Fuel tax credit mistakes

Fuel tax credits are provided to businesses who acquire, manufacture, import or use fuel in part of running a business.

These credits can greatly benefit business owners but it is important to get the claim right. The ATO sees common mistakes made when calculating and claiming fuel tax credits, including:

Wrong calculations
A common error is to calculate fuel tax credits using the cost of the fuel rather than the quantity of fuel multiplied by the relevant rate. The correct formula is: quantity of eligible fuel x correct fuel tax credit rate = fuel tax credits.

Inaccurate records
You must keep accurate records of your fuel purchases and how the fuel is used in your business. If you claim less than $10,000 a year in fuel tax credits, you can use a range of documents to support your claims.

Using an incorrect rate
Fuel tax credit rates change every February. Check the rates before you lodge your BAS. The current rates for fuel acquired from 5 February 2018 to 30 June 2018 are as follows:

Not checking the activity
A common mistake is to claim fuel tax credits using the ‘other business uses’ rate for heavy vehicles travelling on public roads. Rates differ depending on the activity they are used for.

Ineligible fuels
Claiming fuel used for private purposes, or for travelling on a public road in vehicles with a gross vehicle mass (GVM) of 4.5 tonne or less is a common error. If you are unsure if about the eligibility of your fuel type and usage, contact one of our accountants today.

ATO targeting holiday homes

The Tax Office has rental property owners in its sights this tax season with a large number of mistakes, errors and false claims made by some using their own property for personal holidays.

The ATO is reminding owners they cannot claim deductions for holiday homes that are not actually available for rent or only available to friends and family.

Private use is entirely legitimate although it does reduce an owner’s ability to earn income from the property.

Properties must be genuinely available for rent to claim deductions. This means you cannot use the property for your personal use or let friends and family stay rent-free and claim a deduction.

For those who rent the property to friends or family at “mates rates,” they must only claim deductions for expenses up to the amount of the income received.

In addition to rental properties, the ATO is investigating cases where taxpayers claim their property is available for rent but there is no intention of renting it out. Rental rates well above market rates and unreasonable conditions for prospective renters are just a couple of ways owners can be doing this.

The ATO will also be scrutinising incorrect rental property claims. Data matching technology allows the Tax Office to pick up attempts at over-claiming regardless of whether the mistake was deliberate or an accident.

Property owners are advised to double-check their claims before lodging their tax return. They must remember to declare all rental income and only claim deductions for periods that the property is rented or genuinely available for rent at market rates.

Bitcoin tax scammers

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is warning taxpayers to be aware of scammers impersonating the Tax Office and demanding cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin as payment for fake tax debts.

The ATO became aware of these fraudsters late last year with over $50,000 paid in Bitcoin to scammers claiming fake ATO debts.

Once scammers receive payment, it is virtually impossible to recover it as cryptocurrency operates in a digital world.

The ATO is also warning taxpayers to be wary of other tax scams such as those demanding direct deposits into third-party bank accounts, demanding payment via iTunes cards or with a prepaid Visa gift card.

Over 80,000 scams were reported to the ATO in 2017, accounting for almost $2.4 million lost to scammers impersonating the ATO.

Almost one-third of victims were targeted with iTunes gift card scams, resulting in over $900,000 lost to scammers. More than half of all losses (roughly $1.2 million) were from deposits or transfers made directly into third-party bank accounts.

Scammers are also targeting taxpayers’ personal information with many reports of scammers asking for an individual’s Tax File Number.

Employers urged to act now for Single Touch Payroll

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is urging employers with 20 or more employees to prepare for the introduction of Single Touch Payroll.

Single Touch Payroll will be introduced from 1 July 2018, requiring employers to report their employee’s tax and super information to the ATO through Single Touch Payroll approved software.

Employers will report each time they pay their employees, i.e., weekly, fortnightly or monthly. The information that will be reported includes withholding amounts, superannuation liability information or ordinary times earnings (OTE) and salary, wages, allowances and deductions.

