The Federal Budget 2021-22: Low & Middle Income Tax Asset Rebate Extension Announced

The Low and Middle Income Tax Offset has been extended for another 12 months, meaning that taxpayers whose wage earnings situate them within a certain income bracket will again be able to receive a little extra cash back into their pockets again this year.

Tax offsets are also known as rebates and directly reduce the amount of tax payable on your taxable income. Sometimes, this can lead to the payable amount lowering to zero, but these rebates cannot be used on their own to get a refund.

You are only able to receive this amount after you have filed your tax return at the end of the financial year and in a lump sum amount that is in accordance with which wage bracket you are in and the amount you will receive.

You don’t need to complete anything in your tax return for your low or low and middle-income tax offset to be worked out for you. Instead, the amount of tax offset you will receive is worked out for you once your tax return is lodged.

If you earn under $37,000 this financial year, you will receive an offset of $225. For those who earn between $37,001 and $48,000, you will receive $255, with an additional 7.5 cents to every dollar above $37,000 up to a max of $1,080.

Those who earn between $48,000 and $90,000 a year are set to get the best deal, with up to $1,080 on the cards.

If you have any tax-related questions that the Federal Budget announcements have brought to your attention, speak with us for assistance.

Gender Inequality in Superannuation

Gender gaps can affect superannuation accounts as much as they can affect salary rates. With barriers to entering into fields, lower hourly rates of pay, less hours worked and more unpaid labour affecting the amount of super Australian women are retiring with, as compared to men.

Currently, the median superannuation balance for men aged between 60-64 stands at $204,107 whereas the superannuation balance for women of the same age has a median total of $146,900. It’s a gender superannuation gap of 28%.

This gender gap in superannuation balances can be impacted even more by women using maternity leave. With women taking their time off from work and losing out on super contributions during this period of paid parental leave, it can affect their super in the long run as it exacerbates the income and superannuation gaps that were already in effect during their employment.

It can also be exacerbated by existing salary gaps across the workforce. Despite traditionally male-dominated fields experiencing high percentages of female graduates entering into the workforce, the positions that they fill are not always high-ranked, irrespective of experience.

There are threeproposed measures with regard to how the superannuation gap could be addressed at a macro level. These include:

• Including superannuation guarantee contributions in the Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave scheme, as a majority of recipients are women and it is a leading cause of the gap exacerbation.
• allowing unused concessional contributions to be made for recipients of Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave without time limits is having a negative impact on women’s superannuation outcomes, so the policy needs to be changed accordingly.
• Amending the Sex Discrimination Act to ensure employers are able to make higher superannuation payments for their female employees if they wish to do so without contravening the existing legislation.

Here are some examples of ways in which women can increase their super balances to make up for any losses that may have been incurred:

• Contribution splitting – by having their spouse transfer some of their superannuation contributions over to their account, their account can be increased.
• Salary-sacrificing contributions into their super to make up for the shortfall from not working in previous year.

If you are concerned about your superannuation, or would like further advice, please speak with us.

Gender Inequality in Superannuation

Gender gaps can affect superannuation accounts as much as they can affect salary rates. With barriers to entering into fields, lower hourly rates of pay, less hours worked and more unpaid labour affecting the amount of super Australian women are retiring with, as compared to men.

Currently, the median superannuation balance for men aged between 60-64 stands at $204,107 whereas the superannuation balance for women of the same age has a median total of $146,900. It’s a gender superannuation gap of 28%.

This gender gap in superannuation balances can be impacted even more by women using maternity leave. With women taking their time off from work and losing out on super contributions during this period of paid parental leave, it can affect their super in the long run as it exacerbates the income and superannuation gaps that were already in effect during their employment.

It can also be exacerbated by existing salary gaps across the workforce. Despite traditionally male-dominated fields experiencing high percentages of female graduates entering into the workforce, the positions that they fill are not always high-ranked, irrespective of experience.

