CHECKED YOUR FRINGE BENEFITS LATELY?

Transcription

1 NEWSLETTER MARCH 2013 NEWSLETTER MARCH 2018 CHECKED YOUR FRINGE BENEFITS LATELY? Do you provide a benefit to your employees or their associates in a different form to salary or wages? Benefits can be a great way to reward your employees for a job well done, but it s important to check if there are any tax implications. As a guide to whether a benefit is provided, ask yourself if you would have provided the benefit if the person had not been an employee. Examples of benefits include providing: > a vehicle you own or lease for private use > holiday accommodation > concert tickets > club memberships. If you are unsure whether or not you are providing a fringe benefit, if you have a fringe benefits tax obligation or if the benefit is exempt, please contact your Accountant. The Fringe Benefit Tax Year ends on 31 March 2018, with Fringe Benefit Tax Returns due on 21 May NOTIFIABLE DATA BREACHES (NDB) SCHEME The Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme, administered by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) came into effect on 22 February This scheme requires organisations covered by the Privacy Act 1988 to notify the OAIC and affected individuals of eligible data breaches, for example, unauthorised access, loss or disclosure of personal information that could cause serious harm to the affected individual. The OAIC has extensive resources on their website about what to do if you receive a data breach notification, how to respond to a data breach notification and how to protect your personal information. PERSONAL SUPERANNUATION CONTRIBUTIONS Effective 1 July 2017, most individuals under 75 years of age can claim a tax deduction for personal superannuation contributions without needing to have less than 10% of their income from salary and wages. Deductions for personal superannuation contributions are now available to taxpayers who get their income from: salary and wages, self-employment, investments, government pensions, foreign sources, and partnership or trust distributions. Concessional contributions, including employer contributions and personal contributions for which the member claims a tax deduction, are capped at $25,000 for the financial year for all individuals regardless of age. 1

2 ATO SMALL BUSINESS SUPERANNUATION CLEARING HOUSE (SBSCH) The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) is a free online service that allows employers with less than 20 employees or an annual aggregated turnover of less than $10 million to meet their Superannuation Guarantee (SG) obligations. Employers send their employees superannuation contributions to a single destination, the SBSCH, and the SBSCH distributes the payments and payment details on their behalf to the employees nominated super funds. From 26 February 2018, the SBSCH changed how employers access their site: > sole traders or individual employers, require a mygov account > other small businesses require access to the Business Portal through either mygov or AUSkey. AUSkey registration is specific to the computer used and to register go to: The SBSCH bank account details also changed on 26 February 2018, so any saved BPAY reference numbers need to be updated. Payment can now also be made by credit card. ATO BUSINESS PORTAL The ATO s Business Portal provides secure access to a range of tax and superannuation services with one logon, including: access the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House to prepare, lodge and pay employee superannuation prepare, lodge and revise Business Activity Statements (BAS) view your ATO statement of account and payment options view your reports for Single Touch Payroll request a refund or transfer of funds between ATO accounts update your business registration details register for goods and services tax (GST) and PAYG withholding (PAYGW) request a ruling or lodge an objection communicate with the ATO through a secure mailbox. For more information on how to register for the Business Portal, go to Getting-started/. $20,000 INSTANT ASSET WRITE-OFF The instant asset write-off threshold of $20,000 ends on 30 June 2018, and will revert to $1,000 from 1 July Until 30 June 2018, the business portion of assets that cost less than $20,000, can be immediately claimed as a tax deduction for businesses with a turnover less than $10 million. Assets that cost $20,000 or more can t be immediately deducted, but are deducted over time using the general small business pool. TRAVEL EXPENSES FOR RESIDENTIAL RENTAL PROPERTIES From 1 July 2017, travel expenses relating to inspecting, maintaining, or collecting rent for a residential rental property cannot be claimed as deductions by investors. 2

3 NSW SMALL BUSINESS STAMP DUTY EXEMPTION CHANGES From 1 January 2018 eligible small businesses (generally with less than $2million turnover) in NSW will not be required to pay duty on certain types of insurance, including: Occupational indemnity insurance (or professional indemnity) covering liability arising out of the provision of professional or other services (other than medical indemnity insurance) Product and public liability insurance insurance covering liability for personal injury or property damage occurring in connection with, or arising out of the products or services of, a business. Commercial vehicle insurance for a motor vehicle used primarily for business purposes The insured is required to lodge a small business declaration with their insurer at the time that the contract of insurance is effected or renewed. Crop and livestock insurance is also exempt from duty from 1 January 2018 for all primary producers. AWARD CHANGES Effective 12 December 2017, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) varied certain overtime rates and minimum shift entitlements for casual and part-time employees in several awards. The decision introduces overtime rates for casual employees in many of these awards and changes how part-time hours can be worked in others. The changes are different for each award, so they affect employers and employees differently depending on the award they re covered by. These changes apply from the first full pay period on or after 1 January 2018, and affect the following awards: Fast Food Award Hair and Beauty Award Hospitality Award Passenger Vehicle Award Pastoral Award Rail Award Registered Clubs Award Restaurant Award Retail Award Social and Community Services Award Wine Award. For more information go to: au/about-us/news-and-media-releases/website-news/ changes-to-casual-part-time-entitlements-in-some-awards SINGLE TOUCH PAYROLL Single Touch Payroll will be mandatory for employers with 20 or more employees (substantial employer) from 1 July 2018 and for ALL employers from 1 July Employee numbers are determined based on payroll on 1 April 2018 and include full-time employees, part-time employees, casual employees who worked any time during March 2018, employees who are on leave (paid or unpaid) and seasonal employees. Employee numbers are based on head count and not on full-time equivalents. Employers who are located in a rural area with no reliable internet connection or who are substantial employers for only a short period of the year (eg due to shearing or harvesting activities) may apply for an exemption from Single Touch Payroll reporting. Employers will be required to report salary or wages, PAYG withholding and superannuation information directly to the ATO at the same time that payment is made to their employees. Employers who report through Single Touch Payroll will not be required to provide employees with Payment Summaries at the end of the year. For more information go to 3

