We all would like to reduce our tax exposure and minimise risk of an audit by the regulators.
With the end of the financial year fast approaching, this update will help you do exactly that:
- Summary of key changes and actions
- Top Tax Tips– Our tips to reduce your company’s tax liability and risks.
What’s New:
- Superannuation Guarantee increases to 10.5%
- $450 super guarantee threshold removed
- Deductibility of COVID-19 tests
- Rules tightened for companies entitled to trust income
- Contractor or employee?
- Temporary full expensing concludes 30 June 2023
- Director ID registration deadline looming
- Profits of professional services firms
- Cryptocurrency in the headlines
Financial Housekeeping:
- Payment deferrals
- Reporting payments to contractors
- Shareholder loan agreement minimum repayments
- Before you roll over your software
- Employee reporting: Single touch payroll
- Do you need to do a stocktake?
What we need from you:
- What we need from you – a general list of what to prepare before your next meeting with us
We want to help you achieve the best result. If there is any additional assistance we can provide, or if you would like us to review your situation, please call us on 02 8378 2421
In brief
| Date | Changes and actions |
| 25 June 2022 |
|
| Pre-30 June 2022 |
|
| 30 June 2022 |
|
| 1 July 2022 |
|
| 14 July 2022 |
|
| 28 July 2022 |
|
| 28 August 2022 |
|
| 28 September 2022 |
|
| 30 November 2022 |
|
| 1 January 2023 |
|
| 30 June 2023 |
|
| 1 July 2023 |
|
What’s new
Superannuation Guarantee increases to 10.5%
The Superannuation Guarantee (SG) rate will rise from 10% to 10.5% on 1 July 2022 and will then steadily increase by 0.5% each year until it reaches 12% on 1 July 2025.
If you have employees, what this will mean depends on your employment agreements. If the employment agreement states the employee is paid on a ‘total remuneration’ basis (base plus SG and any other allowances), then their take home pay might be reduced by 0.5%. That is, a greater percentage of their total remuneration will be directed to their superannuation fund. For employees paid a rate plus superannuation, then their take home pay will remain the same and the 0.5% increase will be added to their SG payments.
$450 super guarantee threshold removed
From 1 July 2022, the $450 threshold test will be removed and all employees aged 18 or over will need to be paid superannuation guarantee regardless of how much they earn. It is important to ensure that your payroll system accommodates this change so you do not inadvertently underpay superannuation.
For employees under the age of 18, super guarantee is only paid if the employee works more than 30 hours per week.
Deductibility of COVID-19 tests
If your business provided RAT or PCR tests to employees, these expenses should normally be deductible to the employer.
While you would then need to consider whether these benefits are subject to Fringe Benefits Tax, a FBT exemption can be available under the otherwise deductible rule. The otherwise deductible allows an employer to reduce the taxable value of the fringe benefit (and therefore the FBT liability) by the amount of the income tax deduction the employee would otherwise have been entitled to claim at the time the benefit was provided had the employee incurred the relevant cost.
From 1 July 2021, employees are now entitled to claim a deduction for the cost of a RAT or PCR test to determine whether they may attend or remain at work.
However, a deduction for the employee is not available if:
- They worked from home and didn’t intend to attend their workplace
- The test was used for private purposes (for example, to tests the kids before school).
If COVID-19 tests have been provided, the relevant documentation will need to be in place and a declaration signed by the employee.
Rules tightened for companies entitled to trust income
New guidance from the ATO tightens the rules around unpaid distributions owed by trusts to companies and applies to unpaid distributions arising on or after 1 July 2022. If the amount owed by the trust is deemed to be a loan then it can potentially fall within the scope of the integrity provisions in Division 7A.
Contractor or employee?
Many business owners assume that if they hire independent contractors they will not be responsible for PAYG withholding, superannuation guarantee, payroll tax and workers compensation obligations. However, each set of rules operates a bit differently and in some cases, genuine contractors can be treated as if they were employees. Also, correctly classifying the employment relationship can be difficult and there are significant penalties faced by businesses that get it wrong.
Temporary full expensing concludes 30 June 2023
Temporary full expensing enables your business to fully expense the cost of:
- New depreciable assets
- Improvements to existing eligible assets, and
- Second hand assets
in the first year of use.
