The ATO's power to access taxpayer information The ATO’s wide-ranging formal and informal information gathering powers are supported by an arsenal of powerful computers, connections with other government bodies and an array of sanctions to assure cooperation, which...
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The latest tax news & updates.
Single Touch Payroll: It’s happening! (Upcoming webinar)
Background On 1 July 2018, STP reporting was introduced for substantial employers (20 or more employees as at 1 April 2018). Under STP reporting, an employer reports information on their salaries and wages, PAYG withholding and superannuation to the ATO in...
Progress of bills pre-Budget
Accompanying podcast Note that our accompanying Tax Yak podcast episode 14 titled Parliamentary status of bills pre-Budget discusses all of these measures. Background As we move closer to a Federal Election (expected on either 11 or 18 May 2019), there are...
Labor’s tax and superannuation policies
Note: This blog article was edited on 17/04/19 to include recent developments. Timing of election This year, Australian voters will elect members of the 46th Parliament. According to s. 28 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, an election for...
MYEFO 2018–2019
On 17 December 2018, the Government released the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2018–19 (MYEFO). The MYEFO provides updated information on the Government’s fiscal position and includes policy decisions taken since the 2018–19 Federal Budget was handed...
2018 Year-end Parliamentary wrap-up
That's a wrap! Now that the Federal Parliament has risen for the summer break, this is an opportune time to take stock of the key outstanding tax and superannuation measures. According to the draft Parliamentary sittings for 2019, Parliament is scheduled to...
Ten-year plan for corporate tax cuts has now been fast tracked
On 25 October 2018, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Lower Taxes for Small and Medium Businesses) Act 2018 (the Act) received Royal Assent as Act No. 134 of 2018. The Act amends various taxation Acts to accelerate: the reduction of the corporate tax rate for corporate tax...
Some movement on Div 7A … at last!
Some movement on Div 7A … at last! On 22 October 2018, the Treasury released a consultation paper titled Targeted amendments to the Division 7A integrity rules. The paper sets out the Government’s proposed implementation of the amendments to improve the...
New annual registered agent authorisations for Single Touch Payroll
The Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting regime commenced on 1 July 2018 for ‘substantial employers’ (businesses with at least 20 employees). Since 1 July 2018, many registered tax and BAS agents have been assisting their clients by lodging STP...
Certainty at last for base rate entities … or not?
After a long period of uncertainty, and in the midst of the recent Liberal Party leadership spill, the Senate on 23 August 2018 unexpectedly passed without amendment the Treasury Laws Amendment (Enterprise Tax Plan Base Rate Entities) Bill 2018 (‘the BRE...
The SG Amnesty: What should employers do?
There is much confusion among tax practitioners and their clients regarding the proposed Superannuation Guarantee (SG) Amnesty, which is intended to run for 12 months from 24 May 2018 to 23 May 2019. However, the SG Amnesty measures are not legislated yet...