There are threeproposed measures with regard to how the superannuation gap could be addressed at a macro level. These include:

• Including superannuation guarantee contributions in the Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave scheme, as a majority of recipients are women and it is a leading cause of the gap exacerbation.
• allowing unused concessional contributions to be made for recipients of Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave without time limits is having a negative impact on women’s superannuation outcomes, so the policy needs to be changed accordingly.
• Amending the Sex Discrimination Act to ensure employers are able to make higher superannuation payments for their female employees if they wish to do so without contravening the existing legislation.

Here are some examples of ways in which women can increase their super balances to make up for any losses that may have been incurred:

• Contribution splitting – by having their spouse transfer some of their superannuation contributions over to their account, their account can be increased.
• Salary-sacrificing contributions into their super to make up for the shortfall from not working in previous year.

If you are concerned about your superannuation, or would like further advice, please speak with us.

The Shortcut Method: Claiming Your Work From Home Deduction

There’s a new normal towards how Australians are approaching their work, with remote working now a more viable option for businesses and their employees, and it’s affecting the way that Australians now make claims for tax.

With many businesses affected by city-wide lockdowns during parts of the 2020-21 financial year, and some whose employees preferring to remain as work-from-home or remote workers after theirs had ended, it’s more important than ever for work tax deductions to be correctly claimed and the process duly followed.

Where once the expenses and claims that needed to be made during tax return season could be more clearly defined in terms of business or pleasure, work-related expenses or personal expenditure, remote working and work-from-home employees need to keep careful records of what they can and cannot claim as “home office expenses”.

To simplify the process of claiming these expenses, the ATO introduced a “shortcut method” applicable to the 2020-21 financial year as a result of the impact COVID-19 has had. This method is only applicable from 1 March 2020 through 30 June 2021. Depending on an individual’s circumstances, it may be a better alternative to employ when claiming home office expenses than the fixed rate method or actual cost method.

Essentially, individuals can claim a fixed rate of $0.80 per hour worked from home, with the aforementioned shortcut method covering expenses such as phone, internet, depreciation on furniture & equipment. No other expenses can be claimed for working from home if this shortcut method is employed.

To use this method to their benefit when claiming home office deductions, individuals must keep a diligent record of the actual hours worked at home. This is a simpler process than claiming on the actual expenses incurred. Claiming on the actual expenses incurred requires individuals to comply with the necessary and more complex record-keeping requirements outlined by the ATO.

It is important that Australians are aware of their entitlements and tax deductions when working from home/remotely. Speak with us to ensure that you are in compliance with your tax return obligations when claiming.

How Super For Contractors Can Work

Contractors who run their own business and sell their services to others have different obligations to their super than what employees in a business may usually have.

A contractor (also known as an independent contractor, a subcontractor, or a subbie) who is paid wholly or principally for their labour is considered to be an employee for super purposes, and may be entitled to super guarantee contributions under the same rules as other employees.

A contract may be considered ‘wholly or principally for labour’ if:

• You’re paid wholly or principally for your personal labour and skills
• You perform the contract work personally
• You’re paid for hours worked, rather than to achieve a result

If hiring a contractor to perform solely their labor for a fee, the employer may also have to pay super contributions on their behalf.

In this sense, if you are a contractor who is being contracted to an outside business than your own to perform your usual work or labour, your employer must contribute to your super the same way they would any other employee.

This could be seen in an example of an electrician who runs their own small business, or is employed by a small business who has been hired by another business to supplement their workforce and perform a specific role that they can fit to.

Say the electrician who runs their own business has been subcontracted by the larger business.

They are performing labour but also providing materials (ie, themselves plus a toolbox plus a van full of powerpoints and wiring etc), they would be seen as a contractor and not an employee for super purposes. They must pay themselves super, in this case.

However if they are sub-contracted to perform labour only then the company that has sub contracted them may be liable to pay super on the amount that they pay to their contractor. This would be the case where the electrician just turns up with their tool box and everything else is provided by the “employer”.

If they are in an employment-like relationship with the person that they entered their contract into, they may need to have their super paid to them by their contract employer. In order for super to be applied from what you earn, the contract must be directly between you and your employer. It cannot be through another person or through a company, trust or partnership.

