Individuals and Business

Tax Time 30 June 2021

Welcome to our revamped website and a new space for your annual newsletter.  We anticipate more communication with you via this website.  Take a look around and check out what other services we offer.

Covid-19 changed the world in which we live however, one thing remains the same, Tax Time.  In compliance with Covid-19 guidelines, you will notice we now have a QR Check-In at each entrance. We would appreciate you using it anytime you come into our office.  If you don’t have a phone we can record your details at reception.  We appreciate everyone adhering to social distancing guidelines and remembering that if you are unwell, please stay home.

To have your tax return prepared you can either:

  • Attend our office at a pre-booked appointment
  • Email all required documentation to our office
  • Drop off at reception
  • Post into the office

 

The ATO will start full processing of 2020-2021 tax returns on 7 July 2021 and expect to start paying refunds from 16 July 2021.  The ATO aim to finalise the majority of electronically-lodged current year tax returns within 12 business days of receipt.  We look forward to being of service to you this year and if you have any questions on the contents of this newsletter, please call us.  See you soon…Vic, Andrew & John

Appointment Times

Saturday and evening appointments are very popular and fill quickly during the tax season, so to avoid disappointment please book early.  Saturday appointments start at 8 a.m. through to 12 p.m.  Please don’t be late.  If cannot make it on time, please call us so that we can cancel your appointment and arrange another time.

Tax Season is during the months of July, August and September

  • Monday to Wednesday   7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
  • Thursday   7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Friday   7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
  • Saturday with Vic, Andrew, John & Paul   8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Normal hours

  • Monday to Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
  • Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Fee from Refund Service

If you would like to include this option so that your fee is paid to us from your tax refund and the balance is deposited into your nominated bank account, please ask at your interview.  The cost is $11, and this fee is also deducted.  You will need to complete a Trust Account Authority form at the interview to authorise us to proceed.  Don’t forget to bring along your bank details at the time of your interview so we can check what we have on file and update them if required.  Please note that our fee is due and payable at the time of the consultation and tax returns are only lodged if your account has been paid.

New Client Verification

With an increased reliance on technology and remote work practices, the tax and super systems are targets for identity crime. To reduce this risk the ATO are strengthening client verification standards. We would appreciate your co-operation in providing us with documents and answers to various questions.  If you are attending an interview, we ask that you provide a photo id or two forms of non-photographic ids, such as Medicare Care and Birth Certificate.   We will not keep copies of these documents, however, we will record that they have been sighted and verified.

Your Personal Income Tax Return

The Income You Must Declare

You must declare all the income you receive from your employment (job), pensions, annuities, government payments, investments, business and foreign income.  You declare the income you receive for each financial year on your annual tax return. We pre-fill most income information in your tax return. We receive this information from the ATO, from your employers and financial institutions. We will need to check this information at the time of preparing your return to make sure it is complete and correct.

The types of income you need to declare are:

 

You also need to declare any money or earnings you receive from:

  • Crowdfunding
  • Air BNB, Apartment/House sharing
  • Uber and other ridesharing apps and services.

 

Wait for your employer to mark your income statement as ‘tax ready’ before you prepare and lodge your tax return. Your employer should mark your income statement as ‘tax ready’ by 14 July.  If you have more than one employer, you may receive several income statements or both a payment summary and an income statement. You will need to check that income from all your payment summaries is included in your tax return.

Basic Rules to Claim a Tax Deduction

You must have incurred the expense in 2020-2021. To claim a deduction for a work-related expense:

  • you must have spent the money yourself and were not reimbursed.
  • the expense must be directly related to earning your income.
  • you must have a record to prove the expense.

 

The expense must not be private, domestic or capital in nature. For example, the costs of normal travel to and from work, and buying lunch each day are private expenses.

If you incurred an expense that was both work-related and private or domestic, you can claim a deduction only for the work-related portion of the expense.

If you incurred an expense that was capital in nature, you may be able to claim a deduction for the decline in value of the depreciating assets you acquired.

If you incurred an expense for services paid in advance, you will need to decide what part of the expense is deductible in 2020-2021.

You cannot claim a deduction for an expense to the extent that:

  • someone else paid the expense, or you were or will be, reimbursed for the expense, or
  • the payment or reimbursement is a fringe benefit (including an exempt benefit).

 

If you were partially reimbursed for the expense, you can only claim the part that was not reimbursed.

