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Gold Coast Tax Blogs

Personal Income Tax Preparation & Measure in Helensvale

Limiting plant and equipment depreciation deductions to outlays actually incurred by investors – for residential investment properties acquired from Budget night on 9 May 2017

Tax Services in Gold Coast for Your Parties

Christmas is fast approaching. In order to properly plan for any unforeseen tax problems, we provide a tax guide for your Christmas party.

Christmas party for employees (including family members and clients)

On-site Christmas party

Transfer Balance Account Reporting (TBAR) – Self Managed Super Fund in Australia

All super providers, including SMSF and life insurance companies, are required to lodge a TBAR to report events to an individual’s transfer balance account (TBA). The ATO has announced that TBAR will apply to SMSF from 1 July 2018.

Events to be reported in the TBAR include:

1. Super income streams in existence just before 1 July 2017.

Deduction claim for bundled phone and internet plans

If you have a bundled plan, you need to identify work use for each service over a four-week representative period during the income year. This will allow you to determine your pattern of work use, which can be applied for the full year.

Tax Residency Advice for Renting Home in Helensvale

If you rent out part or all of your home, you are liable for the following:

· You must disclose your rental income and expenses in our tax return;

Claiming for clothing and laundry expenses

To claim a deduction you must be able to provide evidence that you purchased the clothing.

If you receive an allowance from your employer for clothing, uniforms, laundry or dry cleaning, it must be declared as an allowance on your return.

Are you employing yourself or someone in your business?

If so, read on…

From 1 July 2019, all employers must be registered for Single Touch Payroll (STP).

What is STP?

What is Tax Planning?

Tax Planning is where the taxpayer very sensibly changes around or re-arranges their affairs so that their business and financial involvements will result in increased profitability

Tax and Christmas Party (cont’d)

What is considered to be entertainment costs?
Entertainment	Not Entertainment
Airline tickets	Gift hamper
Theatre/sporting tickets	Bottle of wine or whiskey
Holiday accommodation	Perfumes
Hired entertainers	Flowers
Gym membership	Pen Set

Tax tip: Avoid entertainment costs to employees and clients, as they are not tax deductible, subject to FBT and GST cannot be claimed.

Residential Rental Property Deduction Changes & Rental Property Advice in Gold Coast

From 1 July 2017, the following measures have been introduced:

1. Disallowance of travel expenses for residential rental properties to inspect, maintain or collect rent. Therefore, if you fly interstate to inspect your property or driving to your rental property to mow the lawn, then the costs incurred for the trip are no longer tax deductible.

How to claim two deductions for the same vehicle

If you are a husband and wife couple and both salary and wage earners, then if you both have to undertake business related travel and are required to use your own car, then you can each claim car expenses even if you have only one car.

No deduction for meal expenses in excess of overtime meal allowance

The AAT has held that a taxpayer was not eligible to deduct meal expenses in excess of his overtime meal allowance.

Facts

What happens if an SMSF member loses capacity?

It is possible that a member of an SMF loses capacity e.g. due to stroke or old age.

The trustee/member rules for SMSF require that a member of an SMSF also needs to be the trustee of that SMSF.

Christmas party for employees (including family members and clients)

On-site Christmas party

If you are having a Christmas party, holding it on the business premises on a working day is usually more tax effective than holding it off-site. Food and drinks (including alcohol) are exempted from FBT for employees with no dollar limit, but no tax deduction for GST can be claimed. Where family members (or associates) attend and the costs of each family member (or associate) is $300 (inc. GST) or more, there is FBT on the associate’s portion of food and drink, and a tax deduction and GST credit can be claimed on the portion of the costs.

Where the Christmas party is held on a working day at the business premises with only employees and clients including finger food, light meals and provided with no alcohol, then there is no FBT, the entire cost is tax deductible and a GST credit can be claimed.

Off-site Christmas party

Christmas parties held off the business premises are exempted from FBT where the cost for the employee and their associates is less than $300 (inc. GST) per attendee. However, no tax deduction or GST credit can be claimed.

Gifts to employees

Gifts provided to employees or their associates are normally subject to FBT, unless the minor benefit exemption applies. For a minor benefit exemption to apply, it must be provided to an employee or their associate on an “infrequent” or “irregular” basis and the cost is less than $300 “per benefit” (inc. GST). This is irrespective whether it is an entertainment expense or not (refer to table). However a tax deduction and GST credit can only be claimed if the item is a non-entertainment expense.

Gifts to clients

Gifts to a client are generally tax deductible as they are made for the purpose of producing future assessable income. However, if gifts are considered to be entertainment gifts, then no tax deduction or GST can be claimed.