ATO targeting online selling and ride-sourcing

The Australian Tax Office is collecting data from financial institutions and online selling sites as part of their data matching programs for credit and debit cards, online selling and ride-sourcing.

The data will include:

• the total amount of credit and debit card payments businesses received

• online sellers who have sold at least $12,000 worth of goods or services

• payments made to ride-sourcing drivers from accounts held by the ride-sourcing facilitator

The ATO will match this data with information from income tax returns, activity statements and other ATO records to identify any discrepancies. Data matching helps the Tax Office to identify businesses that need help and those that may not be reporting all their income or meeting their registration, lodgment or payment obligations.

Business owners who think they might have made a mistake or left something out are urged to contact our office to correct your mistake, amend your return or make a voluntary disclosure. The ATO may reduce or even waive penalties if you make a disclosure before the Tax Office contacts you.

Changes to tax rates for working holiday makers

Tax rates for working holiday makers who are in Australia on a 417 or 462 visa have changed.

From 1 January 2017, employers who employ a working holiday maker in Australia on a 417 or 462 visa:
– Must withhold 15 per cent from every dollar earned up to $37,000 with foreign resident tax rates applying from $37,001.
– Must register with the Australian Tax Office by 31 January 2017 to withhold at the working holiday maker tax rate.
– If you do not register, you will need to withhold at the foreign resident tax rate of 32.5 per cent.
– Penalties may apply if you employ holiday makers but do not register.

For employers who already employ working holiday makers, you will need to issue two payment summaries (with different rates) this year – one for the period to 31 December 2016 and a second for any period from 1 January 2017.

Simpler BAS for small businesses

The ATO have introduced a simpler BAS to take effect from 1 July 2017 to help reduce GST compliance costs for small businesses.

From 1 July 2017, small businesses will only need to report GST on sales (1A); GST on purchases (1B) and Total sales (G1) on their BAS. Businesses will no longer need to report Export sales (G2), other GST free sales (G3), Capital purchases (G10) and Non-capital purchases (G11).

Newly registered small businesses will have the option to report less GST information on a simpler BAS from 19 January 2017.

Small businesses registering from 19 January 2017 will need to do the following:
– If ‘quarterly’ GST reporting cycle is selected when registering for GST, you will need to select ‘Option 2: Calculate GST quarterly and report annually’ on your first BAS.
– If a ‘monthly’ GST reporting cycle was selected at registration, you can insert ‘0’ at G2, G3, G10 and G11 on your BAS.
– If an ‘annual’ GST reporting cycle was selected at registration, you can leave G2, G3, G10 and G11 blank on your Annual GST Return.

Guide to tax-deductible gifts

Giving to charity this Christmas is a great way to give to those less fortunate while receiving some extra tax perks.

Charitable donations are tax deductible which only adds to the incentive to be generous this holiday season.

Here are some tips for maximising your tax breaks on charitable donations:

The charity must be registered
Make sure the charity you donate to has been endorsed by the ATO as a deductible gift recipient (DGR) organisation. It is important to note that not all charities are endorsed as a DGR.

The gift must truly be a gift
The donation must be a gift, not an exchange for something material. This means if you have received items in return that provide you with some personal benefit, such as raffle tickets, you cannot claim the deduction as a gift or donation.

Check relevant gift conditions
The ATO considers a gift as a voluntary transfer of money or property, including financial assets such as shares. For some DGRs, the income tax law adds extra conditions affecting the types of deductible gifts they can receive. If you are considering a sizeable donation, discuss the tax implications with your accountant.

Common GST mistakes

Despite the Australian Tax Office’s education campaign on GST reporting, many small business owners continue to make errors when claiming GST credits in their GST returns or Business Activity Statements.

The vast majority of errors are easily unavoidable and relate to the over-claiming of GST credits. Here are the top ten common GST mistakes:

Residential rental property: Incorrectly claiming GST credits on expenses relating to residential rental properties where the entity is registered for GST.

Bank fees: Generally, annual fees, monthly fees and loan establishment fees are input-taxed, and therefore, there is no GST to claim. However, GST is charged on credit card merchants’ fees and therefore can be claimed.

Private expenses: GST is not claimable on private expenses such as personal loans, director fees and drawings etc.

Interest: Interest paid on loan or chattel mortgage repayments or credit card payments does not incur GST, and cannot be claimed.

The total cost of a business insurance policy: Insurance policies usually include stamp duty (which is GST-free), however, the rest of the policy is subject to GST. A GST credit cannot be claimed on the stamp duty portion of the policy as no GST is paid.

Government fees: GST is not charged on government fees i.e. council rates, land tax, ASIC filing fees, motor vehicle registration and water rates, and therefore, GST credits cannot be claimed.

GST-free purchases: Incorrectly claiming a GST credits on purchases without GST, such as basic food items, exports and certain health services is a common mistake. Remember not all suppliers are registered for GST, so check the tax invoice before claiming a credit.