Single Touch Payroll will provide greater transparency and connect businesses to the ATO through their existing software.

Employers must prepare by organising the following:

• A headcount of employees on 1 April 2018 to determine if there is 20 or more. If your numbers drop down to 19 or less, you will still continue to report through Single Touch Payroll unless you apply for and are granted an exemption.
• Talk to your software provider about how and when your product will be ready.
• Those without a software provider will need to find a provider that offers Single Touch Payroll.
• Update your payroll software when it’s ready.
• Start using Single Touch Payroll.

Employers with 19 or less employees have until 1 July 2019 to prepare, however they can start reporting as soon as their software is updated.

Tax tips for property investors

Property investors can access a wide range of tax deductions and items subject to depreciation for their rental property yet many miss out on unknown tax breaks, foregoing an average of $20,000 a year on a $1 million house.

Here are four ways to maximise your tax deductions while complying with the tax office:

Use a quantity surveyor

Registered quantity surveyors can establish the value of purchased items and building construction costs by preparing depreciation schedules to maximise an investor’s claim.

Items as diverse as kitchen equipment, bathroom fittings, outdoor furniture, air conditioning and swimming pools are all legitimate claims. A quantity surveyor will ensure valuations of the items in the building are at market value, avoiding the need to explain any valuations that are higher than expected to the ATO.

The cost of using a quantity surveyor is also tax deductible.

Apportion expenses

It is common for investors to bundle a mix of properties under one single loan, i.e. the family home and a rental property may be funded by the same mortgage and expenses apportioned accordingly. However, having separate loans can increase deductions as the non-deductible debt can be paid down or even better linked to an offset account, with the deductible loan having full interest paid and claimed.

Immediate write-offs

An immediate write-off applies to items worth less than $300 and can be claimed in the current income year. Items such as garden gnomes, kitchen cutlery and ironing boards, irons are easily forgotten and all can be written off in the first year.

Depreciation

Construction costs can generally be ­depreciated at 2.5 per cent each year over 40 years for residential properties built after July 1985. This entitlement passes from one owner to the next whenever the property is sold. A quantity surveyor can provide an estimate if information is not available.

Many high value household items are now deducted using the “diminishing value method”, which means the most depreciation happens in the first few years. For example, ducted heating worth $4941 would have a first-year deduction of $493, rising to $2022 over the first five years.

Adding items such as solar lights, garbage bins, garden sheds, intercom systems and closed-circuit television systems to a low-value pool can open up ways to depreciate items at a higher rate, therefore, increasing immediate returns.

Work-related expenses

The Australian Taxation Office is continuing to pay close attention to claims made as ‘work-related expenses’ throughout 2018.

Making incorrect claims of work-related deductions can land you in hot water with the ATO, and thus it is important you can justify these claims. In order to claim correctly, you must be able to show that:

• You spent the money yourself and were not reimbursed.
• The expense was directly related to earning your income, and
• You have appropriate records and documentation to prove it.

If you are making a claim for an expense that you use for both business and privately, you may only claim the portion of the expense that was related to business.

Tax deductible legal expenses

While we like to think of business ventures as a platform to make money, there are also many expenses that will be incurred through running one.

Luckily, there are many tax deductions a business owner can claim when it comes to the expenses their business incurs, in particular their legal expenses. Understanding what these tax deductible expenses are and how to apply for these deductions appropriately can see you save a considerable amount of money, which can be transformed into profit.

Specific expenses incurred will or won’t be deductible depending on whether the expenditure is capital, domestic or private in nature. The following expenses are not deductible under regular legal expense deductions, due to being either capital or private in nature. Deductions can be claimed under a separate provision. These include:

• Preparations of income tax return
• Obtaining professional tax advice
• Borrowing expenses
• Mortgage discharge expenses
• Preparation of leases

The circumstances in which legal fees incurred can be easily deducted for tax purposes, provided the correct procedure is followed and appropriate criteria is met, include the following:

• Defending wrongful dismissal action, defending defamation action brought against a company board and defending unauthorised use of trademark.
• Pursuing claims for workers’ compensation.
• When negotiating current employment contracts with existing employees.
• Recovering misappropriated business funds.
• Arbitration when settling disputes.
• Recovering wages of an employee due to a dishonoured cheque.
• Evicting a rent-defaulting tenant.
• Opposing certain neighbourhood developments.

