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With the latest statistics showing a significant rise in liquidations and with the ATO’s focused efforts on debt collection, small businesses face significant financial pressures. However, the answer isn’t to evade responsibilities or take shortcuts – business restructuring has to be done properly and in compliance with the relevant laws. The small business restructure rollover (SBRR) provides a legitimate, structured path for businesses to reorganise their operations, allowing them to better meet these challenges without prejudicing creditors or engaging in unethical practices.
In March 2024, the government announced its intention to commence paying superannuation on government Paid Parental Leave (PPL) payments from 1 July 2025. Announced as part of the launch of Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality and included in the 2024-25 Budget, the payment of superannuation on PPL aims to reduce the impact that career breaks to care for young children have on superannuation balances, and to improve equity in the superannuation system.
In recent years, the financial landscape in Australia has been significantly transformed by the advent of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services. These innovative credit products have provided consumers with a convenient and often cheaper alternative to traditional credit forms such as credit cards, small amount credit contracts, and consumer leases.
As lodgement time once again approaches, business owners should be aware of the key changes in the 2023-24 tax return which may benefit their bottom line in the form of paying less tax. Specifically for small businesses, there are 2 incentives available for certain costs incurred in the 2023-24 income year: the small business instant asset write-off and the small business energy incentive.
ASIC has issued a warning to consumers to remain vigilant against high-pressure sales tactics and deceptive online advertisements used by certain cold-calling operations offering unsuitable superannuation switching advice. This type of high-pressure sale tactics has been a blight on the superannuation/financial services landscape since 2020 when ASIC first started taking action against various AFS licensees.
In a significant move towards protecting consumers, the Government announced the imminent commencement of the Compensation Scheme of the Last Resort (CSLR). The CSLR is a comprehensive scheme designed to compensate victims of misconduct by financial services firms licensed to provide relevant products or services, legislation for which passed in 2023. The scheme marks a pivotal moment in the government's commitment to restoring trust and integrity within the financial services sector after the findings of the Hayne Royal Commission.
Since the introduction of EV incentives by various state governments to encourage the uptake of EVs and other zero emissions vehicles, the market share of EVs has significantly increased from around 0.78% in 2022 to 7.2% in 2023. According to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, while EV sales only account for a small proportion of overall vehicle sales, the sales have increased 185% since 2022 (80,446 sales 2023 vs 33,410 in 2022).
The talk about the stage 3 tax cuts has reached a fever pitch in recent days. The changes were originally legislated by the previous government in 2019 with support of the then Labor opposition. During the election campaign and since coming into government, the Prime Minister had reassured voters on multiple occasions that the stage 3 tax cuts would remain. However, with the recent inflationary stressors, the government has been under increasing pressure to scrap the already legislated tax cuts in favor of cost-of-living relief for low to middle income earners, which would require the introduction of amending legislation.
As a new calendar year commences, the ATO’s priorities in the SMSF sector remain consistent. As with previous years, the greatest area of concern for the ATO continues to be taxpayers illegally accessing their super before meeting a condition of release. While it notes that the vast majority of SMSFs follow the rules, those that do not are having a significant impact on the system.
Businesses wanting to participate in tendering for Commonwealth government contracts need to be aware that contracts over a certain amount require a statement of tax record to be included with the tender submission, and the statement will need to be valid at the time of tender closing. The statement of tax record is a just statement that confirms the business’ engagement with the tax system is satisfactory and will apply to all contracts that have an estimated total value of over $4m including GST.
Each year the ATO releases a report containing the latest annual statistical results for employer super guarantee (SG) compliance and obligations, and this year is no exception. According to the 2022-23 report, the amount of employers complying with their SG obligations without intervention from the ATO remained the same as the 2021-22 year, at 94%. This is the case even though the number of employees and employers reporting through single touch payroll (STP) has increased; 915,000 employers reporting through STP for around 14.3m employees in 2022-23 compared with 819,000 employers reporting through STP for approximately 13.6m employees in 2021-22.
In the lead-up to the 2023 Federal Budget and in the Budget Papers, the government has released some details of its proposed “Payday Super” proposal, which businesses of all sizes can benefit from early preparation.