Working from Home Shortcuts

The ATO’s optional 80c per hour method for claiming home office running costs in light of Covid-19 has been extended to 30 June 2021.  This arrangement allows people to claim an all-in rate of 80 cents per hour for all their running expenses, rather than needing to calculate costs for specific running expenses.  If you choose to use this shortcut method all you need to do is keep a record of the hours you worked from home. There are three ways that you can choose to calculate your home office expenses:

  • claim a rate of 80 cents per work hour for all additional running expenses
  • claim a rate of 52 cents per work hour for heating, cooling, lighting cleaning and the decline in value of office furniture, plus calculate the work-related portion of your phone and internet expenses, computer consumables, stationery and the decline in value of a computer, laptop or similar device
  • claim the actual work-related portion of all your running expenses, which you need to calculate on a reasonable basis

 

The ATO is also reminding people that the three golden rules for deductions still apply. Taxpayers must have spent the money themselves and not have been reimbursed, the claim must be directly related to earning income, and there must be a record to substantiate the claim.

Car Expenses Simplified

Two methods are available to claim car expenses:

  • Logbook
  • Cents per Kilometre

 

The logbook method is based on the business use percentage of the running costs. The logbook must be kept for 12 consecutive weeks every 5 years unless your pattern of usage changes.

The cents per kilometre method is capped at 5000km and is based on 72 cents per kilometre for 2020-2021.

Work-related Home/Mobile/Phone and Internet Usage

To Bundle or Not to Bundle…

About non-bundled internet and phone expenses – taxpayers are required to maintain invoices or receipts to evidence that the expenditure has been incurred.  The ATO advises that a reasonable basis for identifying the portion of work-related expenses include:

  • Adding all the actual work-related calls from your itemised telephone account and/or
  • Using a diary to determine the work-related portion of your phone and internet use over four weeks.

 

Bundled expenses – again the taxpayer is required to maintain a four-week diary to identify the work-related portion of use.  However, the internet and phone portion need to be identified either by a breakdown of relevant costs by the supplier or a percentage of relative costs if they were separately purchased from a supplier.

Clothing and Laundry

A tax deduction is available for the cost of buying and cleaning certain occupation-specific clothing, protective clothing and some unique or distinctive clothing.  You cannot claim for conventional clothing including drill shirts.

This expense category will be an area of focus for the ATO for 2021.

Zone Tax Offset – FIFO (Fly-in-Fly-Out)

The Zone Tax Offset is now limited to people who are genuinely living in a designated geographical zone.  It will exclude “fly-in-fly-out” and “drive-in-drive-out” (FIFO) workers from the Zone Tax Offset where their usual place of residence is not within a “zone”.

Personal Income Tax Rates

2021 Tax Rates for Residential Individuals
Taxable income Tax on this income
$0 – $18,200 Nil
$18,201 – $45,000 19 cents for each $1 over $18,200
$45,001 – $120,000 $5,092 plus 32.5 cents for each $1 over $45,000
$120,001 – $180,000 $29,467 plus 37 cents for each $1 over $120,000
$180,000 and over $51,667 plus 45 cents for each $1 over $180,000

The LITO increase from $455 to $700 for the 2021 income year and associated phase-out rule changes were implemented as outlined in the following table:

2021 Low-income Tax Offset (‘LITO’)
Taxable Income Amount of Tax Offset
$37,500 or less $700
$37,501 – $45,000 $700 minus 5 cents for each $1 over $37,500
$45,001 – $66,667 $325 minus 1.5 cents for each $1 over 45,000

The Low and Middle Income Tax Offset (‘LMITO’) was also retained for the 2021 income year, with the relevant rates and phase-in and phase-out rules outlined in the following table:

2021 Low and Middle Income Tax Offset (‘LMITO’)
Taxable income Amount of Tax Offset
$0 – $37,000 $255
$37,001 – $48,000 $255 plus 7.5 cents for each $1 over $37,000
$48,001 – $90,000 $1,080
$90,001 and over $1,080 less 3 cents for each $1 over $90,000

TAX TIP – 2021 effective tax-free thresholds after-tax offsets

The availability of tax offsets effectively increases the tax-free threshold of $18,200 for lower-income earning taxpayers entitled to tax offsets, such as the LITO and the LMITO (and also the Seniors and Pensioners Tax Offset (‘SAPTO’) for many older eligible Australians).

For example, for the 2021 income year, the combination of the increased $700 LITO, the $18,200 tax-free threshold and the $255 minimum LMITO effectively allows low-income taxpayers to earn up to an effective tax-free threshold of $23,226 (i.e., $18,200 + $955/0.19), excluding the Medicare levy (if applicable).