Tax deductions on the above listed legal expenses are a guide, and will be determined on a case by case basis, depending on the specific circumstances relating to each case.

There are also a number of situations in which legal expenses are commonly incurred and are not tax deductible, including the following:

• When negotiating employment contracts with new employees.
• Defending charges of various natures, including and not limited to driving charges, sexual harassment charges, racial vilification or discrimination charges.
• Negotiates concerning redundancy payouts or fees incurred through seeking to increase the amount of any redundancy payout.
• Evicting tenant/s whose term had expired.

The ATO sets out clear guidelines of the appropriate documentation needed in order to claim deductions from legal expenses. Generally, documentation needed includes:

• Completed relevant private ruling form or completed relevant objection form.
• Reasons and circumstances concerning legal expenses incurred.
• Documentation detailing the circumstances of the legal expenses, such as court documents.
• Explanation of how the expenses are relevant to gaining or producing of assessable income.
• Details concerning actions taken to recover costs from the other party.
• Details of payments made as a result of the legal issue.

The ATO targeting record keeping of small businesses

The Australian Tax Office is honing in on small businesses failing to comply with guidelines regarding appropriate record keeping.

Findings from the ATO’s Protecting Honest Business campaign indicated that one of the leading factors for small business failure is their poor record keeping practices. Small business owners are required to disclose particular information, and keep records of the following:

• Income tax records
• Income and sales records
• Expense or purchase records
• Year-end records
• Bank records
• Goods and services tax records
• Employees and contractors records
• Fuel tax records

By law, all Australian businesses must keep these records for a period of five years. These records must be in writing, either on paper or electronically. Dedicating time each week, fortnight or month to compile all the above-listed information will prevent you incurring fines and possibly losing your business.

Minimising the risk of fraud

The Australian Taxation Office is urging all businesses and individuals to take care in relation to avoiding the risk of fraud.

With a focus on criminals lodging fraudulent returns in order to obtain unwarranted refunds through accessing banking information that is not their own, the ATO recommends businesses and individuals practice the following:

Discussions with staff and clients

Keep your employees and your clients about safe behaviours to protect them from being vulnerable to criminals, such as not clicking on downloads, hyperlinks or opening attachments in unsolicited emails.

Protection on devices

Ensuring the devices you use for confidential information such as transferring funds and purchasing goods and services are all up to date with protective software, such as malware detectors and firewalls. Also, ensure autofill forms are not saved or used.

Proof of identity

Before taking on new clients, ensure they provide numerous pieces of proof of identity. You should also question discrepancies before lodging their tax returns.

Internal security

Ensure all employees have access to only what they need in order to perform their role within the company. When employees cease employment, cancel their AUSkeys.

ATO cracking down on developers avoiding GST

This year, the Australian Taxation Office has placed a greater focus on property developers and are particularly watching company directors with a history of GST obligations avoidance.

As of May 2017, the Government announced new requirements on those purchasing newly constructed residential properties or new subdivisions to remit the GST directly to the ATO as part of the settlement process. The ATO has placed a strong emphasis on making sure this occurs legitimately, ensuring property developers do not get away with failing to meet their GST obligations.

These proposed requirements were addressed in consultation in November 2017 and are to be implemented as of 1 July 2018. The impending changes will mean that developers no longer have a three-month period to remit GST; hence they no longer have time to be dishonest and avoid GST evasion through phoenixing.

For contracts already entered into, there will be a two-year transitional period, allowing developers involved in these contracts a grace period to adjust to the extensive reforms. Contracts entered into prior to 1 July 2018 will not be affected by these reforms, provided they are settled prior to 1 July 2020.