Entertainment expenses: Claiming the entire GST credits on entertainment expenses where the business has elected to use the 50/50 split method for fringe benefits tax is incorrect. Only 50 per cent of the GST credits can be claimed.

Wages and superannuation payments: Both of these do not attract GST and cannot be claimed. Wages are not an expense to be included in G11; they are to be reported in W1 in your BAS. Superannuation is not included in BAS.

Sole traders and partnerships: When claiming expenses that are used for private and business use, you must apportion the expenditure to exclude private usage.

When to charge GST

If your small business is registered for GST (Goods & Services Tax), most of your sales in Australia will include GST.

Sales which include GST (taxable sales) are:
– made for payment (monetary or other)
– made in the course of operating your business (including any capital assets sold)
– connected with Australia

For these taxable sales, the business must:
– include GST in the price
– issue a tax invoice to the buyer
– pay the GST it’s collected when it lodges its activity statement

When not to charge GST
A business does not include GST in the price of goods and services that are:
– GST free – such as most basic foods, some education courses and healthcare products and services
– Input taxed – such as lending money and renting out residential premises.

Claiming GST credits
You can claim a credit for any GST included in the price of goods and services that you purchase for your business and use to make either taxable or GST-free sales. This is called a GST credit. You can’t claim a GST credit for the GST included in the price of purchases you use to make your input taxed sales.

ATO provides further guidance on SMSF related party arrangements

The ATO has provided further guidance regarding limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs) and when non-arm’s length income (NALI) rules apply to a related party LRBA.

The Tax Office recently released a Taxation Determination (TD 2016/16) and updated their Practical Compliance Guideline (PCG 2016/5/) to provide further clarification concerning the circumstances where a self-managed super fund with a related party LRBA would attract a higher marginal tax rate of 47 per cent under NALI provisions.

The ATO will continue to use the “safe harbour” terms for LRBAs set out in PCG 2016/15. The “safe habour” terms are designed as a safety net for SMSF trustees to ensure their LRBAs meet the guidelines.

Limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs) must be sustainable on normal commercial rates and structured in accordance with the ATO’s “safe harbour” guidelines to ensure the NALI provisions (47 per cent tax) do not apply.

Furthermore, the Tax Office will assess whether an arrangement was on arm’s length terms by assessing if the SMSF has derived more ordinary or statutory income under the scheme then it might be expected to derive if the parties had been dealing with each other on an arm’s length basis.

The ATO will assess what the terms of the borrowing arrangement may have been if the parties were dealing with each other at arm’s length (hypothetical borrowing arrangement). It is then necessary to establish whether it is reasonable to conclude that the SMSF could have and would have entered into the hypothetical borrowing arrangement.

If the SMSF could not have or would not have entered into the hypothetical borrowing arrangement, the SMSF will have derived more ordinary or statutory income under the scheme than under the hypothetical borrowing arrangement. In this instance, the ordinary or statutory income derived is NALI.

SMSF trustees have until 31 January 2017 to ensure they meet the “safe harbour” terms set out in the Practical Compliance Guideline (PCG 2016/15).

ATO crackdown on trusts

The ATO is currently targeting contrived trust arrangements that minimise tax by creating artificial differences between the taxable net income and distributable income of closely held trusts.

Arrangements where trustees are engineering a reduction in trust income to improperly gain favourable tax breaks or pay no tax at all are being targeted by the Tax Office.

Trustees of these arrangements exploit the differences to have the net income assessed to individuals and businesses that pay little or no tax and allow others to enjoy the economic benefits of the net income free-of-tax.

The ATO identified these arrangements through ongoing monitoring and reviews by the Trusts Taskforce. The Trusts Taskforce was established in 2013 to undertake targeted compliance action against people involved in tax avoidance or evasion using trusts.

More than $40 million of lost revenue has been found in ten of the cases examined by the ATO, which go far beyond legitimate tax planning.

The Tax Office is looking closely to see if arrangements comply with trust law, constitute a sham or are captured by anti-avoidance provisions or integrity rules.

Any taxpayer who has entered, or are planning to enter, into a similar arrangement are encouraged to seek independent advice, review their arrangement, or discuss their situation with the ATO.

Income tests for tax offsets

Income tests are used to work out a person’s eligibility for tax offsets and benefits which can reduce the amount of tax they have to pay.

• taxable income

• adjusted fringe benefits amount

• tax-free government pensions or benefits

• target foreign income

• reportable super contributions

• total net investment loss

• child support paid

• if they are entitled to the private health insurance rebate, and

• if they do not hold an appropriate level of private health insurance, their liability to pay the Medicare levy surcharge

Claiming tax offsets and rebates

Tax offsets (also known as ‘rebates’) can directly reduce the amount of tax payable on a person’s taxable income. While claiming certain tax offsets can reduce a person’s tax payable to zero, on their own, they cannot create a tax refund.

• the amount of private health insurance rebate you are entitled to receive is reduced if your income is more than a certain amount

• the ATO calculates the amount of private health insurance rebate you are entitled to receive when you lodge your tax return.