Minnik Chartered Accountants is in the process of migrating its practice to the Cloud. This includes practice management accounting & taxation software, database, document storage and email functionality. We look to constantly improve the way we do business and implement online solutions to provide our core function. We are sharing our learnings with our clients…
A report released by independent think tank Grattan Institute concludes that without reducing the thresholds at which Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) repayments are triggered, the costs of the program will escalate beyond sustainability and put other education programs at risk. Reducing the thresholds would also increase repayment money by an initial $500 million in…
The ATO reports that more than 60% of small businesses are already on board with SuperStream, but also warns that if your business is one of tardy, you have a mere 100 days remaining to get it done. With the June 30 deadline rapidly approaching, the ATO is encouraging small businesses to make becoming SuperStream…
The ATO has issued a timely reminder before the end of the financial year on the changes announced in last year’s Budget. Instant asset write-off – simpler depreciation rules Small businesses can immediately deduct the business portion of most (new or second-hand) assets if they cost less than $20,000 and were purchased between 7:30pm on…
The Government has made changes to the tax law to provide tax relief for small businesses that restructure. The tax law changes provide an optional rollover for small business owners who change the legal structure of their business on the transfer of business assets from one entity to another. The effect of the rollover is…
When it comes to superannuation and retirement savings, it seems that size really does matter. There are other considerations of course, but for the most part the focus will be on finances when people aim to “improve” their post-work life prospects. The question of how much retirement savings any particular person needs to squirrel away…
A professional sales commission agent has been largely unsuccessful before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) in claiming tax deductions for work-related expenses, including home office expenses, various grocery items and overtime meal allowances. The case concerned the taxpayer’s deduction claims in his 2011 and 2012 tax returns. The taxpayer worked as a professional sales commission…
We’ve been told before that there is literally billions of dollars in superannuation savings sitting unclaimed — in fact, as at December 31, 2015, the ATO says there are around six million “lost” superannuation accounts holding a total of about $16.2 billion. But while the government regularly whinges about its dwindling coffers, it knows that…
Australians with a Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) debt and/or a Trade Support Loans (TSL) debt who are moving overseas for longer than six months will need to provide the ATO with their overseas contact details within seven days of leaving the country. International contact details can be provided to the ATO using its online…
Small businesses will be able to change their legal structure without triggering a capital gains tax (CGT) liability at that time based on legislation just passed. The measure is designed to provide greater flexibility for small businesses to change as the business changes. The legislation is planned to come into play from July 1, 2016,…