How will the budget affect you? On 14 May 2013, Treasurer Wayne Swan delivered his sixth annual budget. With a raft of reforms, spending cuts and tax changes, working out how the budget may affect you is a challenge. Our accountants have spent the past week digesting this year’s budget and its implications for individual […]
The Etax Blog: Tax Tips
Overseas Forces Tax Exemptions – Do They Apply To Me?
Are you a member of the Australian Defence Force who served overseas during the past tax year? If your deployment meets certain criteria then you may qualify for a tax emption on the income you earned while deployed. In this post we’ll discuss the two overseas forces tax exemptions available to overseas forces and how to […]
HELP Repayment Scheme to Stay… For Now
Important Note: The Federal Government has legislated this change and ended the HELP repayment scheme. For a full overview on all things HELP related, we’d suggest viewing our article on how to repay your help debt. Back in August 2013 the Federal Government announced they would end the discount for early HELP debt repayments. Good […]
Tax Information for People Affected by Natural Disasters
If you were affected by a flood or fire in 2013, the ATO can give you helpful extensions and concessions. This post provides basic information about preparing your individual tax return in 2013 if you’ve been affected by a natural disaster. We’ve broken things down into some key topics. If there’s something you’d like to […]
Motor Vehicle Data Matching in Full Swing at ATO
In its crusade against what they call the cash economy’, the ATO has announced plans to collect the details of all individuals and businesses that have purchased or acquired a vehicle where the transfer and/or market value is $10,000 or greater in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 financial year. This involves computerised “motor vehicle data matching” […]
Landmark ruling leave Qantas with a $34 million GST bill
Ever paid for a non-refundable flight and had something come up which prevented you from flying? If this was with Qantas, would you consider that the airline has provided you a service even though you didn’t fly? A landmark court case ruling handed down today determined that regardless of whether a person used their ticket […]
23,300 TFNs Compromised Last Year
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has revealed that 23,300 Australians had their tax file number compromised in the 2012 financial year, up from 22,000 the previous year. In an effort to combat the rise in identity fraud and compromised returns, the ATO has embarked on an intensive audit campaign when processing this year’s tax returns. […]
Trans-Tasman transfer of retirement savings may be possible in 2013
The federal government is drafting new legislation to establish a ‘trans-Tasman savings portability scheme’ in an effort to help people who move between Australia and New Zealand better manage their retirement savings. Currently, Australian and New Zealand citizens working in Australia are unable to take their superannuation with them if they move permanently to New […]
ATO blocks $40 million of false tax payments
In the past financial year the Australian Tax Office has reportedly blocked more than $40 million worth of payments that would have gone to criminals who committed identity theft. While these figures show that the ATO’s crackdown on fraudulent returns is garnering results, somewhat worryingly, officials from the ATO have little idea about how much […]
New carbon tax had no effect on inflation
Private analysts TD Securities-Melbourne Institute’s inflation gauge rose 0.6 per cent during August, but according to their head of Asia Pacific business, Annette Beacher, there does not appear to be any noticeable impact from the introduction of the Carbon Tax. A few goods and services increased in price during August which contributed to the 0.6% […]
Average tax refund more than $2,300
As we’re now more than half way through the 2012 tax season, we’ve decided to take a look at the ATO-issued average tax refund for 2012. How does your refund compare? This year the ATO has received 5,453,000 tax returns so far this tax year. So far they’ve processed 4,794,000 returns with 4,224,000 tax payers […]
Superannuation Co-Contribution: Get More Money for Your Super
Ever wonder about how you can better prepare yourself for retirement? If you earn less than $46,920, you may be able to give your super a nice boost – with very little sacrifice! Read on to find out how you can take advantage of the Federal Government’s superannuation co-contribution scheme. What is it? The superannuation co-contribution […]
Changes you should know about in the 2012 tax return:
Flood Levy and Schoolkids’ Bonus With the 2012 tax season now in full swing, we’ve already fielded questions on the many various changes to the 2011-2012 individual tax return. Below we discuss two major changes you should be aware of – and don’t worry, they are quite simple! What is the flood levy? Do I […]
Income Tax Breaks could mean more $$$ in your pocket!
With the government tax forum drawing to a close last week, one significant proposal on income tax seems to have gained some traction. While not committing to a specific timeframe, Treasure Wayne Swan explained that government is in the planning stages of raising the tax free threshold to $21,000 – a move that would also […]
Tax on Interest Income could be slashed by 50 percent
In the 2010-11 Budget, the Federal Labor Government released a discussion paper that would lead to a 50% tax discount on Interest Income. Aimed at giving relief to low and middle income earners, Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten claimed the discount will benefit up to five million everyday Australians. Set for introduction in the 2012-2013 financial […]
