FBT and business vehicles

Business owners who make a car (leased or owned) available for employees to use for private travel may be subject to fringe benefits tax (FBT). If a car is garaged at or near your employee’s home, even if only for security reasons, it is considered by the ATO to be available for their private use…

Guide to tax-deductible gifts

Giving to charity this Christmas is a great way to give to those less fortunate while receiving some extra tax perks. Charitable donations are tax deductible which only adds to the incentive to be generous this holiday season. Here are some tips for maximising your tax breaks on charitable donations: The charity must be registered…

Common GST mistakes

Despite the Australian Tax Office’s education campaign on GST reporting, many small business owners continue to make errors when claiming GST credits in their GST returns or Business Activity Statements. The vast majority of errors are easily unavoidable and relate to the over-claiming of GST credits. Here are the top ten common GST mistakes: Residential…

When to charge GST

If your small business is registered for GST (Goods & Services Tax), most of your sales in Australia will include GST. Sales which include GST (taxable sales) are: – made for payment (monetary or other) – made in the course of operating your business (including any capital assets sold) – connected with Australia For these…

ATO provides further guidance on SMSF related party arrangements

The ATO has provided further guidance regarding limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs) and when non-arm’s length income (NALI) rules apply to a related party LRBA. The Tax Office recently released a Taxation Determination (TD 2016/16) and updated their Practical Compliance Guideline (PCG 2016/5/) to provide further clarification concerning the circumstances where a self-managed super fund…

ATO crackdown on trusts

The ATO is currently targeting contrived trust arrangements that minimise tax by creating artificial differences between the taxable net income and distributable income of closely held trusts. Arrangements where trustees are engineering a reduction in trust income to improperly gain favourable tax breaks or pay no tax at all are being targeted by the Tax…

Income tests for tax offsets

Income tests are used to work out a person’s eligibility for tax offsets and benefits which can reduce the amount of tax they have to pay. The Australian Taxation Office considers various items from a person’s tax return when applying income tests. For example, a number of offsets, benefits and obligations are assessed using a…