Straight Numbers & Tax Talk – February 2015

posted in: Newsletter

In this edition:

  • FREE Seminar – Builders Only
  • ATO data matching programs
  • Memorable Quotes…
  • ATO focus on super obligations – child care, pubs and cleaning
  • Travel allowance – deductions are not a foregone conclusion
  • A little bit of Trivia…
  • ATO recovers super from phoenix operators
  • Single Touch Payroll
  • Construction industry annual payments report
  • FREE Tax Blaster Session: Get your financial house in order for 2015!
  • Heard this one before?
  • Irene’s Baked Beans

We hope you had a great holiday season and are IN full swing making your mark in 2015. Our Team is always ready to assist you with any questions you have in relation to your tax obligations or business development.

In this edition, we’ve got some fantastic news for builders who want to learn how to build profits & CASH in the bank, Slash Your Tax and Plan for Wealth (and hang up the tools forever).

AD Hamilton & Associates and Profit Transformations are presenting The Tradies Profit Seminar next month. It is FREE to attend and it could be the most valuable afternoon you’ve spent this year.

Best regards from the Team at Straight Talk Accounting & Tax

Visit www.straighttalkat.com.au to read a multitude of recent articles of vital interest… some are genuinely irreverent but all are relevant.

F.R.E.E Seminar – Builders Only

Builders work in one of the hardest industries. When you rely on others to fulfill their obligations, growing your business can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be, not any more.

In one afternoon, we’d like to give you a collection of brilliant strategies, all THOROUGHLY PROVEN to build your profits and CASH, slash your taxes and create wealth.

The Builders Profit Seminar
Thursday 5th of March
12.57pm to 5.30pm

To register your attendance and for more information please visit www.tradiesadvantage.com.au, or call us on 3333 2415.

ATO data matching programs

Editor: The ATO is carrying out two new data matching programs to identify non-compliance with registration, lodgement, reporting and payment obligations, i.e., looking for tax avoiders.

Motor vehicles

The ATO has announced a new “Motor vehicle data matching program” to collect details of individuals or businesses that have purchased or acquired a vehicle costing $10,000 or more in the 2011/12 and the 2012/13 financial years.

It will acquire information from every State and Territory vehicle registration authority.

It is expected that records relating to approximately 2.8 million individuals will be matched.

Share transactions

The ATO has also announced a new “Share transactions data matching program” that will acquire details of share acquisitions and sales from 20 September 1985 to 30 June 2016 from:

  • Link Market Services Limited;
  • Computershare Limited;
  • Australian Securities Exchange Limited;
  • Boardroom Pty Ltd;
  • Advanced Share Registry Services Pty Ltd; and
  • Security Transfer Registrars Pty Ltd.

The type of data that the ATO will collect includes the name and address of the taxpayer, and the date, price and number of shares acquired or sold.

It estimates that more than 95 million records will be obtained, including the records for approximately 1.2 million individuals.

Editor: The fact that this program collects information back to 20 September 1985 raised concerns the ATO might amend assessments up to 30 years old!

However, the ATO has come out and said that it is only going back to when CGT was first introduced so that it can identify ‘post-CGT shares’ and calculate the cost base where shares have recently been sold (for example, if they were bought in 1986 and sold in 2014).

Memorable Quotes…

“Reduce your plan to writing. The moment you complete this, you will have
definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire.”

Napoleon Hill – 1883-1970
Author of Think and Grow Rich

ATO focus on super obligations – child care, pubs and cleaning

Each year, the ATO identifies industries where employers are at a greater risk of not making super contributions for their eligible employees.

This year its focus is on:

  • child care services;
  • pubs, bars and taverns; and
  • industrial cleaning industries.

Furthermore, the ATO stated that, in early 2015, it will write directly to employers in these industries to remind them of their super obligations.

It has also advised that it will be undertaking super obligation audits of these industries from July 2015.

The ATO reminds all taxpayers that they must:

  • contribute at a rate of 9.5%;
  • make contributions by the quarterly cut-off dates (i.e., 28 October, 28 January, 28 April, 28 July);
  • pay super for eligible contractors, even if the contractor quotes an Australian Business Number (ABN); and
  • give an employee’s tax file number (TFN) to their super fund within 14 days of receiving it.

Editor: We’ve heard on the grapevine that the ATO may also be directly contacting the trustees of SMSFs (or directors of the corporate trustee).

If you receive a call from the ATO and you’re at all uncomfortable answering their questions over the phone, feel free to tell them to call us instead, or (if they still insist on speaking to you) that you would like to speak to them later (after speaking to us).

Travel allowance – deductions are not a foregone conclusion

Editor: A recent case, and the ATO’s stance in relation to it, indicates that it is prepared to take a hard line on travel expense claims in relation to travel allowances paid to employee truck drivers.

Even though there is an exception to the substantiation rules for these sorts of expenses, (i.e., in terms of keeping receipts, etc.), the ATO looks like it may still expect truck drivers to be able to back up how many nights they were away, what they ate and where, and how they calculated the amount claimed. These sorts of claims are often quite large and have become a target for the ATO.