It is important that both parties in the process are aware of their super obligations during the contracted period. There can be significant penalties for employers who use contractors if they fail to correctly pay super. Each case regarding contractors and super needs to be assessed independently to ensure that you are doing the right thing. There is no definitive black and white line between a contractor and a contactor in an employment-like relationship that can be obviously seen after all.

If you’re unsure about whether or not you’re meeting your obligations as an employer, or are a contractor looking to make sure their super is being correctly paid into, speak with us.

What Are The Consequences Of Improperly Lodged Tax Returns?

With tax return season approaching quickly this year, you may have already started looking into lodging your income tax return. Ensuring that your details are correct and that any information about your earned income from the year is lodged is the responsibility of the taxpayer and their tax agent. However, if during this income tax return process the tax obligations of the taxpayer fail to be complied with, the Australian Taxation Office has severe penalties that they can enforce.

Australian taxation laws authorise the ATO with the ability to impose administrative penalties for failing to comply with the tax obligations that taxpayers inherently possess.

As an example, taxpayers may be liable to penalties for making false or misleading statements, failing to lodge tax returns or taking a tax position that is not reasonably arguable. False or misleading statements have different consequences if the statement given results in a shortfall amount or not. In both cases, the penalty will not be imposed if the taxpayer took reasonable care in making the statement (though they may still be subject to another penalty provision) or the statement of the taxpayer is in accordance with the ATO’s advice, published statements or general administrative practices in relation to a tax law.

The penalty base rate for statements that resulted in a shortfall amount is calculated as a percentage of the tax shortfall, or in the case of no shortfall amount, as a multiple of a penalty unit. This percentage is determined by the behaviour that led to the shortfall amount or as a multiple of a penalty unit, which are as follows:

• Failure to take reasonable care – 25% of the shortfall amount or 20 penalty units
  • Reasonable care is not taken if the taxpayer failed to do what a reasonable person in the same situation would have done.
• Recklessness – 50% of the shortfall amount or 40 penalty units
  • Recklessness is determined as disregarding or showing indifference to a real risk of a shortfall amount arising that a reasonable person would have been aware of.
• Intentional Disregard – 75% of the shortfall amount or 60 penalty units
  • Intentionally disregarding the law occurs if there is full awareness of a clear tax obligation, and the obligation is disregarded with the intention of bringing about certain results (underpaying tax or over-claiming an entitlement).

If a statement fails to be lodged at the appropriate time, you may be liable for a penalty of 75% of the tax-related liability if:

• A document that is necessary to establish tax-related liability fails to be lodged
• In the absence of that document, the tax-related liability is determined by the ATO.

To ensure that the statements, returns and lodgements are done correctly, and avoid the risk of potential penalties, contact us today. We’re here to help.

What Is A Retirement Planning Scheme?

With a significant number of Australians approaching retirement and looking at the best ways to maximise their retirement assets and income from their super for it, retirement planning makes sense.

Unfortunately, there are those who want to target people approaching and planning for their retirement with schemes designed to ‘help’ retirees and prospective retirees avoid paying tax by channelling their income through a self-managed super fund.

Retirement planning schemes are designed to help people avoid paying tax on the income earned through their assets (often in an illegal manner). Those schemes may seem like a simple get-rich-quick solution in maximising assets and income for retirement but can put people’s entire retirement savings at risk.

Anyone can fall prey to a retirement planning scheme. Anyone who is looking to put significant amounts of money into superannuation can be at risk of being ensnared, particularly those who are over 50, and who are:

• SMSF trustees
• Self-funded retirees
• Small business owners
• Professional service providers
• Individuals who are involved in property investment

Checking for standard features of retirement planning schemes can be an excellent way to avoid becoming tangled in one. Retirement planning schemes usually:

• Are artificially contrived and complex, with SMSF members often targeted and encouraged to use their SMSF as part of the scheme
• Involve a lot of paper shuffling
• Are designed to leave the taxpayer with a minimal or zero tax, or even a tax refund
• Aim to give a present-day tax benefit by adopting the arrangement
• Sound too good to be true – in most cases, they are.

