Epoch News

From 1 July 2019, single touch payroll – the direct reporting of salary and wages, PAYG withholding and superannuation contribution information to the ATO – will apply to all employers. What employers need to report will also be extended to include certain...

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has warned about the emergence of a scam where “…scammers are using an ATO number to send fraudulent SMS messages to taxpayers asking them to click on a link and hand over their personal details in order to obtain a...

Another year, another scam. While data driven crime is more sophisticated and difficult to address than ever, human error and judgement remains one of the major problems. The latest data breach report from the Office of the Australian Information...

Life does not always go to plan. While we logically know that, most of us don’t plan for the worst - it’s all a bit morbid and time consuming. The downside of not planning is the potential for hard earned assets to be squandered, family fall-outs, and...

The Taxable Payments Reporting system was introduced to stem the flow of cash payments to contractors and rampant under-reporting of income. Since the building and construction industry was first targeted in 2012, the reporting system has expanded to...

New laws passed by parliament last month directly target the behaviour of taxpayers that don’t meet their obligations. Tax deductions denied If taxpayers do not meet their PAYG withholding tax obligations, from 1 July 2019 they will not be able to claim a...

A former Foodora Australia delivery rider, Joshua Klooger, recently won an unfair dismissal claim despite a service agreement that classified him as an independent contractor. I explore the implications of the case. Pivotal to the Fair Work Commission’s...

From 1 July 2017, new rules came into effect that prevent taxpayers claiming a deduction for expenses they incur travelling to and from their residential investment property. The Government restricted travel deductions to curb “widespread abuse around...

In Australia, around 34 million gift cards are sold each year with an estimated value of $2.5 billion. On average, an estimated $70 million is lost because of expiry dates. Until recently, there was no national regulation for the minimum length of time a...

Small business is still a vote winner with the Government and Opposition teaming up to accelerate tax cuts for the sector by 5 years impacting on an estimated 3.3 million businesses. Parliament recently passed legislation to accelerate the corporate tax...