can make directors personally liable for GST The government recently passed new legislation designed to strengthen laws to “crack down on illegal phoenixing activity by dodgy business operators who try to avoid their obligations to their customers, employees and creditors.” In particular, the changes allow the ATO to collect estimates of anticipated GST […]
Lifestyle assets continue to be an ATO audit target
Lifestyle assets targeted The ATO has revealed it will request a further five years’ worth of policy information from over 30 insurance companies about taxpayers who own marine vessels, thoroughbred horses, fine art, high-value motor vehicles and aircraft. The ATO expects to receive information about assets owned by around 350,000 taxpayers from 2016 to 2020 […]
New GST withholding rules
Common errors with new GST withholding rules The ATO has noticed some common errors made in activity statements since the introduction of “GST at settlement” on 1 July 2018. These new laws require purchasers to withhold GST on settlement (and pay it to the ATO directly) generally when buying ‘new residential premises’ from developers. In […]
Instant asset write off
Legislation proposed to increase instant asset write-off threshold Using the simplified depreciation rules, assets costing less than the instant asset write-off threshold are written off in the year they are bought and used, or installed ready-for-use. This applies irrespective of whether the asset is purchased new or second-hand. The current threshold is $20,000. It has changed over the last […]
Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook
MYEFO report Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (‘MYEFO’) report recently released. It indicates that the underlying Budget deficit is expected to be $5.2 billion in 2019 (down from the $14.5 billion deficit estimated in the 2018/19 Federal Budget). The substantial deficit reduction is reportedly a result of increased tax collections, with individual tax collections up […]
Taxable Payments Reporting System
Expansion of the TPRS The Taxable Payments Reporting System (TPRS) has been expanded to the cleaning and courier services industries from 1 July 2018. Businesses that have an ABN and make any payments to contractors for cleaning or courier services provided on behalf of the business must lodge a Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) each […]
Electronic sales suppression tools
Ban on electronic sales suppression tools From 4 October 2018, the Government has banned activities involving electronic sales suppression tools (ESST) that relate to people or businesses that have Australian tax obligations. The production, supply, possession or use of an ESST (or knowingly assisting others to do so) may attract criminal and administrative penalties. ESSTs […]
Illegal phoenix activity
Legislation to combat illegal phoenix activity The Government has announced a package of reforms to tackle illegal phoenix behaviour. By way of background, phoenixing occurs when the controllers of a company strip the company’s assets and transfer them to another company, to avoid paying the original company’s debts. The proposed measures will deter and disrupt […]
Avoid 5 common GST reporting errors
ATO identifies five common errors when reporting GST Errors make up more than half of the overall corrections made to GST reporting. In most cases, the mistakes are due to a taxpayer error. With some simple checks, you can avoid these most common errors. When reporting GST: make sure the timing is correct, and report for […]
GST withholding measures
GST withholding measures now law Legislation passed to “clamp down” on GST evasion in property development sector. From 1 July 2018, purchasers of new residential premises and new residential subdivisions will generally be required to withhold the GST on the purchase price at settlement and pay it directly to the ATO. Property developers will also […]
