From 1 January 2025, the Vacant Residential Land Tax (VRLT) will extend to all homes in Victoria that remain unoccupied for more than 6 months within a calendar year, unless an exemption applies. This includes homes under construction, renovation, or deemed uninhabitable for over 2 years.

Here’s a summary of the key changes coming into effect on 1 July 2024.

The ATO has warned that it is looking closely at how trusts distribute income and to who.

The end of the financial year is fast approaching. We outline the areas at risk of increased ATO scrutiny and the opportunities to maximise your deductions.

The revised stage 3 tax cuts have passed Parliament and will come into effect on 1 July 2024.

The Fringe Benefits Tax year (FBT) ends on 31 March. We explore the problem areas likely to attract the ATO’s attention.

Late last year, thousands of taxpayers and their agents were advised by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) that they had an outstanding historical tax debt. The only problem was, many had no idea that the tax debt existed.

A case before the Administrate Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was a loss for a taxpayer who blurred the lines between his private expenses and those of his company.

A recent case before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) highlights the importance of ensuring that the evidence supports the tax position you are taking.

The case involves heritage farmland originally purchased for $1.6m that sold 7 years later for $4.25m and the GST debt that the ATO is now pursuing on the sale.

After much speculation, the Prime Minister has announced that the Government will amend the legislated Stage 3 tax cuts scheduled to commence on 1 July 2024. Relative to the current Stage 3 plan, the proposed redesign will broaden the benefits of the tax cut by focussing on individuals with taxable income below $150,000

You’ve got a block of land that’s perfect for a subdivision. The details have all been worked out with Council, the builders, and the bank. But, one important aspect has been left out; the tax implications.

There is a psychology to tax refunds that successive Governments have been reticent to tamper with. As a nation, Australia relies heavily on personal and corporate income tax, with personal income tax including taxes on capital gains representing 40% of revenue compared to the OECD average of 24%. And, for the amount we pay, we expect a reward.

The ATO is more than a little concerned that people with holiday homes are claiming more deductions than they should and have published the starting questions they will be asking to scrutinise claims:

The ATO has ‘refreshed’ the way you can claim deductions for the costs you incur when you work from home. From 1 July 2022 onwards, you can choose either to use a new ‘fixed rate’ method (67 cents per hour), or the ‘actual cost’ method depending on what works out best for your scenario. Either way, you will need to gather and retain certain records to make a claim.

The end of the financial year is fast approaching - so what will be changing on 1 July?

The Government temporarily halved the excise and excise equivalent customs duty rates for petrol, diesel and all other petroleum-based products (except aviation fuels) for 6 months from 30 March 2022 until 28 September 2022. This has caused a reduction in fuel tax credit rates.

It’s a great headline isn’t it? Spend $100 and get a $120 tax deduction. Days after the Federal Budget announcement that businesses will be able to claim a 120% deduction for expenditure on training and technology costs, we started receiving marketing emails encouraging us to spend now to access the deduction.

A lighter look at the complexity of Australian taxation laws and the year that has been.

Every year, we are asked about the tax impact of various Christmas or holiday related gestures. Here are our top issues.

The High Court has ruled that the ‘backpacker tax’ is discriminatory. We look at the impact.

The Victorian State Government Small Business COVID hardship fund offers $10,000 to eligible and medium businesses, including employing and non employing businesses and had been introduced to allow more businesses who had not previously received some of the Victorian Government grant programs announced from the 27 May 2021. Applications are open from Thursday 12 August 2021 until program funds are exhausted or 11:59pm on Friday 10 September 2021, whichever is earlier.

To protect older Australians, the Government has moved to formalise ‘granny flat arrangements’ by providing an incentive to protect all parties in the arrangement.

Super Retail Group - owner of the Supercheap Auto, Rebel, BCF and Macpac brands - handed back $1.7 million in JobKeeper payments in January after releasing a trading update showing sales growth of 23% to December 2020. Toyota announced that it will return $18 million in JobKeeper payments after a record fourth quarter. And, Domino’s Pizza has also handed back $792,000 of JobKeeper payments.

Fringe benefits tax (FBT) is one of Australia’s most disliked taxes because it’s cumbersome and generates a lot of paperwork. The COVID-19 lockdowns have added another layer of complexity as many work patterns and behaviours changed.

The Victorian State Government’s 2020 Budget has delivered an unprecedented infrastructure investment to drive the State’s recovery, with its centerpiece an ambitious jobs plan aimed at creating 400,000 jobs by 2025, half of them by 2022.

At the recent Senate Estimates hearing, Jeremy Hirschhorn, the ATO’s Second Commissioner, stated that $120 million in JobKeeper payments had been clawed back from those either deliberately seeking to rort the system or who had made reckless mistakes

If your company has made a loss, you may be able to claim a tax refund for tax previously paid on profits.

Stimulating investment is high on the Government’s agenda. To encourage spending, the 2020-21 Budget introduced a measure that allows businesses with turnover under $5bn* to immediately deduct the cost of new depreciable assets and the cost of improvements to existing assets in the first year of use. This means that an asset’s cost will be fully deductible in the year it’s installed ready for use, rather than being claimed over the asset’s life. And, there is no cap on the cost of the asset.

JobMaker is a credit available to eligible businesses for hiring additional employees (not if you are merely replacing someone who left). The hiring credit is available for jobs created from 7 October 2020 until 6 October 2021.

On 6 October 2020 Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg delivered the Federal Budget for the 2020-2021 income year.

It is fair to say it will be remembered as Australia’s biggest spending budget with a forecast deficit of $214 billion for the 2021 fiscal year.