spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer
spacer
spacer
    Latest Accounting News

Telephone: 03 9727 1244
Facsimile: 03 9727 0244
Email: Email Us

Address: Suite 2, 96 Manchester Rd, Mooroolbark VIC 3138
spacer
Hot Issues
Small businesses may ‘collapse under strain of payday super’, IPA warns
ATO’s hands tied with scrapping on-hold debts, expert says
What Drives Your Business Growth and Profits?
Australian Taxation Office (ATO) shifting to firmer debt collection activity
Why employee v contractor comes down to fine print
Sharing economy reporting regime for platform operators
Countries producing the most solar power by gigawatt hours
Illegal access nets $637 million
Accessing superannuation benefits.
Does your business have a company Power of Attorney?
Labor tweaks stage 3 tax cuts to make room for ‘middle Australia’
GrantConnect
2 in 3 SMEs benefit from instant asset write-off, survey reveals
Updated guidance on R&D claims
Do you know how to recover debts?
Wheat Production by Country
Types of small business benchmarks
What is a Commercial Lease?
ATO warns advisers against suspect R&D tax claims
The year of workplace law upheaval
How to Resolve Invoice Payment Disputes
Raft of revenue tweaks in MYEFO to raise millions
The Countries that Export the Most Wine in the World
Articles archive
Quarter 4 October - December 2023
Quarter 3 July - September 2023
Quarter 2 April - June 2023
Quarter 1 January - March 2023
Quarter 4 October - December 2022
Quarter 3 July - September 2022
Quarter 2 April - June 2022
Quarter 1 January - March 2022
Quarter 4 October - December 2021
Quarter 3 July - September 2021
Quarter 2 April - June 2021
Quarter 1 January - March 2021
Quarter 4 October - December 2020
Quarter 3 July - September 2020
Quarter 2 April - June 2020
Quarter 1 January - March 2020
Quarter 4 October - December 2019
Quarter 3 July - September 2019
Quarter 2 April - June 2019
Quarter 1 January - March 2019
Quarter 4 October - December 2018
Quarter 3 July - September 2018
Quarter 2 April - June 2018
Quarter 1 January - March 2018
Quarter 4 October - December 2017
Quarter 3 July - September 2017
Quarter 2 April - June 2017
Quarter 1 January - March 2017
Quarter 4 October - December 2016
Quarter 3 July - September 2016
Quarter 2 April - June 2016
Quarter 1 January - March 2016
Quarter 4 October - December 2015
Quarter 3 July - September 2015
Quarter 2 April - June 2015
Quarter 1 January - March 2015
Quarter 4 October - December 2014
Quarter 2 of 2020
Articles
‘HomeBuilder’ grants now available.
$150k instant asset write-off extended for 6 months
JobKeeper documentation ‘absolutely critical’ in ATO audit
Tax Time Checklists - Individuals; Company; Trust; Partnership; and Super Funds
ATO updates JobKeeper compliance approach
COVID-19 hotspots - tax time 2020
Tax reform to feature heavily in PM’s JobMaker plan
Jobkeeper Fraud warning
ATO extends initial JobKeeper payment deadline
Boosting cash flow - ATO
Our website, your resources
ATO releases JobKeeper alternative test
Temporary Working from Home Expenses Rule
Minimum Pensions Halved – 2020 & 2021
More coronavirus support for landlords, commercial tenants
COVID-19: Early Childhood Education and Care Relief Package
What Covid-19 relief packages mean to you.
Now I’m working from home, what can I claim?
Global statistics plus Covid-19 updates
ATO clarifies COVID-19 rent relief concerns
Banks to defer small-business loan repayments for 6 months
Historic $130bn wage subsidy to cover 6 million workers
Stage 2 – Covid-19 stimulus package.
COVID-19 hotspots - tax time 2020

Agents have been urged to be proactive as tax time 2020 approaches, with the ATO set to take a closer look at clients’ tax returns through a COVID-19 lens.



       


With six weeks to go to the end of the financial year, H&R Block director of tax communications Mark Chapman believes practitioners should begin communicating with their clients about their tax-time obligations this year, particularly around the impact of COVID-19 on their tax affairs.


“I think practitioners will need to adjust their mindset to accept that clients on the income side and the deduction side, their affairs are going to look a little bit different this year,” Mr Chapman told Accountants Daily.


“It is probably worthwhile for tax agents to be having that conversation with their clients before we get to the end of the financial year because, if there’s a requirement for clients to produce records, clearly once we get past 30 June, it is really too late to do that.”


With COVID-19 forcing many to work from home, Mr Chapman believes the area of work-related deductions will see significant changes this year and will likely continue to attract ATO scrutiny given its high-risk factor in the ATO’s $8.7 billion tax gap report.


In particular, Mr Chapman believes the ATO’s new flat rate of 80 cents per hour will need to be carefully explained to clients before they look to lodge their returns.


“A lot of the deductions that people commonly claim are likely to go down; work-related travel has been pretty much off the agenda since the beginning of March, so if you take out that four-month period, you’re likely to see those claims go down quite substantially,” Mr Chapman said.


“But counterbalancing that is that working-from-home claims are likely to go up.


“The ATO introduced the flat rate in an attempt to simplify things for taxpayers, but the problem is, there are now three different methods of calculating working-from-home expenses, so in a sense it is not really simplifying things, it is just adding more issues into the mix.


“When tax agents sit down with their clients, there needs to be real thought as to which is going to produce the best outcome for the client and that might be either of the flat rate allowances — it might not be the 80 cents rate or the 52 cents rate; very often, the best outcome for the client is to work out the actual costs they have incurred.


“The problem with that is there is a lot of record keeping required in order for people to claim actual costs, so it’s worthwhile having a conversation with clients now.”


Property hotspot


With property deduction claims a “top priority” for the ATO, Mr Chapman also believes agents will need to be extra careful in a COVID-19 environment this tax time.


“We’re likely to see bigger rental property losses for many clients, and that is something the ATO will be looking at very carefully,” he said.


“They always look closely at investment properties, and I think this year with bigger loss claims, they are likely to be focusing particularly there just to establish that the landlords had genuinely reduced the rent or given the tenants a rent holiday, that the landlords have not actually moved into the property as their quarantine bolthole, which has happened on some instances, and the ATO would not expect to be seeing any deductions in relation to those properties if that’s happened.


“All of those COVID-19 impacts on rental properties are likely to be tested by the ATO this year, and agents will need to ask the important questions to establish the facts before claiming deductions.”


 


 


Jotham Lian 
20 May 2020 
accountantsdaily.com.au


 




17th-June-2020
 
sitemap | site by AcctWeb