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21Jun2017
EOFY Time to Focus on Tax
The end of the financial year (now commonly referred to everywhere as EOFY) is approaching,
and it is worth spending some time making sure you are prepared for your 2017 Tax Return.
It also is worthwhile reviewing the rules expected to change from the 1st July 2017.
Tax Hints for Tax Time Preparation
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23May2017
Is your business ripe for restructure?
BUSINESS RESTRUCTURING
Is your business ripe for restructure?
People start their business in a particular tax structure that suits their start up needs. But sometimes business growth plans or changing legislation can result in this original business structure not being the best vehicle to carry the business forward.
If so, there are some circumstances where you can use existing tax laws to restructure into a more appropriate business structure.
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04May2017
Six Pack of Tax Hints for Tradies
Are you a tradie looking to get the most out of your tax return? We’re here to help with this simple six-pack of tax tips.
To get the tax return you deserve this financial year, make sure you’re claiming deductions in each of these areas — within reason.
- Car claims – check whether yours is a vehicle that will be 100% claimable or whether it requires you to complete a log book.
- Claims for second car – you may have a main car for work, but if you use a second car for banking or quoting jobs while leaving your ute and trailer on site, you also may be able to claim some kilometres for this vehicle. Just be careful with steps one and two as the ATO’s on the lookout for fraudulent claims. Give us a call for help.
- Working from home – if you work from home for quoting, planning and other paperwork you may be able to claim a ATO approved rate per hour to cover the cost of power and electricity.
- Extensive use of home – if the use of your home for work extends to a separate office and sheds to store vehicles and equipment then you may be able to more comprehensively claim expenses such as a percentage of rent, rates or house insurance related to the surface area of your dwelling used for business.
- Check your insurances. Some, such as income protection, can be claimable outright. Others, if structured as a superannuation contribution, may also be tax deductible.
- If you bought capital equipment before June 30, you can instantly write it off as a deduction up to $20,000. Read more about the instant asset write-off, which may be continuing into 2019, through that link.
Still not sure? We are. Give us a call on 07 3510 1500, email or reach us on Messenger below.
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02May2017
80 per cent of property owners are missing out!
Any owner of a property that generates an income is eligible to receive significant taxation benefits.
“Research shows that 80 per cent of property investors are failing to maximise the deductions claimed from property depreciation and are therefore missing out on thousands of dollars in their pockets,” said Bradley Beer, the Chief Executive Officer of BMT Tax Depreciation.
“Depreciation is often missed because it is a non-cash deduction – the investor does not need to spend money to claim it,” said Mr Beer.
As a building gets older, items wear out – they depreciate. The Australian Taxation Office allows property owners to claim this depreciation as a deduction. Depreciation can be claimed by any property owner who obtains income from their property.
New and old properties have the potential to attract some depreciation benefits for the owner to claim as a tax deduction. The widely spread idea that older properties will attract no claim is largely untrue; it is worth having an expert look into any scenario.
Ensuring that the depreciation claim is maximised on any building requires a combination of construction costing skills and a thorough knowledge of tax legislation. This rare combination of skills has resulted in a limited number of Quantity Surveying firms specialising in property depreciation.
Consult the expertise of a qualified Quantity Surveyor such as BMT Tax Depreciation to maximise depreciation deductions for an investment property.
For more information visit the residential property depreciation page on the BMT Tax Depreciation website, or for obligation free advice you can contact the expert team at BMT on 1300 728 726.
Article provided by BMT Tax Depreciation. Find out more with our top tax tips for first time property investors or 10 tips to help rental property investors save time and money.
Bradley Beer (B. Con. Mgt, AAIQS, MRICS, AVAA) is the Chief Executive Officer of BMT Tax Depreciation. Please contact 1300 728 726 or visit www.bmtqs.com.au for an Australia-wide service.
To talk to the friendly Affinitas team about your property deductions, and join the 20% of satisfied property investors, call 07 3510 1500, email or reach us on Messenger below.
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30Oct2016
Is My Home Tax Deductible?
Potential Home Tax Deductions that you may be missing out on!
People may traditionally consider their home to be their castle – but not necessarily a source of tax deductions. Or is it ?
