It’s that time of year again - what to do for the Christmas party for the team, customers, gifts of appreciation for your favourite accountant (just kidding), etc. Here are our top tips for a generous and tax effective Christmas season.

Taxation, Financial AccountingJPR BUSINESS GROUP6 December 2022fbt, Fringe benefit tax, ato, taxation

REMINDER: 30 November director ID deadline

All directors of a company, registered Australian body, registered foreign company or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation (ATSI) will need a director ID. This includes directors of a corporate trustee of a self-managed super fund (SMSF).

How high will interest rates go?

Coming out of COVID, housing market demand was strong and prices boomed but at the same time, supply chains remained restricted and the problems amplified by geo-political tensions increasing input costs. Supply could not keep up with demand to support the recovery, pushing inflation higher and broader than expected for a longer period of time

Community, Corporate Secretarial, Financial AccountingJPR BUSINESS GROUP18 November 2022interest rates

Scams and how to avoid them

In July, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) reported a new wave of ‘Tax refund SMSF scams’. The texts purported to be from the ATO stating that the individual had a tax refund and to click on the link and complete the form. This is just one of many scams trapping Aussies every day.

Taxing fame: The ATO's U-turn

If you’re famous and make an income from your fame and image, the way the ATO believes you should be taxed on the income you make may change under a new draft determination set to take effect on 1 July 2023.

TaxationJPR BUSINESS GROUP14 November 2022ato, ATO, Taxation

Can you prevent a hack?

In the wake of the Optus data leak, legislation before Parliament will lift the maximum fine for serious or repeated breaches of the Privacy Act from $2.2m to up to $50m. But there are no guarantees that even the strongest safety measures will prevent an attack. So, what does that mean for business and their customers?

Lessons from a data breach

For business, the breach is a timely warning on the importance of understanding what data is held on your customers (and should you hold it?), how it is secured, how your systems work and the process to identify gaps and deficiencies, the appropriate actions if and when a breach occurs, and the impact on your relationship to your customer. This is not something that can be outsourced to IT but a whole of business issue.

ATO contacts 'at risk' professional services firms

New guidelines for professional services firms - lawyers, architects, medical practitioners etc., came into effect on 1 July 2022.

States move on property based taxes

First home buyers purchasing property in NSW of up to $1.5m will have a choice of paying stamp duty or an annual property tax from 16 January 2023.

TaxationJPR BUSINESS GROUP17 October 2022property tax, property, tax, taxation

To cut or not to cut? Stage three personal tax cuts

In September, amid a climate of startling interest rates, UK Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a series of tax cuts, including the reduction of the top personal income tax rate that applies to those earning more than £150,000 from 45% to 40%. Just ten days later, following market turmoil that saw the British Pound drop at one point to a low of $1.035 USD, its lowest level since 1985, the decision was reversed calling the cuts “a massive distraction.”

TaxationJPR BUSINESS GROUP16 October 2022tax, tax cuts