A&K Tax Accountants Pty Ltd

02/08/2016

Customer Satisfaction is #1 Majority of our new clients have enacted our services due to their previous Accountant not providing the service they require hence leaving them $$$$ out of pocket. Don't be shy, call us, send us a message or even an email.

02/08/2016

Seeking professional advice when starting a business:

From 1 July 2015, the professional expenses associated with starting a new business, such as legal and accounting fees, are deductible in the year those expenses are incurred rather than deducted over a five-year period as was the case in previous years.

If you established a business in 2015-2016, you should speak to us about claiming professional advice fees as an expense.

06/07/2016

Claim work-related deductions:

Claiming all your work-related deduction entitlements may save considerable tax. Typical work-related expenses include employment-related telephone, mobile phone, internet usage, computer repairs, union fees and professional subscriptions.

Note that for the first time ever the ATO is checking these claims in real time. Claim only what you are legally entitled to claim and ensure that you have all necessary receipts or credit card statements to back-up your claims.

30/06/2016

End of Financial Year is upon us. If your after quality, excellent service, reliable and experienced Tax Accountant, then give the guys @ A&K Tax Accountants a call. You would be surprised what your current Accountant isn't telling you. It doesn't hurt to get a second opinion.

23/06/2016

Division 7A: Payments
2nd Video in relation to Division 7a

This video is part two in a series to help tax professionals understand Division 7A. Assistant Commissioner Fiona Dillon discusses what a payment is and how ...

23/06/2016

Profit from property sale was capital gain:

Case 3/2016, 2016 ATC ¶1-081

The AAT has held that a company group did not acquire a property for the purpose of profit-making and that the sale of the property was not a transaction undertaken in the ordinary course of its business activities. Accordingly, the profit arising from the sale was a capital gain.

The AAT rejected the Commissioner's submissions that the company group was carrying on "a business of the acquisition, development and disposal of properties or, alternatively, a business which included investing in property assets". It said that these characterisations failed to acknowledge the discrete nature of the different activities that the company group was undertaking. Rather, the AAT said that the company group had carried on the following "relevant, but quite discrete, activities":

(a) the acquisition, development and sale of residential properties
(b) the acquisition and development of residential properties to hold as capital assets for the purpose of the derivation of rental income
(c) the acquisition, development and sale of commercial properties
(d) the acquisition of commercial properties to hold as capital assets for the purpose of the derivation of rental income, and
(e) the acquisition and development of commercial properties to hold as capital assets for the purpose of the derivation of rental income.
The AAT said that the site of the Woden carpark (which later became the Glasshouse) was, at the time of acquisition, earmarked for activity (d). The decision to develop the site was made a few years after the acquisition, but the purpose was still to retain the developed site and derive rental income from it. Accordingly, the AAT held that the disposal of Glasshouse was not a transaction undertaken in the ordinary course of the company group's business activities, having regard to the scope of its activities.

AAT ref: [2016] AATA 348, SE Frost, Deputy President, 27 May 2016, Sydney.

19/06/2016

Division 7A: If you are a director of a company and you do not know what Division 7A is, then it's best you watch this short video.

This video is part one in a series to help tax professionals understand Division 7A. Assistant Commissioner Fiona Dillon discusses common Division 7A mistake...

16/06/2016

Private health insurance

From 1 July 2015, the income thresholds used to calculate Medicare levy surcharge (MLS) and Private health insurance (PHI) rebate will not be adjusted for three years. Freezing the thresholds from 2015-16 to 2017-18 may result in people with incomes just below each threshold moving into a higher income threshold sooner if their income increases. This means, if:
- you have private health insurance, your private health insurance rebate percentage entitlement may decrease;
- you do not have the appropriate level of private patient hospital cover, you may have to pay the Medicare levy surcharge; or
- if you paid the surcharge in the previous year, your surcharge rate may increase.

If you have a pay increase, you may wish to contact your health fund to nominate a different rebate tier to ensure that the correct rebate tier is applied.

16/06/2016

No increase to the tax-free threshold

The tax cuts due to commence 1 July 2015 will no longer apply. This means that the tax-free threshold remains at $18,200 and the second marginal tax rate remains at 32.5%

16/06/2016

Don't forget that new rules will soon apply to sales of taxable Australian real property with a market value of $2 million or more.

A 10% non-final withholding tax will be incurred for all contracts entered into on or after 1 July 2016, unless a clearance certificate or variation certificate is obtained.

If your selling real property with a market value of $2 million or more and is:
- an Australian resident vendor, they can avoid the 10% withholding by providing a clearance certificate to the purchaser prior to settlement; and
- a foreign resident vendor, they may apply for a variation of the withholding.

You may claim a credit for the withholding amount paid to us against the final tax assessed in the vendor’s income tax return.

Purchasers must pay the amount withheld at settlement to the Australian Taxation Office.