Tax

Proposed tax rate changes, which would affect approximately 100,000 small businesses, will deliver the best “bang for buck” for the economy,  accounting software provider MYOB and the Council of Small Business Australia said in a joint statement. The statement was in response to Labor’s opposition to the Federal Government’s proposal to increase the eligibility threshold for paying the lower […]

The Federal Government has encouraged businesses to submit feedback on findings from Research and development (R&D) Tax Incentive Review report, released this week Undertaken by Chair of Innovation Australia Bill Ferris, Australia’s Chief Scientist Alan Finkel and Secretary to the Treasury John Fraser, the review had the purpose of identifying opportunities to “improve the effectiveness […]

It’s that time of year again: tax time. When the challenge of filing personal taxes is compounded by the need to sift through work-related travel expenses, it’s no wonder many workers would rather visit the dentist. Knowing how to file business travel expenses can be one of the most confusing areas when submitting expenses to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). […]

Taxes are high in Australia. But when it comes to taxation policies, our government is too lenient on some large businesses and too hard on small business. Some large multi-national companies have been able to utilise tax structures that allow them to avoid paying their required tax in Australia, which has enabled them to lower their […]

The current federal government is more popular amongst SMEs than its predecessor but an increasing number of business owners are dissatisfied with the Coalition’s support, according to the latest MYOB Business Monitor   The bi-annual national survey of over 1,000 SME operators revealed that since being elected to power in September 2013, the Coalition government has […]

Small business operators are working weekends and nights to organize the paperwork necessary to meet their EOFY obligations, according to the latest MYOB Business Monitor – a bi-annual national survey of over 1,000 SME owners. “Many operators are making significant personal sacrifices over and above running their day-to-day business, making EOFY not only stressful but […]

Many of Australia’s small businesses might be missing out on potentially valuable tax deductions by not consulting with a financial expert, according to research highlighted by finance and tax software developer Intuit.  Conducted with Galaxy Research, the study involved a survey of 400 small business owners in May, this year. The researchers found that, as the countdown to EOFY […]

Small businesses can take the pain out of meeting EOFY tax-time requirements by ditching the shoebox overflowing with expense claims and invoices.  Dynamic Business spoke to Concur, an expense management solutions provider,  to find out more about how small businesses can better manage their invoices and expense claims at tax-time. According to Murray Warner, director business development […]

More than 450,000 small businesses have become SuperStream compliant ahead of the 30 June deadline. If your businesses will struggle to adopt the new payment standard in time, don’t worry: the ATO has announced it is extending the deadline by four months.  Deputy Commissioner James O’Halloran said small businesses that need extra time to become SuperStream compliant will […]

With just three weeks until small businesses must become SuperStream compliant, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) has urged those yet to implement the new standard to act now.  From 1 July, it will be mandatory for employers with 19 or fewer staff to send all super payments and employee information electronically in a standard format using SuperStream. According to the […]

“Embrace your tax audit” are the last words you’d expect to drop from the lips of a financial advisor, but that’s exactly what the head bean-counter from First Class Accounts is asking us to do. Clive Barrett, Executive Chairman of First Class Accounts, said the very idea of a tax audit struck fear into the […]

Calls for the company tax rate to be cut in the budget is a perennial issue, and one that small business inevitably weighs in on. There have been calls for small business to benefit from a lower tax rate for decades. In the three major tax reviews conducted since the early 1970s, (Asprey, Ralph and […]

An ATO pilot program – the external compliance assurance process – that allowed taxpayers to self assess has been named success and could be rolled out more widely. According to a Fairfax report, the program involving 56 companies with an annual turnover between $100 million and $5 billion, allowed the choice of using a registered […]

If you’re a business, the lifeblood of your business comes down to one thing – cash flow. If you have bottlenecks in cash flow, it makes life tougher and it can be hard to catch up. When cash flow is tight, you may feel that necessary asset purchases such as cars or equipment need to […]

Three months after the 2015 Budget announced a $20,000 tax break to small businesses, Tim Reed, CEO of MYOB, provider of business management solutions, shares his professional view with Dynamic Business on the effect these budget measures can have on the Australian small business community. Commenting on the $20,000 tax break, Mr Reed said “small […]

Instead of just complying with the fringe benefits tax legislation, why not use it to your advantage? Salary packaging can maximise take-home pay and attract talent. Could salary packaging be a cost-effective way to attract and retain talent? By combining cash salary with other benefits, organisations have greater flexibility to negotiate remuneration, but that’s just one […]

Xero has announced a number of strategic partnerships today at Australia’s largest accounting technology conference in Melbourne, Xerocon Australia. In a keynote speech to over 1600 attendees at Xerocon Australia today, Xero Australia Managing Director, Chris Ridd, also announced that this week Xero expects to reach more than 250,000 paying subscribers using the global accounting […]

A survey involving more than 400 practices across Australia shows that accounting firms are embracing cloud technology for themselves and clients. According to The Cloud Readiness Survey from Digital First, 43 per cent of accounting practices are anticipating a shift to cloud software in the next 12 months. The survey revealed that accounting firms understood […]

The ATO is helping Australians to better monitor their tax deductions with the introduction of a new online tool called myDeductions. The tool will allow users to capture work related expenses on the go. Recognising that tracking down one years’ worth of receipts is often be the most time-consuming aspect of lodging a tax return, […]

According to national SME finance specialist, Scottish Pacific, many small businesses may be using the Australian Tax Office (ATO) as a line of credit being unaware of alternative funding solutions. Scottish Pacific CEO, Peter Langham said the ATO was owed $35.3 billion in 2013-14 according to a recent report by the Inspector-General of Taxation. “It […]