Welcome to the club! The first thing you should do is not panic – being targeted doesn’t mean that you’ve done something bad, it just means that the ATO needs to verify details of your tax return submission to make sure you haven’t claimed incorrectly. In fact, you are far from alone. The ATO has…
The Tax Office’s data matching tools growing more sophisticated
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a business, interest, dividends, rent earned on an overseas property, Airbnb, Deliveroo delivering or other types of income you’ve earned, the chances are you need to declare this in your tax return or you could be snared with the ATO’s Data Matching Tools. The temptation of course is to skip…
Tax Office Hunts for Undeclared Income
Assistant Commissioner, Kath Anderson, says the ATO is looking for income from second jobs and capital gains on cryptocurrency. Australians leaving cash payments and foreign income off their annual tax return face being caught through new data-matching technology deployed by the Tax Office. Part of efforts to recover an annual shortfall of up to $1.4…
Rental properties – claiming travel expenses deductions
From 1 July 2017, travel expenses relating to a residential investment property are not deductible. A residential premise (property) is land or a building that is: occupied as a residence or for residential accommodation intended to be occupied, and is capable of being occupied, as a residence or for residential accommodation. Under the new legislation, you…
‘Biggest Ever’ ATO Deductions Campaign
The ATO has kicked off its taxpayer-focused tax time education campaign, with a series of tailored emails to tax agents and self-preparing taxpayers as it seeks to clamp down on work-related deductions. The tax office has sought to raise awareness of the myDeductions tool in the ATO app to “save hours of work at tax…
Tax Warning for Holiday Home Owners
This year, the Tax Office issued a warning it was targeting “the large number of mistakes, errors and false” claims made by rental property owners who use this property for their own personal holidays. If you own a rental property and it’s being rented consistently by the one tenant, this warning doesn’t apply to you.…
Boost your Tax Refund this Financial Year
June 30 is rapidly approaching, which means there are things you should do in the near future to improve your financial situation. Smart tax planning means deferring income while bringing forward expenses. For example, if you have money to spare, think about placing it in a term deposit with the interest maturing after June 30.…
Latest update from the ATO – Single Touch Payroll (STP), Are you Ready?
John Shepherd, Assistant Commissioner, Australian Taxation Office delves into some of the finer detail ahead of the 1 July move to Single Touch Payroll (STP), a change to the way larger employers report tax and super to the ATO. The 1 July start for Single Touch Payroll (STP) is fast approaching, and all larger employers,…
Tax Deduction Claims for Technology to Rise, but Beware the ATO is Watching.
TECHNOLOGY and tax deductions are combining to deliver Australians a financial boost, but those who bend the rules are increasingly likely to get caught. A surge in people working from home and using devices such as mobile phones and iPads for work-related tasks has opened the door to a new wave of tax deductions.…
It’s Not A Good Idea To Use A Mates ABN
Among the many changes introduced with the GST, one of the more far reaching income tax changes was the establishment of the Australian Business Number system. From July 1, 2000 strict regulations have required businesses to quote their ABN on official documentation, especially on invoices that they issue. Like many things to do with the…