A little bit of Trivia…

  • 7th February 1952—Queen Elizabeth was proclaimed Queen of Australia.
  • 16th February 1916—The beginning of six o’clock closing, unromantically known as the “Six O’Clock Swill” in Australian Hotels. During the First World War, following a disturbance at Casula army camp outside Sydney, the Chief Stipendiary Magistrate issued a proclamation ordering hotels and wine shop in some Sydney suburbs to close forthwith and remain closed until 6am the following morning.
  • 26th February 1932—Johnny Cash, American country and western singer was born in Kinglsand, Arkansas, the son of a cotton farmer.
  • 29th February—Leap Year day. In Scotland, in early times, a law forbade any man to refuse a marriage proposal from a woman on this day.

ATO recovers super from phoenix operators

The ATO says that it has used new powers known as Superannuation Guarantee Estimates (SGE) to recover $8 million in worker’s superannuation from the operators of labour-hire companies which have engaged in ‘phoenix behaviour’.

Editor: Phoenix behaviour involves the deliberate liquidation of companies to avoid paying superannuation obligations, as well as to avoid other tax liabilities, and to avoid paying creditors and suppliers.

In this case, the network of companies provided labour-hire services such as seasonal fruit picking and meat packing, and had been failing to pay workers their superannuation entitlements.

Single Touch Payroll

The Government has announced that it will simplify tax and superannuation reporting obligations through ‘Single Touch Payroll’.

Under Single Touch Payroll, employers’ accounting software will automatically report payroll information to the ATO when employees are paid.

This will eliminate the need for employers to report employee-related Pay As You Go Withholding (PAYGW) in their activity statements throughout the year, and employee payment summaries at the end of the year.

The Government stated that Single Touch Payroll will be available from July 2016, and transition arrangements will be the subject of consultation with the business community early in 2015.

Construction industry annual payments report

The ATO is writing to businesses in the building and construction industry that have not lodged their ‘Taxable Payments Annual Report’, which was due to be lodged by 21 July 2014.

Each year, businesses in the building and construction industry must complete the Taxable payments annual report to advise the ATO the amount they paid for building and construction services.

What are ‘building and construction services’?

Editor: It is important to note that the definition of building and construction services is broad and covers a wide range of occupations and activities.

It includes services such as bricklaying, plumbing, etc. However, it also includes some activities that businesses may not be aware of, such as:

  • architectural work (including drafting and design);
  • cable laying;
  • communications construction;
  • decorating (including painting);
  • engineering;
  • installation of hard wired alarm systems;
  • installation of solar devices;
  • landscaping; and
  • project management.

Editor: Clients with any concerns should contact us.

FREE Tax Blaster Session: Get your financial house in order for 2015!

If you’ve spent big over Christmas and the holiday period you’ll like the idea of saving on your tax bill. Now is a great time to check your financial position and put steps in place to help you reach your financial goals this year.

Put your financial house in order now to maximise your tax savings. Book in for a FREE 20-minute Tax Blaster session. We’ve got limited spaces available for people who want to increase their earnings, save on taxes and put more money into their retirement fund.

Find out NOW how you could be making more money for your retirement and facing less financial stress.

Call our Team on 07 3399 8844 to book your FREE meeting NOW.

ElvisSmiley-smallHeard this one before?

After an elderly couple starts getting forgetful, they visit their doctor. Their doctor tells them that many people find it useful to write themselves little notes.

When they get home, the wife says, “Dear, will you please go to the kitchen and get me a dish of ice cream? And maybe write that down so you won’t forget?”

“Nonsense,” says the husband. “I can remember a dish of ice cream.”

“Well, I’d also like some strawberries and whipped cream on it,” the wife replies.

“My memory’s not all that bad,” says the husband. “No problem — a dish of ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream. I don’t need to write it down.”

He goes into the kitchen, and his wife hears pots and pans banging.
The husband finally emerges from the kitchen and presents his wife with a plate of bacon and eggs.

She looks at the plate and asks, “Hey, where’s the toast I asked for?”

Irene’s Baked Beans

Planning a BBQ with friends? This baked beans recipe is easy to prepare and guaranteed to tickle your taste buds as a hearty side dish.

Recipe-300x199What you need:

  • 1 can Kidney Beans
  • 1 can Butter Beans
  • 1 can Small Lima’s (drained)
  • 1 large can Pork & Beans
  • ½ lb. Bacon
  • 2 cloves Garlic
  • 4 large Onions
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup vinegar
  • ¼ tsp dry or bottled mustard

How to prepare:

Mix beans. Fry bacon and onions until brown. Add brown sugar, mustard and vinegar to onion/bacon and heat for 20 minutes then pour over beans. Bake at 350 F for 70 minutes. Serves 10.

 

Please Note: Many of the comments in this publication are general in nature and anyone intending to apply the information to practical circumstances should seek professional advice to independently verify their interpretation and the information’s applicability to their particular circumstances.