This measure enables an asset’s cost to be fully deductible upfront rather than being claimed over the asset’s life, regardless of the cost of the asset. The last day to utilise the expensing measures is 30 June 2023 at which point, normal depreciation arrangements will apply.
Certain expenditure is excluded from this measure, such as improvements to land or buildings that are not treated as plant or as separate depreciating assets in their own right. Expenditure on these improvements would still normally be claimed at 2.5% or 4% per year.
The car limit will continue to place a cap on the deductions that can be claimed for luxury cars $60,733 in 2021-22 and $64,741 in 2022-23).
Director ID registration deadline looming
The new director ID regime was introduced to prevent the use of false and fraudulent director identities and to reduce unlawful activity, such as phoenix activity.
All directors who are subject to the regime will apply for a director ID once through the Australian Business Registry Services (https://www.abrs.gov.au/director-identification-number ) and keep this ID for their lifetime, regardless of whether they change companies, stop being a director or move overseas.
When an individual must apply for a director ID depends on when they become a director:
For Corporation Act directors:
| Date you become a director | Date you must apply |
| On or before 31 October 2021 | By 30 November 2022 |
| Between 1 November 2021 and 4 April 2022 | Within 28 days of appointment |
| From 5 April 2022 | Before appointment |
The ABRS has confirmed that if an individual was already a director on or before 31 October 2021 then they have until 30 November 2022 to apply, even if they become a director of another company after 31 October 2021.
Profits of professional services firms
If your company operates a professional services firm, it will be important to understand the implications of finalised guidance from the ATO that applies from 1 July 2022.
The ATO guidance takes a strong stance on how the profits of professional services firms are structured and how profits flow through to the professionals involved. The ATO is specifically concerned with structures designed to divert income so the professional ends up receiving very little income directly for their work, reducing their taxable income.
Where these structures appear to be in place to divert income to create a tax benefit for the professional, Part IVA may apply. Part IVA is an integrity rule which allows the Commissioner to remove any tax benefit received by a taxpayer where they entered into an arrangement in a contrived manner in order to obtain a tax benefit. Part IVA may apply to schemes designed to ensure that the professional is not appropriately rewarded for the services they provide to the business, or that they receive a reward which is substantially less than the value of those services.
The guidance, which has now been finalised, sets out a series of tests to identify a practitioner’s risk level, looking at the structure of the business and how profits are distributed, and whether the structure has any high-risk features.
Some arrangements that were previously considered low risk may now fall into a higher risk zone.
For professional services firms, it will be important to assess the risk level and this needs to be done for each principal practitioner separately.
Cryptocurrency in the headlines
The ATO has been very active lately trying to dispel myths about how cryptocurrency is taxed.
If your business accepts cryptocurrency as payment for goods or services, these payments are treated in the same way as any other. That is, if your business is registered for GST, the price paid by the person paying in the digital currency should include GST. Likewise, if you purchase goods or services for use in your business then you should generally be able to claim GST credits on the transaction in your activity statement, even if you used digital currency to make the purchase.
It is possible that an entity could hold cryptocurrency as trading stock if it is held for the purpose of sale or exchange in the ordinary course of a business. Any gains from the trades are then taxed in the business’s income tax return. If you carry on a business of trading cryptocurrencies, that is, you approach the trading in a business-like manner, then you can generally claim losses and other business expenses as a deduction.
Even if the cryptocurrency is not held as trading stock the disposal of cryptocurrency items will generally trigger a taxing event and it will be necessary to consider whether a gain or loss needs to be recognised for tax purposes.
The tax laws can be complex in this area and it’s important to ensure that you get the right advice.
It’s also important to keep records of your cryptocurrency transactions. The ATO regularly runs data matching projects and has access to the data from many crypto platforms and banks.
Financial house-keeping
Having trouble with tax debt?
If you are having trouble paying your tax liability, please let us know as soon as possible so we can negotiate a deferral or payment plan with the ATO on your behalf.
Reporting payments to contractors
The taxable payments reporting system requires businesses in certain industries to report payments they make to contractors (individual and total for the year) to the ATO. ‘Payment’ means any form of consideration including non-cash benefits and constructive payments. Taxable payments reporting is required for:
- Building and construction services
- Cleaning services
- Courier services
- Information technology (IT) services
- Road freight services
- Security, investigation or surveillance services
- Mixed services (providing one or more of the services listed above)
The annual report is due by 28 August 2022.
