The director penalty regime allows the Commissioner of Taxation to make directors of a company personally liable for specified taxation liabilities of the companies they represent through the issue of a Director Penalty Notice (DPN). Previously, the regime was limited to PAYG withholding and superannuation guarantee charge liabilities, but it has now been extended to include GST, wine equalisation tax (WET) and luxury car tax (LCT).
The expanded regime will commence from 1 April 2020, being the start of the first quarter after royal assent.
If you need any help with your business tax obligations, give our team at SPS Business Consultants a call on ☎️ (03) 9904 9261
If you are looking to grow your business, you may need to think about changing your business structure. There are four main business structures:
- Sole trader
- Partnership
- Company
- Trust.
Each structure has different reporting requirements, so it’s important that you understand the obligations for your business type.
In particular, if you change from a sole trader to a company or trust, your business becomes a separate legal entity from you. Make sure you:
- report income for the correct entity, especially in the year that the structure changes
- account for private use of business assets, such as the company car
- keep private expenses separate to business expenses
- maintain separate business and personal bank accounts.
You must keep records of any decisions you make that affect your tax or super affairs, including if you change business structures.
Remember, registered tax agents can help you with your tax.
If you need any help with your business structure or changing to a new business structure to maximize benefits, give our team at SPS Business Consultants a call on ☎️ (03) 9904 9261
If you require a clearance certificate for a property sale, apply at least 28 days prior to the settlement to allow for processing. If the certificate is not provided by settlement the purchaser is required to withhold 12.5% of the purchase price for properties with a market value of $750,000 or more.
If you need any help with your property sales, purchases, and related tax obligations, give our team at SPS Business Consultants a call on ☎️ (03) 9904 9261
GST is a 10% tax paid on most goods and services sold or consumed in Australia.
You must register for GST if you:
- run a business or enterprise that has a turnover of $75,000 or more per year
- run a not-for-profit organisation that has a turnover of $150,000 or more per year
- are a taxi or ride-sourcing driver.
If you aren’t registered for GST, check each month to see whether you’ve reached the registration turnover threshold, or are likely to reach it. If you do, you need to register for GST within 21 days.
If you are registered for GST you:
- need to include GST in the price of your sales, unless they are GST-free or input-taxed
- can claim credits for GST included in the price of goods and services you buy for your business or enterprise
- can account for GST on either a cash or non-cash basis (the method you use will affect when you report and claim GST)
- will need to lodge an activity statement to report and pay the GST you have collected and claim credits for the GST you have paid.
If you need any help with GST registration, give our team at SPS Business Consultants a call on ☎️ (03) 9904 9261
Xero has found that higher technology investment is directly tied to faster revenue growth ? in small to medium businesses.
Australian small businesses are among the world’s fastest adopters of cloud computing
Australian small businesses are among the fastest adopters of business technology in the world. In a comparison of 30 OECD countries Australian small businesses were ranked:
3rd highest in the OECD in terms of businesses purchasing cloud computing services
5th highest in the OECD in terms of businesses using social media
However, despite Australia’s world leading position, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Two-thirds of small and medium businesses (SMBs) are still not yet connected to truly high-speed broadband such as cable or fibre to the premises. And around 15 percent of small businesses use no IT in their accounting functions.
The ATO has granted an automatic two-month deferral for lodgements and payments to those impacted by the ongoing bushfire crisis.
If you’ve been impacted by these bushfires, ATO doesn’t want you to be concerned about your tax affairs. Now is the time for you, your family and community. ATO will help you sort out your tax affairs later.
For identified impacted postcodes, ATO will automatically grant deferrals for lodgments and payments due. You don’t need to apply for these deferrals.
If you have been affected by this disaster but your postcode is not currently in the identified impacted postcodes list, you don’t need to worry. When you’re ready and if you need assistance, phone ATO Emergency Support Infoline on 1800 806 218 for help.
Or give our team at SPS Business Consultants a call ☎️ (03) 9904 9261