ATO Audit Hot Spots

We are expecting far greater audit activity with the ATO paying special attention to the following claims:

  • High work-related claims
  • Motor vehicle expenses
  • Claims for expenses that have already been reimbursed by an employer
  • Rental properties – with a focus on claiming repairs to newly acquired properties, interest claims, holiday homes
  • Air BNB operators or hosts
  • Capital Gains Tax issues with applying for the main residence exemption
  • Uniform and laundry claims

Super Contribution Limits Increase

The maximum concessional (tax-deductible) contribution for 2020-2021 is $25,000 and this increases to $27,500 from 1 July 2021.

The maximum non-concessional (after tax, no tax deduction) contributions are:

  2020-2021 2021-2022
Under 67 $100,000 (or $300,000 over 3 years) $110,000 (or $330,000 over 3 years)
67 – 74 $100,000 $110,000

The above contribution caps are subject to the following:

  • those aged 67 and over must generally satisfy the work test (employment for at least 40 hours in 30 consecutive days in a financial year)
  • those aged 75 and over normally can’t contribute to superannuation
  • any concessional contributions over the limits will attract tax at the individual members’ marginal rate of tax, plus an interest charge
  • concessional contributions include Superannuation Guarantee Contributions and Salary Sacrifice Contributions

 

From 1 July 2020, if your total superannuation balance is greater than or equal to $1.7 million, you will no longer be eligible to make non-concessional contributions.

The 3-year bring-forward rules are now far more complex due to total super balance restrictions and transitional provisions – advice should be sought on eligibility before making these contributions.

Super Deductions for Personal Contributions

You may be able to claim for personal super contributions that you made to a complying taxed super fund from your after-tax income. The personal super contributions that you claim as a deduction will count towards your concessional contributions cap.

If you are 67 to 74 years old you still need to meet the work test or work test exemption criteria to be eligible to make a contribution and claim a tax deduction.

If you are 75 years old or older, you can only claim a deduction for contributions you made before the 28th day of the month following the month in which you turned 75 years old.

Before you can claim a deduction for your personal super contributions, you must have given your super fund a Notice of Intent to Claim. Your fund will then send you an Acknowledgement letter.  We must have a copy of the Acknowledgement letter before we can lodge your tax return.

Please click on the link below or ask us to send you a form.

https://www.ato.gov.au/forms/notice-of-intent-to-claim-or-vary-a-deduction-for-personal-super-contributions/

Carry Forward Contributions

Carry forward contributions are not a new type of contribution, they are simply new rules that allow people to use any of their unused concessional contributions cap on a rolling basis for five years.

This means if you don’t use the full amount of your concessional contribution cap in a year starting from 2018-19, you can carry forward the unused amount and take advantage of it up to five years later provided your total super balance at the start of the year is below $500,000.

Early Access to Superannuation during Covid19

Many people during the early COVID lockdowns took advantage of the early release of super payment of $10,000.  If you signed the declaration but didn’t meet the criteria you may have to pay tax on the amount you received.  Talk to us if you think you have made this error.

Super Fund Rates of Tax on Concessional Contributions

The rate of tax on concessional (tax-deductible) contributions is generally 15%.  However, there is an additional tax of 15% paid by people whose combined income and concessional super contributions exceed $250,000.  This is known as Division 293 tax and is levied on the excess over this $250,000 threshold, or on the super contributions, whichever is less.  The additional 15% tax will be payable by the member, but the member can elect to withdraw funds from the superannuation fund to pay the additional tax.

Superannuation Spouse Contribution Tax Offset

This offset is available for contributions made on or before 30 June by a taxpayer to a Complying Superannuation Fund or Retirement Savings Account in respect of their low-income or non-earning spouse (married or de facto and under 67, or 67-74 and satisfy work test). Your spouse’s total superannuation balance on 30 June of the previous financial year must be below the general transfer balance cap ($1.6 million in 2020-2021). The amount of the offset is:

Spouses Assessable Income (including reportable fringe benefits and reportable employer superannuation contributions)(AI) Maximum Rebatable Contributions (MRC) Maximum Offset Amount (18% of the actual contributions if it results in a lower amount)
$0 – $37,000 $3,000 $540
$37,001 – $39,999 $3,000 The lesser of 1 or 2 up to maximum of $540

Actual contribution x 18%; or

(Contributions – excess AI over $37,000) x 18%

 
>$40,000 N/A $Nil

Government Co-Contribution

The Government will contribute 50c for every $1 personally contributed into superannuation for which a tax deduction has not been claimed as follows:

  • $500 up to the lower income threshold of $39,837
  • $500 – [(income – $39,837) x 0.0333] between the lower and higher income thresholds
  • $Nil over the higher income threshold of $54,837

Your total superannuation balance on 30 June of the previous financial year must be below the general transfer balance cap ($1.6 million in 2020-2021).