Shareholder loan agreement minimum repayments
Division 7A captures situations where shareholders access company profits in the form of loans, payments or forgiven debts. If certain steps are not taken, such as placing the ‘payment’ under a complying loan agreement, these amounts are treated as a deemed unfranked dividend and taxable at the taxpayer’s marginal tax rate.
The ATO provided an extension for COVID-19 impacted taxpayers who were unable to meet their minimum loan repayments under a Division 7A loan agreement in the 2020-21 year until 30 June 2022 (where they applied for an extension). These loans will need to be brought up to date by 30 June 2022 to avoid a deemed dividend being triggered.
Before you roll-over your software…
Before rolling over your accounting software for the new financial year, make sure you:
- Prepare your financial year-end accounts. This way, any problems can be rectified and you have a ‘clean slate’ for the 2021-22 year. Once rolled over, the software cannot be amended.
- Do not perform a Payroll Year End function until you are sure that your STP finalisation declaration is correct and printed. Always perform a payroll back-up before you roll over the year.
Employee reporting
Single touch payroll
Where payments to employees have been reported to the ATO through single touch payroll, a finalisation declaration generally needs to be made by 14 July 2021. However, there are some exceptions to this.
If the entity has 20 or more employees and some of them are closely held employees, then the finalisation declaration for the closely held employees needs to be made by 30 September.
For entities with 19 or fewer employees and which only have closely held employees the finalisation declaration should be made by due date for lodgement of the tax return of the relevant employee.
Employees will be able to access their Income Statement through their myGov account.
Closely held payees
Small employers (19 or fewer) are required to use STP for closely held payees from 1 July 2021. Payments to closely held payees can be reported through STP in one of three ways:
- Reporting actual payments in real time – reporting each payment to a closely held payee on or before each pay event (essentially using STP ‘as normal’).
- Reporting actual payments quarterly – lodging a quarterly STP statement detailing these payments for the quarter, with the statement due when the activity statement is due.
- Reporting a reasonable estimate quarterly – lodging a quarterly STP statement estimating reasonable year-to-date amounts paid to employees, with the statement due when the activity statement is due.
Small employers that have arm’s length employees must report STP information on or before each payday regardless of the method that is chosen for reporting payments to closely held payees.
If your business has closely held employees, it will be important to plan throughout the year to prevent problems occurring at year end.
Reportable Fringe Benefits
Where you have provided fringe benefits to your employees in excess of $2,000, you need to report the FBT grossed-up amount. This is referred to as a `Reportable Fringe Benefit Amount’ (RFBA).
Do you need to do a stocktake?
Businesses that buy and sell stock generally need to do a stocktake at the end of each financial year as the increase or decrease in the value of stock is included when calculating the taxable income of your business.
If your business has an aggregated turnover below $10 million you can use the simplified trading stock rules. Under these rules, you can choose not to conduct a stocktake for tax purposes if the difference in value between the opening value of your trading stock and a reasonable estimate of the closing value of trading stock at the end of the income year is less than $5,000. You will need to record how you determined the value of trading stock on hand.
If you do need to complete a stocktake, you can choose one of three methods to value trading stock:
- Cost price – all costs connected with the stock including freight, customs duty, and if manufacturing, labour and materials, plus a portion of fixed and variable factory overheads, etc.
- Market selling value – the current value of the stock you sell in the normal course of business (but not at a reduced value when you are forced to sell it).
- Replacement value – the price of a substantially similar replacement item in a normal market on the last day of the income year.
A different basis can be chosen for each class of stock or for individual items within a particular class of stock. This provides an opportunity to minimise the trading stock adjustment at year-end. There is no need to use the same method every year; you can choose the most tax effective option each year. The most obvious example is where the stock can be valued below its purchase price because of market conditions or damage that has occurred to the stock. This should give rise to a deduction even though the loss has not yet been incurred.
Reduce your risks & minimise your tax
Top tax tips
1. Declare dividends to pay any outstanding shareholder loan accounts
If your company has advanced funds to a shareholder or related party, paid expenses or allowed a shareholder or other related party to use assets owned by the company, then this can be treated as a taxable dividend. The regulators expect that top-up tax (if any applies) should be paid by shareholders at their marginal tax rate once they have access to these profits. This is unless a complying loan agreement is in place.
