NSW first home buyers: choice of tax
In a bid to encourage home ownership in NSW, the state government has introduced the First Home Buyer Choice scheme which would allow eligible first home buyers a choice between paying an annual property tax or the traditional stamp duty. Eligible first home buyers of residential properties of up to $1.5m or vacant land of …
IGTO report on ATO handling of objections
The result of a recent review into the ATO’s handling of objections by taxpayers has been released by the Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman (IGTO). While this initial review merely analysed ATO’s data in order to report the information publicly with no in-depth investigations, the issues identified will form the basis of Phase 2 …
FBT record-keeping: simplification of requirements
In order to reduce red-tape for businesses, the government has released draft legislation to allow employers to rely on existing corporate records, rather than employee declarations and other prescribed records to finalise their FBT returns. This will be achieved by giving the Commissioner the power to make legislative instruments to determine the kinds of adequate …
Period of review changes coming for SMEs
Some small and medium business entities (SMEs) could soon be excluded from the shorter 2-year amendment period and subject to the standard 4-year period if Draft Regulations proposed by the government are registered. In their current form, the Regulations will only affect entities with related-party dealings, international dealings, those entitled to the R&D tax offset …
Electric cars to be exempt from FBT
An employee’s private use of an electric car provided by an employer may soon be exempt from FBT if the newly introduced legislation receives Assent. This measure was a part of a suite of energy policies taken to the election by the Labor party, which its hoped will increase the uptake of electric cars. To …
Personal super deductions: remember the notice
If you are considering making a personal contribution to your super and would like to claim a deduction on the contributions made, it is important to remember to give the required notice to your super fund before making a claim in your tax return. There have been cases of taxpayers being denied deductions for personal …
ATO guidance update: debt relief and waivers
The ATO has recently updated its Law Administration Practice Statement on debt relief, waivers and non-pursuit of debt. Specifically, the Practice Statement provides guidance on the Commissioner’s discretion to not pursue the recovery of tax debts, and ATO’s ability to release individual taxpayers from their obligation to pay certain tax-related liabilities. Generally, the ATO will …
ATO to resume collecting aged debts
The ATO has recently announced that it will resume collecting aged debts by offsetting tax refunds or credits. Age debts are a collective term the ATO uses to refer to its uneconomical non-pursued debts that it has placed on hold and has not undertaken any recent action to collect. These debts do not typically show …
What’s next on the agenda for the government
Now that the election is over, and the Labor party is officially in government people will be interested to see what policies and changes are now likely to occur. A helpful starting point is Labor’s election promises which provide a useful indication of possible areas that will be targeted over the next few years. Two …