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AUGUST 2018
GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES NEW SERVICE TO SIMPLIFY BUSINESS REGISTRATIONS |
The government has officially launched a new stand-alone Business Registration Service, providing a simpler and clearer way to register a business. The service is available at www.business.gov.au. |
ILLEGAL EARLY ACCESS TO SUPER: ATO WARNING ABOUT SCAMMERS |
The ATO has issued a warning to be aware of scammers who promise to organise access to people's retirement savings for a fee. Unscrupulous promoters encourage people to illegally access their super early to help with expenses such as the purchase of a car, paying off debts, sending money to overseas relatives and taking a holiday. The ATO has seen promoters, mostly in western Sydney, targeting people with small to medium super balances, those involved in local community groups, and those who may not have engaged with their super before being approached. |
ATO GIVES SMALL BUSINESSES THE CHANCE TO SEEK INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF ATO AUDIT POSITION |
From 1 July 2018, the ATO is running a 12-month pilot to extend its independent review service to certain small business taxpayers. This means those taxpayers can have the ATO's audit position on their tax affairs independently reviewed. |
TRANSACTING WITH CRYPTOCURRENCY: UPDATED ATO INFO |
The ATO says a capital gains tax (CGT) event occurs when a person disposes of their cryptocurrency (eg Bitcoin). A disposal can occur when someone:
If you need assistance with the tax treatment of cryptocurrency, or the ATO's record-keeping requirements for taxpayers who are involved in acquiring or disposing of cryptocurrency, please contact our office. |
TAX GAP FOR INDIVIDUALS IS $8.8 BILLION, SAYS ATO |
The ATO has estimated that the net "tax gap" for individuals not in business in 2014–2015 is approximately 6.4%, or $8.8 billion. The gap is an estimate of the difference between the tax the ATO collects and the amount that would have been collected if every one of these taxpayers was fully compliant with the law. |
ATO WARNS ABOUT SCAMMERS AT TAX TIME |
The ATO has warned taxpayers to be on "high alert" for tax-related scams. ATO Assistant Commissioner Kath Anderson said the most common scam is still the "fake tax debt" phone scam, but the ATO is also seeing an increase in "fake refund" or "refund for a fee" scams, and email and SMS scams enticing people to click a hyperlink, download a file or open an attachment. |
INCOME TAX RESIDENCY RULES FOR INDIVIDUALS: BOARD OF TAXATION RECOMMENDS REFORM MEASURES |
The Board of Taxation has publicly released its initial report on its review of Australia's income tax residency rules for individuals. The Revenue Minister said the Board found that the current individual tax residency rules require modernisation and simplification. The Board also identified opportunities for tax arbitrage, for example where individuals become "residents of nowhere" when they leave Australia and do not become tax residents of another jurisdiction. |
RETIREMENT INCOME COVENANT NEEDS MORE FLEXIBILITY |
A recent submission in response to the Treasury position paper on the proposed retirement income covenant announced as part of the 2018–2019 Budget. The proposed covenant will require trustees of superannuation funds (including self managed superannuation funds) to formulate a retirement income strategy for fund members. This requirement is aimed at supporting the government's development of a comprehensive income products for retirement (CIPR) framework. |
ILLEGAL PHOENIX ACTIVITY COSTS BILLIONS; NEW PHOENIX HOTLINE |
The ATO has released a new report on the economic impacts of potential illegal phoenix activity. It estimates that the annual direct impact of illegal phoenix activity on businesses, employees and the government was between $2.85 billion and $5.13 billion for the 2015–2016 financial year. |
SUPER FUNDS DELIVER HEALTHY RETURNS FOR 2017–2018 |
The median "growth" superannuation fund delivered a healthy investment return of 9.2% for 2017–2018, with the top spot going to Hostplus with a return of 12.5%, according to superannuation ratings firm Chant West. Growth super funds are those with a 61–80% allocation to growth assets. |
GST EXEMPTION FOR OFFSHORE SELLERS OF HOTEL BOOKINGS TO BE REMOVED: DRAFT LEGISLATION RELEASED |
The Treasurer has released draft legislation to ensure offshore sellers of hotel accommodation in Australia calculate their GST turnover in the same way as local sellers from 1 July 2019. |
Important: Clients should not act solely on the basis of the material contained in Client Alert. Items herein are general comments only and do not constitute or convey advice per se. Also changes in legislation may occur quickly. We therefore recommend that our formal advice be sought before acting in any of the areas. Client Alert is issued as a helpful guide to clients and for their private information. Therefore it should be regarded as confidential and not be made available to any person without our prior approval. |