If you have any shareholder loan accounts from prior years that were placed under complying loan agreements, the minimum loan repayments need to be made by 30 June 2022. It may be necessary for the company to declare dividends before 30 June 2022 to make these loan repayments.
The tax rules in this area can be extraordinarily complex and can lead to some very harsh tax outcomes. It is important to talk to us as soon as possible if you think your company has made payments or advanced funds to shareholders or related parties.
2. Directors’ fees and employee bonuses
Any expected directors’ fees and employee bonuses may be deductible for the 2021-22 financial year if you have ‘definitely committed’ to the payment of a quantified amount by 30 June 2022, even if the fee or bonus is paid to the employee or director after 30 June 2022.
You would generally be definitely committed to the payment by year-end if the directors pass a properly authorised resolution to make the payment by year-end. The employer should also notify the employee of their entitlement to the payment or bonus before year-end.
The accrued directors’ fees and bonuses need to be paid within a reasonable time period after year-end.
3. Write-off bad debts
To be a bad debt, you need to have brought the income to account as assessable income and given up all attempts to recover the debt. It needs to be written off your debtors’ ledger by 30 June. If you don’t maintain a debtors’ ledger, a director’s minute confirming the write-off is a good idea.
4. Review your asset register and scrap any obsolete plant
Check to see if obsolete plant and equipment is sitting on your depreciation schedule. Rather than depreciating a small amount each year, if the plant has become obsolete, scrap it and write it off before 30 June. Small business entities can choose to pool their assets and claim one deduction for each pool. This means you only have to do one calculation for the pool rather than for each asset.
5. Bring forward repairs, consumables, trade gifts or donations
To claim a deduction for the 2021-22 financial year, consider paying for any required repairs, replenishing consumable supplies, trade gifts or donations before 30 June.
6. Pay June quarter employee super contributions now
Pay June quarter super contributions this financial year if you want to claim a tax deduction in the current year. The next quarterly superannuation guarantee payment is due on 28 July 2022. However, some employers choose to make the payment early to bring forward the tax deduction instead of waiting another 12 months.
Don’t forget yourself. Superannuation can be a great way to get tax relief and still build your personal wealth. Your personal or company sponsored contributions need to be received by the fund before 30 June to be deductible.
7. Realise any capital losses and reduce gains
Neutralise the tax effect of any capital gains you have made during the year by realising any capital losses – that is, sell the asset and lock in the capital loss. These need to be genuine transactions to be effective for tax purposes.
8. Raise management fees between entities by June 30
Where management fees are charged between related entities, make sure that the charges have been raised by 30 June. Where management charges are made, make sure they are commercially reasonable and documentation is in place to support the transactions. If any transactions are undertaken with international related parties then the transfer pricing rules need to be considered and the ATO’s documentation expectations will be much greater. This is an area under increased scrutiny.
What we need from you
This is a general list of what to have ready when we next meet with you:
- Accounts data file (MYOB, Quickbooks, access to Xero)
- Debtors & creditors reconciliation
- Stocktake if applicable (or if your business is a Small Business Entity, use the simplified trading stock rules mentioned above)
- 30 June bank statements on all relevant loan documents
- Documents on new assets bought or sold, including the date you entered the contract and the date the asset was first used or installed ready for use
- Details of any grants or disaster loans received
- Details of any insurance payouts for your business or business premises
- Payroll reconciliation
- Superannuation reconciliation
- Cash book (if applicable)
- Details of any transactions involving cryptocurrency (e.g., Bitcoin)
- 30 June statements on any investment or operating accounts
And, if we are preparing your individual income tax return:
- Income Statement
- Tax statements of managed investment funds
- Interest income from banks and building societies
- Dividend statements for dividends received
- For share sales or purchases, the purchase and sale contract notes
- For real estate sales or purchases, the solicitor’s correspondence for the purchase and sale
- Rental property statements from real estate agent and details of other expenditure incurred
- Work related expenses
- Self-education expenses
- Travel expenses
- Donations to charities
- Health insurance and rebate entitlement
- Family Tax Benefits received
- Commonwealth assistance notices
- IAS statements or details of PAYG Instalments paid
- Details of any transactions involving cryptocurrency (e.g., Bitcoin)
- Details of any income derived from participating in the sharing economy (e.g., Uber driving, rent from AirBNB, jobs completed through Airtasker etc.,)