Is your house also your place of business?
What if your home is also your place of business – like a hairdresser who runs a salon in a separate room under the house? In this case running costs like phone and electricity and potentially a portion of your occupancy costs such as rates, insurance and mortgage interest may be tax deductible.
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07Oct2016
The Top Five Most Overlooked Tax Deductions
Boost your tax return this year with the top five most overlooked tax deductions.
When it comes to your yearly tax refund it pays to remember that every little bit helps!
While each extra deduction may be relatively small, in total they add a significant boost to your refund. For someone earning $50,000 per year, an extra $600 of deductions can provide an extra $180 of refunded cash in your pocket.
The following are deductions that are sometimes overlooked as circumstances occur during the year and once forgotten are not easily reinstated at tax time.
Work Related Motor Vehicle Expenses
Certain occupations are well aware that they can claim car expenses on their annual tax return and keep the appropriate records for either a log book or rate per km claim. However, there are many other workers who during the year use their personal vehicles for work related purposes.
For example, you might regularly pick up stock or run other work-related errands. These trips are potentially claimable and the easiest way to do this is by using the rate per km method. This allows the km to be claimed at 66c per km in your return. You should note down the km you do in a diary or logbook and take them each year to your registered tax agent.
Please note that travel each day to and from your workplace is not allowed as a tax deduction, so if you are running these errands in this manner, some special rules and calculations may apply.
Work From Home
As part of modern life, nowadays employees often log-in to workplace servers and generally work from home after hours. Others have a full work from home day/s as part of their employment. Keep track of these hours (a one month log will establish an average that can be used across the year). You can claim 45c per hour for this type of work from home.
Internet Expenses
Claims for internet expenses are often closely related to the work from home claims. If people choose or are required to work from home often they log into work using their home internet. If this is the case you may be able to reasonably estimate a percentage of your internet that you use each month and claim these on your return. You will need to keep a month long diary to show the work percentage to claim in your tax return.
Mobile Phone Usage
The use of a mobile phone is so common in everyday life that it is easy to forget that you also use it for work. Whether it is phoning a client away from the office, taking a photo on site or remotely logging into work emails, the percentage that you use your phone for work related purposes is once again potentially a tax claim. A diary record or detailed phone statement will also be needed to make this claim.
Union/Professional Subscriptions
If you are required or choose to be part of a workplace union or professional association these fees are likely to be deductible. The membership must be to a body that relates directly to your trade or profession. The cost of subscriptions to journals and magazines related to your trade or profession also are possible claims.
Remember all receipts and diary records must be kept to substantiate your claims.
For more information relating to how Affinitas Accounting can help you, call us on 07 3510 1500, email or reach us on Messenger below.
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30Sep2016
Making sense of the Super Reforms
Understanding the Superannuation Reforms
If you are waiting for the Australian superannuation reforms announced in the Budget to pass Parliament before working out what they mean to you, you might miss out on any opportunities available.
When enacted, the reforms will represent the single biggest change to superannuation since its inception. While there has been a softening of the original Budget announcements, there are still some very big changes coming your way.
Accumulators: Under 65s
The reforms likely to impact on you are:
Reduction in non-concessional contribution caps
If you are close to retirement age and looking to build your super balance, this change is incredibly important. From 1 July 2017, the annual non-concessional contributions cap will be reduced to $100,000 (from the current $180,000).
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26Aug2016
The Tax Chooks – Checklists
TAX CHECKLISTS
Contact Affinitas Accounting for a helpful advice to make sure you don’t pay too much tax. Our checklists are available at https://affinitasaccounting.com.au/resources/checklists/
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04Aug2016
The Tax Chooks – Rental Property Reporting
Don’t get things wrong with your Rental Property Reporting
- Declare all rental property income in your tax return
- Claim expenses!
- Claim depreciation on building and fixtures
Get in touch with Affinitas Accounting for your rental property Depreciation Reports and Deduction Checklists
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15Jul2016
Client of the Quarter April – June
At Affinitas Accounting we like to share and celebrate our clients success.
Congratulations to Russell and Tracey from Garry’s Mechanical Repair on being our clients of the quarter!