As other conditions apply, please refer to the ATO publication “Super Co-Contribution” and the ATO “Super Co-Contributions Calculator”, which are both available from the ATO website.

Downsizer Contribution

A downsizer contribution of up to $300,000 into your super can be made from the proceeds of selling your Australian family home, provided that:

  • You are 65 years or older at the time you make the contribution (proposed to reduce age to 60 from 1 July 2022)
  • You (or your spouse) owned your home for at least 10 years
  • You make the contributions within 90 days of selling your home; and
  • You complete a downsizer contribution to super form

 

You can only make downsizing contributions for the sale of one home.  If you sell your home and make a downsizer contribution there is no requirement for you to purchase another home.

Downsizer contributions are not classed as non-concessional contributions and therefore are not included in your non-concessional contributions cap.  They are not tax-deductible and are included in determining your eligibility for the aged pension.

The Business Section

Single Touch Payroll

Single Touch Payroll (STP) is the way you report your employee’s tax and super information to the ATO.

STP is part of the Australian Government’s commitment to streamlining employer reporting obligations:

  • Employers with 20 or more employees were required to start reporting from 1 July 2018
  • Employers with 19 or fewer employees were required to start reporting from 1 July 2019 unless an exemption applied to them

 

From 1 January 2022, the information you report using STP will change.

Expanding Single Touch Payroll (Phase 2)

What Single Touch Payroll Phase 2 is.

In the 2019–20 Budget, the Government announced that Single Touch Payroll (STP) would be expanded to include additional information.

This expansion of STP (also known as STP Phase 2) will reduce the reporting burden for employers who need to report information about their employees to multiple government agencies. It also supports the administration of the social security system.

The mandatory start date for STP Phase 2 reporting will be 1 January 2022.

What’s next.

There is nothing you need to do right now. The ATO is working closely with digital service providers who will update their STP-enabled software.

The ATO has published a factsheet that covers the key changes and more detailed information will be available soon.

It’s important to remember that all STP-enabled solutions have different functions and updates for the expansion will be offered in different ways. What you need to do to set up will depend on what product you use and how you manage your payroll.

The ATO will soon provide more information about what to do if you need additional time to transition to STP Phase 2.

What isn’t changing.

While you will need to report additional information in your STP report, many things that aren’t changing, such as:

  • the way you lodge your STP report
  • STP reports are still due on or before payday unless you are eligible for a reporting concession
  • the types of payments that are in-scope for STP reporting
  • taxation and superannuation obligations
  • end of year finalisation requirements

Increasing and Expanding Access to the Instant Asset Write-Off

Temporary Full Expensing Extension

In the 2020/21 Federal Budget, the Government announced amendments to allow businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $5 billion to access a new temporary full expensing of eligible depreciating assets until 30 June 2022. Temporary full expensing became law when Treasury Laws Amendment (A Tax Plan for the COVID-19 Economic Recovery) Bill 2020 received Royal Assent on 14 October 2020.

In the 2021/22 Federal Budget, the Government has announced that temporary full expensing will be extended by 12 months to allow eligible businesses with aggregated annual turnover or the total income of less than $5 billion to deduct the full cost of eligible depreciable assets of any value, acquired from 7:30 pm AEDT on 6 October 2020 and first used or installed ready for use by 30 June 2023. All other elements of temporary full expensing will remain unchanged, including the alternative eligibility test based on total income, which will continue to be available to businesses.

Temporary Loss Carry-back Extension

In the prior year (2020/21) Federal Budget, the Government announced amendments to introduce a temporary loss carry-back measure. Broadly, this initial measure allowed ‘corporate tax entities’ with an aggregated turnover of less than $5 billion to carry-back tax losses made in 2020, 2021 and/or 2022 income years to claim a refund of tax paid (by way of a tax offset) in relation to 2019, 2020 and/or 2021 income years. The rules relating to the temporary loss carry-back regime have been enacted and are contained in Division 160 of the ITAA 1997.

In the 2021/22 Federal Budget, the Government has announced that the loss carry-back measure will be extended to allow eligible companies (i.e., with an aggregated turnover of less than $5 billion) to also carry back (utilise) tax losses from the 2023 income year to offset previously taxed profits as far back as the 2019 income year when they lodge their tax return for the 2023 income year.

