September 2019 Tax Newsletter

The year is flying by!  Here is  the September 2019 Tax Newsletter which contains information on a number of important taxation developments

*             Warning to watch out for myGov tax scams – The government’s Stay Smart Online website warns there has been a surge in scammers impersonating myGov and the ATO to trick people into giving them money or personal details.

*             ATO has refunded $10 billion so far – The ATO says that $10 billion has been refunded to Australian taxpayers so far this tax time, an increase of over $2 billion from this time last year.

*             ATO watching for undisclosed foreign income this tax time – The ATO reminds taxpayers who receive any foreign income from investments, family members or working overseas to make sure they report it this tax time.

*             Unusual claims disallowed – Almost 700,000 taxpayers have claimed $2 billion of “other” expenses including non-deductible items such as dental costs, child care and Lego sets.

*             ATO contacting small employers about Single Touch Payroll – The ATO is writing to small employers who have yet to start reporting or apply for a deferral, to remind them of their STP obligations.

*             Disclosing business tax debt information: ATO consultation – The law is being changed to let the ATO report business tax debt information to credit reporting bureaus where businesses avoid their tax debts.

*             Cross-border recovery of taxation debts – An updated practice statement outlines options available for the ATO to recover a tax debt where the debtor is outside Australia.

*             ATO superannuation focus areas – The ATO has released its presentation to the 2019 Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia National Policy Roadshow outlining emerging focus areas for 2019–2020.

*             Compassionate release of super only available in limited cases – The ATO has recently seen a significant increase in queries about compassionate release of super.

*             Personal services income rules: unrelated clients test – The Federal Court has set aside an AAT decision that income a business analyst derived through a company was subject to the PSI rules.

For more information on any of these topics, please click on the link below:

September Tax Newsletter

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