Tax Accountants
Gifts and FBT
Gifts provided to employees or their associates — that gold, frankincense and myrrh you picked up at the Black Friday sales — will typically constitute a property fringe benefit and therefore are subject to FBT unless the minor benefit exemption applies. Gifts, and indeed all benefits associated with a Christmas function, should be considered separately to […]
Common car expense claim questions answered
As a taxpayer, if you use your own car for work purposes, you can claim a tax deduction using one of two methods — the cents per kilometre method or the logbook method. If you use someone else’s car for work purposes, you can only claim for direct costs you pay for (such as the […]
Interest deductibility
A new ruling has been released by the ATO on the deductibility or otherwise of penalty interest. Ruling TR 2019/2 replaces an earlier ruling on the same topic that has since been withdrawn (TR 93/7W), and spells out the circumstances when penalty interest is generally deductible and the situations where this is not the case.
End of financial year tax planning
This financial year is almost over, but there are still tactics you may be able to employ to make sure you pay the right amount of tax for the 2018-19 year. While the best strategies are adopted in July (that is, as early as possible in a financial year and not at the end), it’s […]
What attracts the ATO’s attention
There are certain behaviours, characteristics and tax issues that the ATO admits will attract its attention. But as it is more interested to see taxpayers get things right rather than the bother, and expense, of chasing down every misdemeanour, the ATO has spelled out the areas that most concern it — that is, the incidents […]
What expenses can I claim?
The ATO has issued guidance on claiming mobile phone, internet and home phone expenses. It says that if you use any of these for work purposes, you may be able to claim a deduction if there are records to support your claims. But the ATO points out that use for both work and private use […]