Business Tax Rates and Concession

A 26% company tax rate for small business applies for 2020/2021 for those with an aggregated business turnover of less than $50 million.

The 13% small business income tax offset (up to $1000) is available to businesses with a turnover of less than $5 million.  It applies only to business income for sole traders, or a share of business income from partnerships or trusts.

Introduction of an Economy-wide Cash Payment Limit

From 1 July 2019, the Government introduced a limit of $10,000 for cash payments made to businesses for goods and services.  Currently, large undocumented cash payments can be used to avoid tax or to launder money from criminal activity.  This measure will require transactions over the threshold to be made through an electronic payment system or by cheque.  Transactions with financial institutions or consumer non-business transactions will not be affected.  This legislation is currently before parliament and does not yet have an official start date.

Taxable Payments Reporting System (‘TPRS’)

The TPRS is a transparency measure that requires businesses operating within prescribed ‘high-risk’ industries to report payments made to certain contractors to the ATO.  The purpose of these requirements is to target the cash economy and general low compliance within a particular industry.

Since 1 July 2012 businesses in the building and construction industry have been required to report total payments made to each contractor for building and construction services each year.  From 1 July 2018, it was expanded to the cleaning and courier industries. Then from 1 July 2019 the TPRS has been extended to the following industries:

  • Road freight services
  • Information technology services
  • Security, investigation or surveillance services

 

Information to be reported in Taxable Payments Annual Report for each contractor

  • The Contractors ABN
  • The Contractors name and address
  • The gross amount paid to the contractor for the income year (including any GST)

Sundry Business Related Items Pursuant to Covid-19 and Disaster Relief to include but are not limited to:

  • Increase in instant asset write-off
  • Cash flow boost for employers
  • Job keeper payments
  • Wage subsidies for trainees and apprentices
  • Early release of superannuation
  • ATO assistance for those impacted by recent disasters
  • Reduced minimum drawdown for super pensions
  • State Government grants

Superannuation Guarantee Contributions (SGC)

The rate of Superannuation Guarantee Contributions will increase to 10% as of 1 July 2021.  The SGC is payable for all employees who receive wages over a minimum of $450 per month.  You must pay super for an employee aged under 18 years if:

  • they work for you more than 30 hours per week
  • you pay them $450 or more (before tax) in wages or salary in a calendar month
How much super do you need to pay?

As an employer, you must pay a minimum of 10% of each eligible employee’s ordinary time earnings each quarter. If your employees are covered by an award or employment agreement which specifies a higher super contribution than 10%, you must pay that higher amount.

Ordinary time earnings (OTE) are usually the amount your employee earns for their ordinary hours of work. It includes things like commissions, shift-loadings and allowances, and generally does not include overtime payments.

Ongoing Super Guarantee rate increase

The SG rate increases to 10% on 1 July 2021, and then continue to increase until it reaches 12% on 1 July 2025.

 

Date SG Rate
1 July 2020 9.5%
1 July 2021 10%
1 July 2022 10.5%
1 July 2023 11%
1 July 2024 11.5%
1 July 2025 12%

For more information on the superannuation guarantee call the ATO on 13 10 20, or visit the ATO website.

Contributions must be paid quarterly. However, you can also choose to pay monthly or fortnightly.

Superannuation Guarantee Contribution Payment Due Dates

Superannuation guarantee contributions are payable to an employee’s superannuation fund by the 28th of the month following the quarter-end date, i.e. payment is due by 28 October for the quarter ended 30 September. Contributions for the June quarter must be received by the employee’s fund by 30 June for those contributions to be deductible to the employer in the current financial year.

Fringe Benefits – Motor Vehicles

The Fringe Benefits year runs from 1st April to 31st March and a benefit most commonly arises when a car that is owned or leased by a company or trust is made available for private use.  You can calculate the taxable value of a car fringe benefit using either of the following methods:

  • Statutory formula method – A single statutory rate of 20% applies regardless of kilometres travelled to all new car fringe benefits after 7.30 pm AEST on 10 May 2011. The taxable value of the car fringe benefit is the statutory rate multiplied by the car’s base value. Some older vehicles may still be subject to the progressive statutory rates based on kilometres travelled.
  • Operating cost method – the taxable value of the car fringe benefit is a percentage of the total costs of operating the car during the fringe benefits tax (FBT) year. The percentage varies with the extent of actual private use. A logbook must be kept for 12 consecutive weeks every 5 years. The private use percentage is applied to the total operating costs.