Currently, there are a number of schemes targeted towards those individuals who currently have an SMSF, as they have a high level of control and autonomy in the way that their retirement savings are invested (subject to applicable tax and super laws).

Some examples of retirement planning schemes include:

• Some arrangements involving SMSFs and related-party property development ventures.
• Refund of excess non-concessional contributions to reduce taxable components
• Granting legal life interest over a commercial property to SMSFs
• Dividend stripping
• Non-arm’s length limited recourse borrowing arrangements
• Personal services income
• Liquidating an SMSF

To avoid becoming a part of a retirement planning scheme, seek professional advice on super or SMSFs from an accountant.

The Sharing Economy And Your Tax Return – How You Could Be Affected

In Australia any income earned by a job may be considered to be taxable income. Those who receive their income via the sharing economy are no exception to the rule. In fact, there can be further complications that result from incorrect understandings of how the income tax and goods & services tax may apply to those individuals.

The sharing economy is a socio-economic system built around sharing resources, often through a digital platform like a website or an app that others can purchase the right to use for a fee.

Popular sharing economy services and activities that could be subject to income tax include

• Being a Driver for popular ride-sharing/ride-sourcing services and obtaining fares for those services
• Renting out a room, whole house or a unit on a short term basis
• Sharing assets (such as cars, parking spaces, storage space or personal belongings) through platforms such as Camplify, Car Next Door, Spacer, Toolmates or Quipmo.
• Creative or professional services provided by individuals through online platforms to fill a need of others (also known as the gig economy)

Here are some of the things you need to bear in mind about the income and goods & services tax for these popular sharing economy services.

Ride-Sourcing/Ride-Sharing

If you’ve ever caught an Uber or gotten a Lyft, you’ve been on the passenger side of ride-sourcing. The income received from ride-sourcing is subject to goods and services tax (GST) and income tax is applied to it. All drivers on ride-sourcing platforms in Australia must have an Australian business number and be registered for GST.

GST requires:

• An ABN
• GST to be registered from the day that you start, regardless of how much you earn.
• GST to be paid on the full fare.
• Business activity statements (BAS) to be lodged monthly or quarterly.
• To know how to issue a tax invoice (any fares over 82.50 must be provided one if asked).

Income tax needs to:

• Include the income you earn in your income tax return
• Only claim deductions related to transporting passengers for a fare, including apportioning expenses limited to the time you are providing a ride-sourcing service
• Keep records of all your expenses and income.

Renting out all or part of your home

Renting out all or part of your residential house or unit through a digital platform can be an easy way to supplement your income, especially if you aren’t using the property at that particular time. If you do this, you:

• Need to keep records of all income earned and declare it in your income tax return
• Need to keep records of expenses you can claim as deductions
• Do not need to pay GST on amounts of residential rent you earn.

Sharing Assets (Excluding Accommodation)

Assets that can be shared through a platform can include personal assets (e.g. bikes, caravans), storage or business spaces (e.g car parking spaces) or personal belongings like tools, equipment and clothes.

When renting out or hiring these (share) assets that you own or lease through a digital platform, you:

• Need to declare all income you receive in your income tax return
• Are entitled to claim certain expenses as income tax deductions
• Need to keep records of the income you earn and of the expenses you can claim as deductions

Providing Services

Providing time, labour or skills (services) through a digital platform for a fee requires you to report income in your tax return. Deductions for expenses directly related to earning this income can be claimed, and records need to be kept to support these claims.

The following services that can be provided are considered to incur assessable income that needs to be reported in your tax return:

• Delivering goods
• Performing tasks and activities
• Providing professional services

If the thought of trying to navigate your way through your tax return is a little daunting, consider speaking to us for assistance.

Super Co-Contributions Boost On Behalf of A Spouse

Marriage and de facto relationships come with a number of perks – but did you know that if your partner earns less than you or is not currently working, you could contribute to their super fund savings?

Many households in Australia, either as a result of unemployment, maternity/paternity leave or by choice, have single income households. As a result, the retirement savings held in super for one member of these households may not be increasing as exponentially fast as the working member. The good news is that, when in a relationship, a spouse can boost their non-working partner’s super fund with their own contributions.

