The Treasury Laws Amendment (Combating Illegal Phoenixing) Bill 2019 received assent on 17 February 2020. The legislation includes a range of measures targeting illegal phoenixing including penalties for directors related to GST liabilities (making directors personally liable for unpaid GST if the unpaid liability is not paid within 21 days of a director penalty notice...

Communication over an online channel has certainly become the default these days, and dealing with the ATO is no exception. In fact the transition to online has plainly been developing over some years. More and more transactions and interactions are taking place, for example, over the government’s initiative myGov — not just the ATO, but...

The ATO has announced that from February it is intending to contact a selection of business taxpayers that provide car parking benefits to their employees, and that use the market value method to arrive at a taxable value, to ensure these values have been calculated correctly. There are five ways that an employer can calculate...

For most family businesses as well as private groups, succession planning (sometimes known as transition planning) involves considerations around the eventual sale of your business, or the passing of control of it to other family members when you retire. Depending on your circumstances, this may include realising assets and making other changes to ownership, but...

There is a simple step that many businesses can take to better manage the risk that can attach to certain assets Not so many years ago, a new scheme was introduced, which also established a national register, that could affect anyone who answers “yes” to any of the following scenarios — are you in business,...

The personal services income (PSI) rules apply to income that is earned mainly from the personal efforts or skills of a person. It does not matter whether the income is earned by the individual in their own name or through an entity such as a business. The rules do not apply to income earned from...

Along with a more automated exchange and processing of invoices, e-invoicing also promises reduced payment times and better cash flow The headline above may give the impression that electronic invoices are a futuristic concept, but of course even today there is a version of e-invoices — think PDFs and other electronic documents that can contain...

Not keeping lodgements current or missing reporting deadlines are some of the key indicators to the ATO that a business may no longer be operational. It says it uses information from tax returns, other lodgement activities and even from third parties to help it decide whether ABNs are still being used. The ATO has announced...

Employers know that popping a champagne cork or two to celebrate the festive season lets staff know their efforts are appreciated, but the well-prepared business owner will also know that a little tax planning can help ensure that it’s not the business that ends up with the FBT hangover. Three benefits generally provided for the...

There is a rule in the tax law that allows a business that doesn’t use simplified depreciation to claim an immediate deduction for most business expenditure of $100 or less to buy tangible assets. Known as the threshold rule, this can help small business owners save time as well, because you don’t need to decide...