Recent News
New Home Office Guidelines released by the ATO
With more and more people working from home, the ATO has announced a temporary short cut method to make it easier for individual taxpayers to claim deductions for additional ‘at-home’ running expenses (please refer to the ATO’s Media Release of 7 April 2020). During...
SMSFs and rent relief due to COVID-19
SMSFs that own property are facing the prospect of tenants falling behind in their rent payments and their other obligations under the lease due to the economic stress arising from COVID-19. These times are somewhat unfamiliar to most trustees of Funds and have not...
Should you withdraw from your SMSF during COVID-19?
The Federal Government recently announced it would allow those affected by COVID-19 to access some of their superannuation balances early. How much super can you access? Per the government’s stimulus package announcement - the full details of which can be found here -...
COVID-19 New Release measures 30/03/2020
Jobkeeper Payments Under the JobKeeper Payment, businesses impacted by the coronavirus will be able to access a subsidy from the Government to continue paying their employees. The subsidy will be paid through the tax system by applying to the ATO. Affected employers...
Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis: SMEs
Responding to COVID-19 Crisis: SMEs
What you need to know about recent Government Economic Stimulus Packages to Date
Increasing the instant asset write-off The instant asset write-off allows a business to immediately write off and claim the value of an asset that does not exceed the current threshold. The Government is increasing the instant asset write-off threshold from $30,000 to...
Suspending Time: Is COVID-19 a valid reason to suspend a property contract?
Do you have an ongoing conveyancing matter reaching some crucial steps in the near future? Is the pandemic of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) causing delays or hesitation regarding the completion of your Contract? There are some important pieces of information you...
Compare your business against the ATO benchmark rules
For as long as you’ve been submitting tax returns, you’ve no doubt been aware that the ATO have processes in place for making sure the income and expenses you’re reporting are true and correct. But wouldn’t you love to know exactly HOW they go about doing this? Well,...
Single Touch Payroll: what you need to know
If you haven’t heard of Single Touch Payroll before, it’s a new way of reporting tax and superannuation information to the ATO. With STP you report employees' payroll information – such as salaries and wages, pay as you go (PAYG) withholding and super – to us each...
How to hide a multi-million dollar yacht
We get it, the weather's cooling down, and Snapper season is just around the corner. So why not look at using your business to invest in that fishing yacht you've had your eye on?Sorry to be the fun police, but here's some news from the ATO: The ATO has recently...
How Celeste Barber is teaching us about Trust Funds
If you’ve turned on the TV or radio in the last week, chances are you’ve heard about the discussions happening between Celeste Barber’s lawyers and the lawyers representing the RFS. In short, Celeste Barber has raised over $50m in funds to assist the people affected...
Ethical Dilemmas in Law
As lawyers, it’s our responsibility to uphold the law, but at the same time provide legal representation and advice to a client. In some cases, though, this can be tricky, particularly if the advice being sought goes against the law. We’re often faced with moral and...
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