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Recent ATO Updates

2. Don’t Lodge EarlyThe Australian Taxation Office is warning taxpayers against rushing to lodge their tax returns on 1 July. The ATO said those who lodge in early July are twice as likely to make a mistake in their tax return than those who wait for pre-fill information to populate, an issue that is particularly relevant if you receive…

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Taxable Payments Annual Reports

Businesses making payments to contractors may need to formally report the payments made during the financial year ended 30 June 2023 by lodging a Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR). Who Needs To Lodge You will need to lodge a TPAR if you make payments to contractors (including subcontractors, consultants and independent contractors operating as sole…

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Director Penalty Notices

In May 2022, Accountants Daily reported that the ATO was issuing 30 to 40 Director Penalty Notices (DPNs) a day, and warned that the Tax Office was just warming up. Since most small to medium-sized companies rely on their tax advisors to keep them informed of developments that may impact them, we wanted to outline the forms DPNs…

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Family and Domestic Violence Leave

From the 1st of February 2023, full-time, part-time and casual employees of non-small business employers* became eligible to access up to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave per year. The 10 days apply to all employees and are not pro-rated for part-time or casual employees, however, part-time and casual employees will only be paid for the hours they…

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Death Benefit Nominations

Did you know that it is a Death Benefit Nomination lodged with your superannuation or pension fund – and not a will – that can determine who receives your superannuation balance in the event of your death? It’s true, and since not all Death Benefit Nominations are the same we thought we would outline the differences…

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Reminders

If you became a company Director (or Secretary!) on or before the 31st of October 2021, you must apply for your Director ID by the 30th of November 2022. Failing to do so may result in ASIC charging you a significant penalty. More information, including a video showing you how to apply for your ID, is available here…

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ATO Signals Attack on Trusts

Before we get into today’s main topic – Budget 2022/23 – we wanted to note with you all that earlier this month we were in a Zoom call with over 5,500 other accountants and taxation specialists across Australia, working through some of the curlier aspects of the ATO’s recently proposed changes to family trust distributions.…

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The Show Must Go On

The Getting the Show Back on the Road+ program (GTSBOTR+) was introduced mid-way through 2021 with the aim to reduce the financial risks associated with running ticketed events in Western Australia during a COVID-19 impacted period. Essentially, it’s a State Government initiative designed to encourage the (safe) continuation of publicly ticketed events through sharing the risk of gross ticket sales…

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Small Business Grants

The WA Government has announced grants of $2,000 to help small businesses impacted by the recent Perth and Peel lockdown. The grants are intended to offset some of the direct costs of the lockdown and business closure, such as loss of perishable goods or cancellations. Businesses in the hospitality, health, beauty, events and tourism industries…

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