Advantage House Associates Pty Ltd

Advantage House Associates Pty Ltd Advantage House Associates provides professional taxation, business and immigration services to the

Advantage House Associates provides professional taxation, business and immigration services to the local community in North East Melbourne. Our mission is to assist passionate business owners and community members to develop and achieve their visions.

Wishing you and your family a joyous holiday season and a healthy, peaceful, and prosperous New Year.
24/12/2025

Wishing you and your family a joyous holiday season and a healthy, peaceful, and prosperous New Year.

ATO interest charges are no longer tax-deductible from July 2025.From 1 July 2025, taxpayers cannot claim a tax deductio...
23/12/2025

ATO interest charges are no longer tax-deductible from July 2025.

From 1 July 2025, taxpayers cannot claim a tax deduction for ATO interest charges, including the General Interest Charge (GIC) and the Shortfall Interest Charge (SIC). The law applies to assessments for income years starting on or after 1 July 2025. An assessment is the process the ATO uses to calculate your income tax, as outlined in your Notice of Assessment.

This means that any GIC or SIC incurred on or after 1 July 2025 is not deductible in your income tax return for income years starting on or after that date. In practical terms, this makes late payments and tax shortfalls more costly than before.

To minimise the impact of this change, taxpayers are encouraged to lodge and pay taxes on time, manage outstanding tax debts proactively, and seek professional advice if they are unsure how this law affects their circumstances.

According to the federal budget for 2025/26, from 1 July 2026, Australians earning between $18,201 and $45,000 will be ...
23/12/2025

According to the federal budget for 2025/26, from 1 July 2026,
Australians earning between $18,201 and $45,000 will be eligible for a tax cut, with the rate dropping from 16% to 15%, and then falling further to 14% from July 2027. This means more take-home pay for low- and middle-income earners over the coming years.

In addition, all outstanding HELP and student loan debts will be reduced by 20%, on top of regular indexation changes. Taxpayers will not need to start repaying HELP until they start earning $67,000 or more from the 2026 income year, giving taxpayers a bit of breathing room while they build their careers.

We would like to wish you and your family a joyful and safe holiday season, and a peaceful and wonderful New Year. Our o...
23/12/2024

We would like to wish you and your family a joyful and safe holiday season, and a peaceful and wonderful New Year. Our office will be closed from 23 December 2024 and re-open on 16 January 2025.

Understanding the Risks of Incorrect R&D ClaimsThe Federal Court has imposed $13.6 million in penalties for unlawful Res...
23/12/2024

Understanding the Risks of Incorrect R&D Claims

The Federal Court has imposed $13.6 million in penalties for unlawful Research and Development Tax Incentive (R&DTI) schemes. Sydney business coach Julian Bakarich, his co-director Thi Cam Tu Nguyen, and their firms were found to have promoted exaggerated or unsubstantiated R&D claims between 2014 and 2017.

For taxpayers, this highlights the need to approach R&D claims responsibly. The ATO emphasises the importance of providing accurate and substantiated evidence for any claims made. While the R&DTI is a valuable program to support business innovation, compliance with the law is essential to ensure its fair use.

If you are uncertain about your R&D tax claim, it is wise to seek advice from a qualified and reliable professional. Should you suspect involvement in an unlawful claim, contacting the ATO promptly may help reduce potential penalties. Tax incentives are designed to reward compliant taxpayers—understanding the rules ensures you can benefit with confidence.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Study and Training Loans – What’s New?New changes have been introduced to the indexation rates for study and training lo...
07/12/2024

Study and Training Loans – What’s New?

New changes have been introduced to the indexation rates for study and training loans, ensuring a fairer approach moving forward!

The indexation rate is now determined by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or Wage Price Index (WPI) – whichever is lower. This change is backdated to indexation applied from 1 June 2023 for all HELP, VET Student Loan, Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan and other study or training support loans. Here are the revised rates:

3.2% for 1 June 2023 (reduced from 7.1%)
4% for 1 June 2024 (reduced from 4.7%)

If you had a loan indexed during this period, there’s no need to take any action. The ATO is recalculating the rates automatically.

Most recredits will appear in your loan account by the end of January 2025, although some may take a bit longer depending on the complexity of your account.