 

What vehicles are exempt from FBT?

From 1 April 2017, there are no exempt vehicles, you will need to address whether your vehicle met the new private use exemption.

The private use of a motor vehicle is exempt from FBT if all of the following conditions are satisfied:

  • the vehicle is a panel van, utility (ute) or other commercial vehicles (that is, one not designed principally to carry passengers)
  • the employee’s private use of such a vehicle is limited to
    • travel between home and work
    • travel that is incidental to travel in the course of duties of employment
    • non-work-related use that is minor, infrequent and irregular (e.g., occasional use of the vehicle to remove domestic rubbish).

Company Loans

Any loan from a company to a shareholder or associate (a related person or entity) which remains unpaid at the end of the financial year is usually treated as an assessable unfranked dividend to the shareholder unless the loan is made under a written loan agreement.  A complying loan is either:

  • an unsecured loan to be repaid within 7 years at a benchmark interest rate (minimum); or
  • a loan fully secured by a real property mortgage of 25 years or less with a minimum benchmark interest rate

There is significant time and cost involved in managing such loans which must be considered before borrowing funds from a company.

Cloud Accounting

We can assist you with setting up your cloud-based accounting software.  The programs we use and recommend are, QuickBooks, MYOB and Xero.  Call us today for subscription costs.  We are QuickBooks Certified Advisors.  We can also offer online bank feeds of your bank statements directly into our software program should you wish to move away from manual bank statements and record-keeping at any time.

A few things you need to know…

Client Portal

Wilson Colman decided to change the way we engage with our clients. This includes the use of our client portal for you and each of your entities that allows for digital signatures and document storage in an encrypted environment.  Why are we doing this? Having an encrypted online portal means as a practice we can stay compliant with data security breach laws and provide our clients with an efficient document sharing tool.  If for any reason you do not wish to move forward with your secure portal we will need you to sign a waiver for data security breach laws.  Please reach out if you have any questions or queries.

MyGov and your Notice of Assessment

If you have ticked the box in MyGov to receive ALL ATO information, please be aware that your Notice of Assessment will go directly to your MyGov account and you will be notified of new activity via your chosen method, i.e. email or text message.  A paper copy will not be sent to you by Wilson Colman.  Please keep your details up to date in MyGov.  You can untick this option if you would prefer we receive your ATO correspondence.

Scam Alerts

May 2021 Email Scam – Update your myGovID details

The ATO is receiving reports of a new email scam that asks people to update their myGov or myGovID details.

Scammers pretending to be from the ‘myGov customer care team’ are sending emails telling people they need to verify their identity by clicking on a link.

If you’re concerned that a phone call, SMS, voicemail or email claiming to be from the ATO is not genuine, don’t reply to it. Instead, you should either:

Keep informed of new scam alerts by subscribing to general email updates. You will receive updates on all new general content on the ATO website, including the latest scam alerts.

Our Credit Policy

Our terms for payment are 14 days from the date of the invoice within which our clients may settle their fees.  Payment can be made by direct bank transfer, cash, EFTPOS, credit card and cheque.  When paying by direct bank transfer please use your client code as a reference so we can identify your payment.  Your client code is on your tax invoice.

Have you changed your details?

Have you changed your address, changed your telephone number or email address?  Then we need to know.  Please make sure you call our office or email us whenever your circumstances change and keep your details up to date.

If you have an ABN and your details have changed, you must notify our office within 28 days so that we can update the Australian Business Register on your behalf.

Do you have a Will?

By making a Will you are exercising your legal right of directing how your assets should be distributed.  Only by having a Will can you be certain this will happen.  When you make your own Will you also choose your executors who will be responsible for looking after and distributing your estate after you die.  By choosing your executors carefully you can ensure that those responsible for distributing your estate understand your needs and wishes and those of your family.

Without a Will, Statute Law will dictate how your assets are divided.  This could produce a result which may mean hardship to your family and be contrary to your wishes.  We suggest you ensure you have a Will and it is up to date.

Your Privacy

Many Australians have lost millions of dollars due to tax-related scams especially with email scams and telephone calls.  These can result in identity theft.  Our privacy policy is in place to ensure that we continue to protect you and your personal information.

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is not advice. Clients should not act solely based on the material contained in this newsletter. Items listed are general comments only and do not constitute or convey advice.  Also, changes in legislation may occur quickly. We, therefore, recommend that our formal advice be sought before acting in any of the areas.