Blog
Electronic execution of documents during COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted state and territory governments to temporarily ease the manner in which documents are executed. It is now possible under multiple jurisdictions to sign and witness certain documents electronically or via audio visual links. The changes address difficulties in executing documents amid social distancing and stay-at-home restrictions. However the requirements for...
SMEs: ATO confirms JobKeeper payments do not contribute to aggregated turnover
From the outset, it has been emphasised that JobKeeper payments are assessable income. However some concerns had been raised as to JobKeeper payment status in regard to being statutory income or ordinary income. And if the latter, whether it is ordinary income derived in the ordinary course of carrying on a business. If so, JobKeeper...
New data matching programs initiated by Federal Government
Over the first quarter of this financial year, the government has initiated two new data matching programs, using data that the ATO holds. Data matching involves bringing together data from different sources and comparing it. For example, records from different agencies or businesses are compared, with the results possibly identifying people who are being paid...
JobKeeper rules, conditions and payment rates have changed
Legislation has been put in place to extend the JobKeeper scheme beyond its original sunset date, although the rates of payment and certain other details have been altered. The scheme is now to run until March next year, with one version lasting until 3 January and another version in place from then until 28 March....
Wallace Partners 2020-21 Federal Budget Newsletter
Access our Wallace Partners 2020-21 Federal Budget Newsletter below: Federal Budget 2020-21 We all understand that budgets are an exercise in predicting the future. Given what has happened in 2020, gazing into the crystal ball and extracting something reliable is fraught with difficulty. The Treasury has given its best estimate, but we also need to...
Wallace Partners Client Information Newsletter October 2020
Access our Wallace Partners Client Information Newsletter October 2020 below:
Bonus Article, FBT and vehicles under COVID-19 restrictions
The pandemic period under which we labour continues to have outcomes that may at first have not been obvious, but as time and lodgement considerations come to pass, more taxation consequences edge their way out of the woodwork. One such outcome is where employees have been garaging work cars at their homes due to COVID-19,...
COVID-19 and SMSF rental relief
The Federal Government announced a six-month moratorium on evictions of commercial and residential tenants during the COVID-19 health pandemic. This moratorium (and its accompanying code of conduct leasing principles) will inevitably affect SMSFs, which are reasonably heavily invested in real property, according to statistics. LEASING PRINCIPLESA moratorium on evictions means that SMSF landlords face the...
COVID-19 and trust liquidity issues
The ATO has highlighted the fact that due to COVID-19, a trustee may experience liquidity issues that may affect a trust’s ability to satisfy a beneficiary’s entitlement. This may happen where financial institutions impose restrictions that affect the way a trustee can deal with its assets. The ATO states that where a present entitlement arose...
Where you stand with vehicles and the boosted instant asset write off
The extension of the instant asset write-off from $30,000 to $150,000 until 31 December 2020, as part of the Federal Government’s COVID-19 stimulus measures, provides an opportunity to look at its application to motor vehicles. Note that in addition to the higher write off amount, the business turnover threshold test for eligibility was increased to...