The Tax Office has found that there are some landlords who may not be entirely sure about whether they are correctly claiming their rental property deductions. In particular, it has found that many property investors are making simple mistakes that could be avoided with a little guidance. The Tax Office has identified some of the...

Have you ever let a room on the popular accommodation site Airbnb? Ever shared a ride with pseudo taxi service Uber? If you participate in what’s now called the “sharing economy”, you may have some tax to pay. The Tax Office says the sharing economy is a new way of “connecting buyers (‘users’) with sellers...

There’s a saying that many sharemarket investors may have already heard: Don’t let the tax tail wag the investment dog. In other words, the best advice for your share portfolio is to base your decisions on investment merit, not on trying to save tax. Even so, there are taxation consequences for everyone with an investment...

The Tax Office has recently warned about the practice known as “dividend stripping”, and has drawn attention to a previously issued taxpayer alert also warning against these arrangements. Of particular concern is dividend stripping involving the transfer of private company shares to a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF). The Tax Office says the typical target audience...

Providing morning and afternoon teas and light refreshments to employees (or their “associates”) at the employer’s business premises or worksite is tax-deductible to the employer. The same applies if the business provides such refreshments to visitors. The Australian Taxation Office has ruled that this is not “entertainment”. If the business has no employees (for example,...

Back in the 1980s, people could reduce tax by having their money in bank accounts belonging to their kids. In 1988, the Tax Office intervened for its position by issuing guidance. Thanks to a simple criterion and penal tax rates, parents cannot pass off their money as mere pocket money for the kids in order...

It’s something of a little white lie, isn’t it — the one told to aspiring small business owners and entrepreneurs is that hard work guarantees success. Hard work is vital, but it’s not the only quotient. And while you may be told by starry-eyed blog writers or charismatic motivational speakers that you can’t lose if...

You are allowed to disagree with the Tax Office, if they have disagreed with your self-assessment of your tax position. If you believe your tax assessment is incorrect, the first step is straight forward and pretty informal. You contact us and we start making inquiries. If we still believe the assessment is wrong, or if...

Once we have lodged your 2014-15 tax return and we have forwarded your notice of assessment to you saying that everything is as discussed, you may realise that something has been left out of your tax return or accidentally included an extra deduction. The Australian tax system is based on “self assessment”, which means the...

The small business sector has variously been described as the engine room of the economy as well as the biggest employer in the country – and it’s not hard to see why. Research has indicated that small businesses are responsible for generating millions of jobs, with some estimates that small business jobs account for around...