I’ve been out of the tax game for a while … surely nothing has changed?

The Full Federal Court decision in Harding v FCT [2019] FCAFC 29 determined that ‘place of abode’ refers not only to a dwelling but can also refer to a country.

Denied deductions can be included in the cost base of the asset.

Depending on when the asset was acquired and installed ready for use and the turnover of the entity, the amount of an immediate deduction has increased as follows:

*      Up until 1 April 2019 available to SBEs only

**  From 2 April available to business with turnover up to $50 million

*** From 12 March 2020 business with turnover up to $500 million can access the measure

See Banter Blog article $150,000 instant asset write-off extended to 31 December 2020

See Banter Blog article Year end 2020 tax planning – foreign residents and sale of main residence

1. make all supplies of things, other than goods or real property connected with the indirect tax zone, where they are made to an Australian consumer; and
2. shift responsibility for GST liability from the supplier to the operator of an electronic distribution platform (EDP).

The amendments:

• make supplies of goods valued at $1,000 or less at the time of supply connected with the (indirect tax zone) ITZ if the goods are, broadly, purchased by consumers and are brought to the ITZ with the assistance of the supplier; and
• treat the operator of an EDP as the supplier of low value goods if the goods are purchased through the platform by consumers and brought to the ITZ with the assistance of either the supplier or the operator.

The amount to be paid by the purchaser is generally 1/11th of the ‘contract price’ — unless the margin scheme applies, the supply is between associates, or there are multiple different types of supplies or multiple purchasers.

• its contractual terms restrict who may use the car park, provided any member of the public that accepts these restrictions can use the car park;
• its fee structure discourages all-day parking with higher fees.

• the introduction of a $1.6 million transfer balance cap to limit the amount of capital individuals can transfer to the retirement phase;
• a reduction to the annual concessional contributions cap to $25,000 and a reduction to the Div 293 tax threshold to $250,000;
• a reduction to the annual non-concessional contributions cap from $180,000 to $100,000;
• a limit on non-concessional contributions for individuals with a transfer balance cap of $1.6 million; and
• the removal of the ‘10 per cent maximum earnings as an employee test’ for individuals making personal concessional contributions.

This includes circumstances where no expense was in fact incurred, but might be expected to have been incurred if the transaction was on arm’s length terms.

• amounts salary sacrificed by an employee into superannuation cannot be used by the employer to reduce the minimum amount of SG that must be paid; and
• SG is paid on the pre-salary sacrifice base — this is achieved by including salary or wages sacrificed to superannuation in the base for calculating an employer’s SG obligations.

• the payments to the SBSCH were made on behalf of employees before close of business on the last business day of the income year;
• at the time of making the payments, all relevant information to enable the SBSCH to process the payments was provided;
• the payments are not dishonoured by the superannuation fund or RSA or returned to the employer;
• the employer would otherwise be entitled to an income tax deduction.

• the small business tax offset — has been increased to $5 million; and
• the small business CGT concessions — has been retained at $2 million.

Note: On 2 October 2020, the Treasurer announced that from 1 July 2020 this threshold will increase to $50 million. This announcement will form part of the Federal Budget on 6 October 2020.

A base rate entity is a company that:

• has an aggregated turnover less than the aggregated turnover threshold – which from 1 July 2018 is $50 million; and
• 80 per cent or less of its assessable income is BRE passive income.

• that its assessable income for the income year is equal to its assessable income for the previous year; and
• that its BRE passive income for the income year is equal to its BRE passive income for the previous year.

There are a number of exclusions, including a where the market value of the CGT asset is less than $750,000, and the CGT asset is:

• taxable Australian real property — e.g. real estate in Australia; or
• an indirect taxable Australian real property interest, the holding of which causes a company title interest to arise.

Note: For the 2016–17 income year, the withholding rate was 10 per cent and the de minimis threshold for certain assets was $2 million.

Subject to some limited exceptions, all employers need to use STP to report the above amounts to the ATO.

• of salary, wages, commissions, bonuses or allowances to an employee;
• of directors’ fees;
• to a religious practitioner;
• under a labour hire arrangement; or
• for a supply of services — excluding supplies of goods and supplies of real property— where the payee has not quoted its ABN,

is denied if the associated withholding obligations have not been complied with.