4 ATO ANNOUNCES FOCUS AREAS FOR 2018 The ATO has recently announced its focus areas for the financial year ended 30 June These include: Substantiation of work related expenses such as home office, mobile phones, internet and tools Motor vehicles: private use calculations, the need to have a valid logbook and how kilometres are calculated if using the c/km claim method Uniforms and protective clothing: must be occupation specific, protective, registered or compulsory Cash economy and businesses that have low use of merchant banking facilities, such as beauty salons, cafes and restaurants Employers who are not meeting their employee Superannuation Guarantee obligations ATO DATA MATCHING The ATO uses data matching as a powerful administrative and law enforcement tool. Information from a variety of third-party sources is compiled electronically, validated, analysed and used for a range of education and compliance activities. It allows the ATO to detect people and businesses operating outside the tax system, detect fraud against the Commonwealth, identify innocent omissions by taxpayers and recover debt. Over 600 million transactions are collected annually from a range of sources, including: > Bank, financial institutions and investment bodies > Employers > State and Territory motor vehicle registering bodies > State and Territory title offices and revenue agencies > Government agencies EMPLOYEE V CONTRACTOR DECISION TOOL We are frequently asked What is the difference between an employee and a contractor? An employee works in the business and is part of the business. A contractor is running their own business. The ATO takes six main factors into account to determine whether a worker is an employee or contractor for tax and superannuation purposes: Ability to subcontract/delegate Basis of payment (eg hourly rate, commission or fixed quote) Provision of equipment and tools Commercial risk Control over the work (what, where, how and when the work is performed) Independence The ATO has a decision tool to assist in determining if a worker is an employee or a contractor: au/calculators-and-tools/employee-or-contractor/ TAX OFFSET FOR SPOUSE SUPERANNUATION CONTRIBUTION On 1 July 2017, changes to the tax offset for spouse superannuation came into effect with an increase in the spouse income threshold from $10,800 to $37,000. Taxpayers are eligible to claim the maximum tax offset of $540 if: > they contribute $3,000 to a spouses eligible super fund, and > the spouses assessable income plus total reportable fringe benefits plus reportable employer super contributions is less than $37,000. > AUSTRAC and Australia s international treaty partners > Online selling platforms > Sharing economy facilitators > Stock exchanges and share registries > Businesses in the building and construction industry > Health insurers 4

5 Reminder due date for employee Superannuation quarterly contributions is 28 April Reminder due date for most income tax returns lodged via a Tax Agent is 15 May If you have not yet forwarded your 2017 tax information to your accountant, please do so ASAP. FUEL TAX CREDIT RATES INCREASE Fuel Tax Credit rates increased on 5 February The new rate for heavy vehicles travelling on a public road is 15.1c/litre and for all other business uses (eg off road and power auxiliary equipment of a heavy vehicle) it is 40.9 c/litre. TWOMEYS COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Twomeys team members in Cootamundra hold a monthly fundraising morning tea to donate to charities/local causes that we have a personal interest in or connection to. Throughout 2017, we donated a total of $3,388 plus toys and supported the following: > Children s Medical Research Institute - Jeans for Genes > McGrath Foundation > Jack Raleigh Family > Country Hope - Riverina Redneck Rally > Dementia Australia > PKU Association of NSW > Epilepsy Action Australia > Leukaemia Foundation Stadium Stomp > R U OK? > Cootamundra Can Assist > Movember Foundation > Salvation Army Toy Run Melissa Kelleher is pictured with Kate and Carol from the Salvation Army. 5

6 TWOMEYS NEWS Welcome Congratulations Congratulations to Julie Smart for graduating with a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) from Charles Sturt University. Congratulations to Nathan Robinson, Manager, Young Office for 20 years of service with Twomeys. Congratulations to Merralee Gordon, Client Services Officer, Cootamundra Office for 15 years of service with Twomeys. Emily Woodward Junior Accountant Young Office Zoe Woods Junior Accountant Young Office Sarah Mackie Undergraduate Accountant Young Office Pictured are our Young office team (Absent: Matthew Paterson and Karen Pullen) SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER ONLINE AT: FIND US ON FACEBOOK: For further information or advice, please contact your nearest Twomeys office. Cootamundra Young Cowra Harden Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. Please note that any taxation and accounting services are not endorsed nor the responsibility of Count Financial Limited. The articles contained in this newsletter are intended for information only and not for advice. ^Services provided as an Authorised Representative of Count. Twomeys ABN is a Member of Count Financial Limited (AR ). Count and Count Wealth Accountants are trading names of Count Financial Limited ABN Australian Financial Services Licence Holder Number a wholly-owned, non-guaranteed subsidiary of Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN Count is a Professional Partner of the Financial Planning Association of Australia Limited. Count advisers are authorised representatives of Count. Accounting Advanced Tax Planning Asset Protection and Business Structures Audit and Assurance Business Advisory Information Technology Self-Managed Superannuation Taxation Wealth Creation^ Cootamundra Wealth Protection^ Young Harden Cowra