Accounting Professionals Blog

In simple terms, the Research and Development (R&D) tax incentive provides a tax offset to eligible companies that conduct certain R&D activities that are likely to benefit Australia’s wider economy. As a response to various reviews which indicated that the incentive...

If you are the trustee of one of the approximately 577,000 SMSFs in Australia at the moment, there are some areas the ATO wants you to pay particular attention to including the sole-purpose test, the in-house asset rules, unlawful schemes and arrangements, and...

The Government is planning to introduce an economy-wide cash payment limit of $10,000 as a part of its crackdown on the black economy. Any transaction that exceeds $10,000 will need to be made using an electronic system or by cheque. The cash transaction limit will...

Global trends such as Innovation, technology and globalisation are changing the business world and there are big winners and big losers. The relatively low level of capital required to ride the wave of global trends is an advantage to small business whom in the past...

Accounting Professionals are pleased to announce the appointment of Steve Macdonald to our growing Business Advisory Team. Steve is a specialist Business Intelligence (BI) and Startup advisor with recent experience as a BI Consultant to government, large corporates...

Are you nearing retirement or just want to put a little extra away for the future without putting a strain on your household budget? Contributing to superannuation might be your best bet. There are two main ways to boost your super balance, salary sacrificing super...

Single Touch Payroll (STP) is coming for businesses, it aligns your reporting obligations to the ATO to your payroll processes. You do not need to change anything you do now, you can still pay your employees on a weekly, fortnightly, or monthly cycle. If you’re...

Beware of work-related clothing and laundry expense claims this tax time, the ATO is cracking down on individuals making unsubstantiated and exaggerated claims. It has reminded taxpayers that only uniform, protective or occupation-specific clothing that you are...

Tax time has come around for another year, and this year the ATO is focusing on “other” work-related expense deductions and work-related car expenses.  It says taxpayer must remember that they are not automatically entitled to claim standard deductions and that all...

Pre-lodgement compliance reviews (PCRs) are increasingly being used by the ATO to resolve potential compliance concerns as they arise. Previously, PCRs have only been applied to significant taxpayers such as public companies, international groups and large Australian...

With the ATO’s compliance targeting of large businesses in the past few years reaping rewards, this tax time, its turning its attention to small businesses. As a small business owner, what do you need to be aware of to stay out of the ATO spotlight? A recent interview...

Did you know that in Australia, any organisation that handles personal information could be captured under the notifiable data breaches scheme which requires organisations to notify individuals whose personal information is involved in a data breach that is likely to...

With the FBT lodgement deadline fast approaching, we give you some tips on areas of FBT which may need particular attention, such as motor vehicles, employee contributions, the living-away-from-home allowance, car parking and the employer rebate. These are the areas...

FBT time is well and truly upon us, with only a month to go until the due date for the lodgement of the return. With the due date so close, most businesses would be in the middle of preparing or even finalising their returns. For those that have put it off, there is...

Death of a family member is often a difficult time, but if the deceased was a member of SMSF, complications from trustee arrangements and payment of the death benefit can make a difficult time even worse for the family members. A recent dispute that reached all the...

The Fair Work Commission has upheld the sacking of a long-term Coles employee who racially abused a co-worker and posted abusive and vulgar snapchats about his manager. Coles sacked Ridwan Ridwan by letter last August for a series of foul-mouthed and aggressive...

Are you ready for e-Audits? The ATO is finally moving with the times and have started conducting e-Audits using computer assisted verification techniques. This process is said to be more efficient, accurate and thorough than traditional audits with the advantage of...

Do you rent out a part of your home, or a holiday home, on Airbnb, Stayz or another sharing site? Perhaps you see this as a way of making a little extra income to help the household budget or to save for that holiday. But what you may not be aware of are the long term...