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RBA Hikes Interest Rates To 1.85 percent

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Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Philip Lowe, has announced that the cash rate target has been increased by 50 basis points to 1.85%. This is the fourth consecutive month in which the cash rate has been increased. In June and July, the rate was similarly increased by…

SMEs Driven To Insolvency By Skills Shortage

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With the country facing a severe skills shortage, more and more businesses are being driven into insolvency. This is happening across the economy, from start-ups to long-established companies. The SME segment has been identified as the hardest hit by this situation. Businesses operating in the hospitability industry were highlighted as…

Higher Tax Bills for Queensland’s Interstate Landowners

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Changes to Queensland tax rules will now see landowners with landholdings in other parts of the country have their land tax bill increase from 30 June 2023. The proposed changes that were flagged in December 2021 and have already been included in the most recent state budget, have been termed…

Audit Shield claims activity across Australia 2021-22

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The Accountancy Insurance claims department continues to be busy processing claims from client accounting firms across Australia. The six most common audit activity areas that have been noted were: > Employer Obligations (PAYG/SG/FBT) > Income Tax (Full/General/Combined) > ATO (High Wealth) > Payroll Tax (All States) > BAS (Pre &…

ATO Warns That Filing Early Increases Risk of Mistakes

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The Australian Tax Office (ATO) wants taxpayers to be aware that filing their tax returns early may not be the best option. While you can begin filing returns as early as 1 July, you run the risk of making mistakes as not all required information will have been pre-filled at…

ATO Advice for Lodging Cryptocurrency Losses

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With the recent downturn in the cryptocurrency market, there is likely to be a good number of investors that will be reporting losses. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is however flagging this as an issue of concern that investors need to be more careful about at tax time. According to…

Accounting Professionals to Temper Salary Increment Expectations

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The 2022-2023 Hays Salary Guide has shown that the accounting and finance sector is facing increased competition for skilled professionals. This is a problem many other industries are facing and has led to unemployment dropping to just 3.9% this year. It is expected to drop further to 3.5% in 2023,…

ATO Warns Taxpayers Against Double Dipping

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The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has confirmed that in 2021, about 8.4 million Australian taxpayers filed claims on almost $19.8 billion in work-related expenses. Assistant Commissioner, Tim Loh, noted that these were a lot of deductions and that the tax body wanted to ensure taxpayers got their claims right the…

Wage Increases and Worker Shortages Affects SMEs

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According to a new Xero survey, the small business sector is burdened by record wage increases that are occurring at the same time the industry is also contending with reduced sales growth driven by inflation. Following huge increases in sales figures, sales growth has slowed down to 5.8%, with the…

ATO to Resume Recovery of Debts on Hold

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The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has informed tax professionals that their clients will begin receiving notification letters on any outstanding aged debt beginning May 2022. Aged debt, or debts on hold, are uneconomic non-pursued debts that are not visible on the balance of taxpayers’ accounts as they have been classified…