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CLIENT ALERT
TAX NEWS | VIEWS | CLUES
OCTOBER 2017
BILL TO INCREASE MEDICARE LEVY The Medicare Levy Amendment (National Disability Insurance Scheme Funding) Bill 2017 has been introduced to implement the Government's 2017–2018 Budget announcement to increase the Medicare levy by 0.5% to 2.5% from 1 July 2019 in order to help finance the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Nine other Bills have been introduced to increase the following rates that are linked to the top personal tax rate. |
TIP: Think you may be affected by personal tax rate changes? Contact us to find out more. |
BUDGET CHANGES TO FOREIGN RESIDENT CGT: DRAFT LEGISLATION
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FOREIGN RESIDENT CGT WITHHOLDING: EARLY RECOGNITION OF TAX CREDIT The Commissioner has made a determination to modify the time at which the vendor is entitled to a tax credit in respect of an amount withheld under the foreign resident CGT withholding rules. |
FURTHER GUIDANCE FOR TAX LOSSES VIA A NEW "SIMILAR BUSINESS" TEST |
ATO INCREASES ITS SCRUTINY ON WORK-RELATED EXPENSES Despite wide publicity on the issue, the ATO has reminded taxpayers that it is increasing its scrutiny on work-related expenses. Last year over 6.3 million people made a work-related expense claim for clothing and laundry expenses, totalling almost $1.8 billion. Common mistakes the ATO has seen include people claiming ineligible clothing, claiming for something without having spent the money, and not being able to explain the basis for how the claim was calculated. |
TIP: Unsure about what you can claim as work-related expenses? Talk to us to avoid making a mistake. |
ACTIVITY STATEMENTS CAN NOW BE LODGED IN ADVANCE |
TIP: Activity statements can be generated for up to six months in advance. |
NEW DOWNSIZING CAP AVAILABLE If you are aged 65 or over, your home is your main residence for CGT purposes and you have owned it for a minimum of ten years, you could benefit from new draft legislation. You will be able to make additional non-concessional contributions, up to $300,000, from the proceeds of selling your home from 1 July 2018. |
TIP: Thinking of downsizing? Speak to us about what this could mean for you in terms of tax concessions. |
GST: SIMPLIFIED ACCOUNTING FOR FOOD RETAILERS The ATO has released a draft determination on the choice available to you, if you are a food retailer, to use a simplified accounting method (SAM) to help you to work out your net amount by estimating your GST-free sales and GST-free acquisitions of trading stock. |
TIP: Are you a food retailer? We can help you to use the simplified accounting method for your business. |
SUPER SYSTEM REFORMS
Australian Prudential Registration Authority (APRA) has written to RSE licensees setting out its approach to the Government's super system reforms aimed at enhancing APRA's prudential powers to improve member outcomes. Under the proposed reforms, the current "scale test" will be replaced with an "outcomes test" requiring MySuper trustees to attest to outcomes promoting the financial interests of members on a broader range of indicators. |
SEGREGATED CURRENT PENSION ASSETS A warning has been issued from the Actuaries Institute that tens of thousands of self-managed super funds (SMSFs) could be at risk of incorrectly claiming exempt current pension income (ECPI) under the ATO's approach to segregated current pension assets. |
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FIRST HOME SUPER SAVER SCHEME – DRAFT LEGISLATION
Treasury has released draft legislation to implement the 2017–2018 Federal Budget superannuation measures aimed at improving housing affordability by the establishment of the First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSSS). |
TIP: To be eligible to use the FHSSS, a person must be 18 years or over, have not used the scheme before and never have owned property before in Australia. |
SUPER ASSETS TOTAL $2.3 TRILLION AT JUNE 2017 APRA has released its Quarterly Superannuation Performance publication and the Quarterly MySuper Statistics report for the June quarter 2017. As at 30 June 2017, superannuation assets totalled $2.324 trillion (up 10% from $2.113 trillion in June 2016). |
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. |