The best part? It could be a tax write-off for the working spouse.

Under Australian superannuation law, a spouse can be a legally married partner with whom you live or your de facto partner. That gives additional benefits to those in de facto relationships, who can choose (if one member of the relationship isn’t working or earns less) to boost their partner’s super fund. A spouse must also be younger than their preservation age or between 65 and their preservation age and not retired.

There are two ways that someone can help their partner’s superannuation grow:

• Making a Spouse Contribution to their super account
• Arranging for Contribution Splitting (also known as Super Splitting)

Spouse superannuation contributions can now be made for spouses earning up to $40, 000 per year. If a spouse earns less than $37, 000, the maximum tax offset of $540 can be claimed when contributing a minimum of $3, 000 to their super. Anything contributed that is more than $3, 000 will not receive the spouse contribution tax offset.

This tax offset cannot be claimed if:

• A spouse has exceeded their non-concessional contributions cap for the financial year.
• Their super balance is $1.6 million (for 2020/21) or more on 30 June of the previous financial year in which the contribution was made.

Another way to inject funds into your spouse’s super is to choose to have some of your own super contributions put into their super account. This is fine as long as they have not reached their preservation age yet, or are between their preservation age and 65 years and not retired.

Super contributions can only be split in the financial year immediately after the year in which the contributions were made or in the same financial year as the contributions were made only if your entire benefit is being withdrawn before the end of that financial year as a rollover, transfer, lump sum or benefit.

There are two types of contributions that can be split:

• Employer contributions – the most common form of super contributions to split
• After-tax contributions – money that you voluntarily deposit into your super after tax.

Always discuss starting spousal co-contributions to super with your accountant or financial advisor for help and guidance prior to starting this process.

Interest On Your Home Loan Could Be Tax-Deductible

It’s a simple, step-by-step process used by many Australians to increase their income. Borrow money from a financial institution, invest in a second property and pay off the loan with the profit accrued from the investment property (ie. rent from tenants).

But did you know that the interest on a home loan for the purchase of an investment property can be claimed as tax-deductible?

To clarify – claiming a tax deduction on the interest of a loan can only be used on the loan that was used to purchase the investment property. It also must be used to earn income, because a property that is solely residential isn’t eligible for any tax deductions (except in certain situations where the residence may be used to produce income, like home business or office).

Here are a few examples of when tax deduction claims on your property are not allowed:

• If the secured property is being used for living as a primary residence, and no income is made from it.
• Refinancing your investment loan for some other purpose (like buying another property).
• Using the loan for a private purchase, other than the purchase of a home.
• If the investment property is a holiday home that is not rented out, then deductions cannot be claimed as it doesn’t generate rental income.

As an example, if borrowing against your main residence for the purpose of purchasing an investment property, then the interest on that loan is tax-deductible. Conversely, if the loan was against the investment property to buy a car for your personal use, then the interest from that loan will not be tax-deductible.

The only way that a tax deduction on a home loan’s interest is possible, is if there is a direct, unbroken relationship between the money borrowed and the purpose the money was used for. Any money that resulted from a home loan, for instance, should have been invested into a property.

If you happen to redraw (make extra repayments into your loan that reduce the loan balance) against an investment loan for personal use, the tax-deductible interest is watered down. This is because the new drawdown (transfer of money from a lending institution to a borrower) is deemed to not be for investment purposes.

It is important that any investment loans are quarantined from your personal funds to maximise tax deductions on interest. Though it may be tempting to pull additional funds from the loan for additional finances, it’s also shooting yourself in the foot.

A better strategy (if there is only investment debt that has been incurred, and you wish to pay it off), is to place funds in an offset account (a bank account that is linked to your home loan) and then redraw those funds for your personal use. It’s also important to ensure that the offset account is a proper offset – a redraw that is disguised as an offset account can be a major drawback for investors looking to capitalise on their tax threshold.

If you or someone you know has recently purchased an investment property with a home loan, speak to your accountant or financial advisor to see how your tax return can benefit from it.