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The ATO has issued a reminder for companies wishing to claim a tax offset for their R&D (research and development) activities. The reminder was issued in the context of the ATO's success in the Federal Court decision T.D.S. Biz Pty Ltd v FCT[1]. By way of background, the research and development tax incentive (R&DTI) helps companies innovate and [...]

Some employers, especially at Christmas time or for birthdays, give small gifts to their employees or the employee’s associates  (i.e. spouses). These gifts typically take the form of bottles of wine, movie tickets, gift vouchers, etc. The tax treatment of these gifts from an employer standpoint, depends upon a range of factors including: To whom [...]

For the first time, many Australians are finding themselves in a position where they are being told they owe the ATO money after completing their tax return this year. A significant number of taxpayers in this position are those that are still paying off their HECS/HELP debts – many of them young Australians. Following are [...]

The recent ATO crackdown on trusts will no doubt have some business owners (and even some advisors) asking themselves the question: Is this structure for business purposes still worth it? To recap, trust distributions have been under the ATO microscope in recent years. The latest ATO crackdown was in February 2022 when it updated its [...]

Since Budget night, the ATO has released more information about the small business lodgement amnesty…which can now be taken advantage of from 1 June 2023! The amnesty was announced in the recent Budget. It applies to tax obligations that were originally due between 1 December 2019 and 28 February 2022 and run from 1 June [...]

Although not related to tax, there are a number of changes on the Fair Work front that employers should be aware of: Minimum wage increase The National Minimum Wage applies to employees who aren’t covered by an award or registered agreement. From 1 July 2023, the new National Minimum Wage will be $882.80 per week [...]