Latest News

When someone inherits a dwelling there are some special rules contained within the main residence exemption provisions that can provide a full exemption if certain conditions are met. If the conditions are not met, the beneficiary might face a nasty capital gains tax (CGT) bill for their good...

A Fair Work Commission decision created a new entitlement for most Australian employees; unpaid family and domestic violence leave. The Fair Work decision provides five days’ unpaid leave per annum to all employees (including casuals) experiencing family and domestic violence. The leave will...

The Government has moved to put an end to ‘eternal students’ who constantly study and never earn an income and speed up the payment cycle for those with outstanding debt. New lifetime caps on Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debt will prevent people from constantly going to University wi...

Legislation passed by Parliament late last month introduces a new test that will restrict some companies from accessing the lower company tax rate from the 2017-18 financial year. Across a 3 year period, the company tax and franking rate changed, then the definition of what is a small busines...

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has announced a new data-matching program targeting taxpayers earning income from the exploding popularity of short-term rentals available on platforms like AirBNB and Stayz. Utilising information from online platform sharing sites matched to information f...

Overcoming the biggest problems in business often comes down to the simple things. Here are a few simple things you can do to capitalise on your opportunities and reduce your risks. “I didn’t get time…” No more excuses Most people simply don’t set aside the time to do ...

The Australian Taxation Office is closely examining work-related clothing and laundry expense claims of taxpayers submitting their 2017-18 tax returns. The ATO says that clothing claims are up nearly 20% over the last five years with people either making mistakes or deliberately over-cla...

In the same month that desperate farmers made headlines preparing to destroy starving flocks and pleading with the public to pay a few cents more for their dairy products, Dick Smith’s nationalistic brand announced its closure. The question is, will Australians pay more for a cause? Comments...

One of the interesting approaches to tackling the black economy in the recent 2018-19 Federal Budget was the announcement of a $10,000 limit on cash payments to business. Unrecorded and untaxed transactions that occur in the community are estimated at up to 3% of GDP or around $50 billion. ...

The cash sitting in your superannuation fund can be tempting, particularly if you are short of cash. But, the reality is there are very few ways you can take advantage of your superannuation once it has been contributed to the fund – even if you change your mind. The sole purpos...