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Coalition Passes Income Tax Cuts

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With crossbench backing from Jacqui Lambie and Centre Alliance, the Coalition has managed to pass their $158 billion tax cut package. Millions of low- and middle- income earners will soon receive up to $1,080 back. “This is a win for those hardworking Australians quietly going about their lives,” Prime Minister…

ATO Part of Global Crackdown on Cryptocurrency Abuse and Other Tax Crimes

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The Australian Tax Office (ATO) are currently investigating several tax avoidance schemes in an effort to more effectively regulate economic activity in the modern era. The schemes were detected though the global sharing of resources dedicated to preventing cryptocurrency abuse, which forms part of the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement’s (J5)…

Things to do with Extra Cash

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Money can come from many places. Sometimes its arrival is purely positive – a gift, a lottery win, or an unexpected promotion, raise, or bonus – or even a tax refund! Other times, money can come from more inauspicious circumstances, like severance pay or an inheritance. The source of the…

ATO to Use Data Matching to Crack Down on Cryptocurrency Tax Avoiders

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The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) recently issued a warning, stating that they are beginning a new data-matching programme that will compare data collected from designated service providers (DSPs) with tax records. The central aim, according to the government, is to ensure that crypto-investors are paying the right amount of tax.

What does the Budget Proposal Mean For Your Taxes?

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Coalition Government’s 2019 Budget In what Treasurer Josh Frydenberg called “the largest personal income tax cuts since the Howard government,” low and middle-income earners will be some of the biggest benefactors in the proposed budget released on 2 April of this year. At the time this article was written, low to middle income earners…

Cyber Security Requires Expanded Access to Tech Skills

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Digitalisation opens up many possibilities throughout the economy, but also opens businesses up to new threats. Those in the professional services sector must be aware of the many avenues of attack that online operations allow. The most common of these include: > Phishing – where emails or websites are used to trick…

Instant Asset Write-Off Extended, Threshold Increased up to $25,000

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Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently announced that the instant asset write-off would be extended to June 30 next year and that the threshold would be increased to $25,000. These changes took effect from January 29, according to the Australian Taxation Office. “This will enable over three million small businesses across…

ALP Propose Franking Credit Changes

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Labour has announced plans to restrict certain existing tax exceptions for investors, if they were to win the coming elections. The party argues that the existing rebates and incentives – including those on capital gains, negative gearing, and franking credits – lead to tax avoidance. All of these proposed tax…

ATO Phone Scams

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Earlier this year, we reported on the Australian Tax Office’s (ATO) warning regarding malicious phone scams. In July, over 4,000 such calls had been reported. In November, this number sky rocketed to 27,000. With estimate losses reaching $830,000 in November alone, it’s clear the threat from the swindle has not subsided. The scam…

Are Australians able to Retire Comfortably?

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Earlier this month, the Grattan Institute released a detailed report hitting back at superannuation lobbyists who claim that many Australians will not retire with enough money. The belief that “Australians don’t save enough for retirement…encouraged by the financial services industry fear factory, is mistaken”, the report states. As a matter of fact, the Grattan…