If your loan is in credit after the adjustments, you may be eligible for a refund. To ensure smooth processing, make sure your bank details are up to date with the ATO or your tax agent. If your tax agent’s account is listed as the nominated bank account, they will forward the funds to you.

Stay tuned for an SMS notification once your loan adjustment has been finalised!

As confirmed in the budget 2024/25, the amended stage 3 tax cuts will take effect on 1 July 2024, providing tax relief f...
12/06/2024

As confirmed in the budget 2024/25, the amended stage 3 tax cuts will take effect on 1 July 2024, providing tax relief for all individual taxpayers in Australia.

Accordingly, the changes reduce the tax rate for incomes below $45,000 from 19 percent to 16 percent, providing a tax cut of up to $804 annually for all taxpayers, including those with higher incomes. Meanwhile, the stage 3 tax cuts for higher earners are scaled back from the original proposal. Originally, a single 30 percent rate was planned for incomes between $45,000 and $200,000. Now, this rate will apply to incomes between $45,000 and $135,000. The existing 37 percent rate, which was set to be abolished, will now remain and apply to incomes between $135,000 and $190,000. Additionally, the top rate of 45 percent will continue to apply to incomes above $190,000, instead of the previously proposed $200,000 threshold.

The Government introduced reforms to assist individuals with student debts including the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP). From 1 June 2023, the indexation of HELP loans will be based on the lower of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Wage Price Index, instead of solely on the CPI as was previously the case. The Australian Taxation Office will automatically adjust any HELP loan balances that were indexed on 1 June 2023 and/or 1 June 2024, applying any resulting credits to the individual's HELP account.

For more information on the federal budget, you may visit:
www.s-tax.com.au/budget2025

Our office will be closed from 23 December 2023 until 14 January 2024. We appreciate your support and look forward to wo...
23/12/2023

Our office will be closed from 23 December 2023 until 14 January 2024. We appreciate your support and look forward to working with you in the new year.

The ATO is further strengthening the security of their online services to help protect against fraud and identity relate...
18/11/2023

The ATO is further strengthening the security of their online services to help protect against fraud and identity related theft by expanding the client-to-agent linking process.

Starting from 13 November 2023, all entities with an ABN excluding sole traders are required to nominate their tax agents, BAS agents and payroll services providers before these authorised agents can add them as clients in the ATO records.

A business responsible person needs to use ATO’s online services for business to nominate these authorised agents. If a business does not have access to online services for business, the responsible person needs to first download and set up the myGovID. This is available from the App Store or Google. Then, link the myGovID to the ABN using ATO’s Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM), which can be accessed through internet browsers such as latest Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari.

After logging in to online services for business with the myGovID, the responsible person can nominate the authorised tax agent, BAS agent and payroll services provider.

These changes are only applicable to new engagements. It is not necessary to do anything for the existing engagements.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have changed the fixed rate method for working from home tax deductions. With effec...
14/07/2023

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have changed the fixed rate method for working from home tax deductions. With effect from 1 July 2022, you can claim home office deductions by using either revised fixed rate method or actual cost method.

The actual cost method remains unchanged. You are still required to have a dedicated home office area and keep records for all the working from home expenses and how you have calculated the work-related portion of these expenses. This method is relatively time consuming to calculate and involves detailed record keeping.

Alternatively, under the revised fixed rate method, you can claim 67 cents per hour, which covers mobile and home phone usage, internet connection, electricity and gas, computer consumables (such as printer ink), and stationery. You cannot claim any of these expenses separately. However, you can claim a separate deduction for the decline in value of office equipment such as computers and office furniture, and the repairs and maintenance of these items. The dedicated home office area is not required for this method. If the taxpayer has a dedicated home office, cleaning expenses can be claimed separately.

Regarding the record keeping requirements for the revised fixed rate method, you need to have a record of the hours you actually work from home such as timesheet, roster and diary. For the period from 1 July 2022 to 28 February 2023, the ATO can still accept estimated hours working from home by applying a 4-week representative period. From 1 March 2023 onwards, you must have a record of all the actual hours you worked from home between 1 March and 30 June 2023.

Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions.
Advantage House Associates

Address

Suite 33, 240 Plenty Road (Next To VICRoads)
Melbourne, VIC
3083

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 7pm
Tuesday 10am - 7pm
Wednesday 10am - 7pm
Thursday 10am - 7pm
Friday 10am - 7pm
Saturday 10am - 2pm

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