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TAX DEADLINES, LAND TAXES, RICHER PATHWAYS & OUR KOALA’S

CIA Tax - Growth, Wealth, Tax

Tax Deadlines
Traditionally tax has a May 15th deadline (for just about everyone) who was with an agent or on a tax agents listing for last year. What that means is time is rapidly running out if you haven’t yet lodged and it really is time to check in with CIA tax urgently and avoid unnecessary ATO scrutiny’s.  

Land Tax Pain
It’s quite a year of shock for many receiving those dreaded State Revenue Office letters this year. Some are even land tax newbies receiving them for the very first time with the introduction of lower land taxing points.

In the history of CIA tax we have never received so many contacts on this topic, even more so from Victoria with the introduction of the new COVID recovery land tax and an upcoming extension to vacant property taxes (holiday homes etc). 

You can dispute the taxed values, but generally most valuations are done conservatively and that is not easy to do. Regardless we do encourage everyone to not just accept the valuation, and do some research and test its validity. 

Land tax will not go away and it is time to consider or reconsider your asset investment classes.

For example: We have been assisting impacted clients who are looking at selling down their rental property. Yes, that may mean paying some CGT tax (after reducing it as much as possible) to pay down their own home loans (non deductible / bad debt) reducing land taxes significantly and re-investing (deductible / good debt) into tax friendlier simple shares (like ETF’s) that have dividend income (with tax credits) and no compounding land tax issues. When you do the numbers it often makes a lot of sense. Going further and introducing a family trust at this point can also be a very tax efficient structure to go forward into the future with.

If land tax is really effecting you, let’s do the numbers on your investments – it might just make sense for you to and help alleviate some of the pain.     

What is rich?
• It’s the ability to have choices
• Dr Stevism; Create a surplus & invest it
• Surplus of 3 T’s = Time, Talent & Treasure
• Key is to INVEST any surplus. Don’t waste it

Video: How to rich – TODAY (youtube.com)
Podcast: Stream How to rich – TODAY by Dr Steven Enticott | Listen online for free on SoundCloud    


Join us Koalas in our nature positive safe haven works!
https://carbonlandscapes.com.au/ Contact us if you would like to get tax efficiently involved with us in looking after some of our most critical species.  

Christmas Break – It’s summer, so start a business – Free start up mentoring – Buying a nature positive island



2023 has been a huge year of change (once again) and it appears the interest rate rise cycle seems to have ended its run for a while and we go into 2024 with a sense of economic optimism, well we at CIA are anyway. 

CIA is closed from Friday 1pm on the 22nd of December until 9am Wednesday the 10th of January and we wish you all a wonderful and restful break.

In 2024 we’d love to see many of our clients start a business no matter how big or small and to assist we will be doing free mentoring sessions over summer (contact Dr Steve: sje@ciatax.com.au for further details.

To get you started here are 4 * one-minute clips to get your thoughts going over the summer break.  

Profits are better than wages: Wages are fixed • Profits are the gap between income and expenses • Opportunity to increase income and decrease expenses = for bigger profits.   Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djbk9Yt7YGQ Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/user-207440115/profits-are-better-than-wages

How to start a fun business: Pick something you love to do • Small scale commercialisation • Expand it.  Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWz3CUFzdDI Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/user-207440115/how-to-start-a-fun-business

How to start a booming business: Make a list of consumer problems • Think tank the issues • Do the do-able solutions Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MopYKPnJ_48 Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/user-207440115/how-to-start-a-booming-business  

Start a business to sell a business: Staff buyout • Competitor buyout • New entrant targeting Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stXCX0y5xWg Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/user-207440115/cm-1610-moneymin-sellbusinessa

If you don’t yet have a copy of Dr Steve’s business success book “The Man with a Plan” they are freely available to clients in the reception area of CIA tax.   

Safe Havens for Endangered Species – Buying Islands Another big year supporting CIA’s nature positive works at: https://carbonlandscapes.com.au/ Contact us if you would like to get involved!  

Tax Season Due Dates (+ the Money Lucky Series)

Tax returns are due end of October if you are not with a tax agent or were late in lodging last year’s tax return. The good news is if you are with CIA tax or join CIA tax before this deadline, we can add you to our late lodging lists and buy you some precious time:  https://ciatax.com.au/october-tax-deadline/

Working from home (reminder!)  The way you have been claiming home office (working from home expenses) has now significantly changed here are the new methods:  https://www.ato.gov.au/Media-centre/Media-releases/ATO-announces-changes-to-working-from-home-deductions/

CIA tax – Ticker Tv  Green screens are fun, never ceases to amaze us how well they work.  Did you know that once in lifetime opportunities come along every 7 weeks (authors opinion) but are you spotting them? are you lucky enough? Well, the following four 1 minute clips below can attune you to those and help to change your mindset!   



How to be money lucky #1 New Opportunities How to be money lucky #1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYgTB9vG-ss Dr Steven Enticott (CIA tax) & Mike Loder (Ticker News) aired 26th September 2023 

How to be money lucky #2 Resilience Bounce How to be money lucky #2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa2oP1eUBJQ Dr Steven Enticott (CIA tax) & Mike Loder (Ticker News) aired 3rd October 2023 

How to be money lucky #3 Opportunistic Optimism How to be money lucky #3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5zhLRLgmlA Dr Steven Enticott (CIA tax) & Mike Loder (Ticker News) aired 10th October 2023 

How to be money lucky #4 Action instincts How to be money lucky #4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmU3a8thFpE Dr Steven Enticott (CIA tax) & Mike Loder (Ticker News) aired 17th October 2023         

Melbourne Cup Day Weekend To celebrate the end of the tax season intensities CIA tax will be closed for the 4-day cup weekend (that’s Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th November).  

Carbon Landscapes Nature is everyone’s business, and all industries rely on a healthy environment. Globally more than half of GDP depends on nature. We help great businesses better integrate nature to their business to benefit our natural environment. Join with us (and others) at CIA tax to contribute to our nature positive future.  
https://carbonlandscapes.com.au/        

October Tax Deadline

Tax returns are due end of October if you are not with a tax agent (or were late in lodging last years tax return) the good news is if you join CIA tax before this deadline we can add you onto our client list and extend your tax lodgement dates (for most) well into next year. Spread the good news!


June 30: Tax Saving Tips!!

It’s a big newsletter and we ask you to take note of the new working from home regime and watch our seminar recording (link below) as the rules have substantially changed.

For employees and Employers alike
 
Superannuation guarantee payments by your employer is set to rise to 11.0% from 1 July 2023 for the 2023–24 financial year with the SG percentage rate is set to increase by 0.5% every year until it reaches 12.0% from 1 July 2025.  

Be Generous  

Making deductible donations in June is the best time to do so as you’ll soon see the tax benefit!    

For Business  

Last chance the temporary full expensing and temporary loss carry-back (to the year 2019) ends 30 June 2023, after that the maximum write off level is $20,000 for small businesses (under $10m turnover).  
Prepay your expenses for 2022/3 before June 30 when you can and don’t be too hasty getting out your invoices prior to June 30 even more so if it’s been a great income year.  
Stocktakes can be counted on Cost price, Replacement Price or even Actual values which is one of our greatest tax planning tools for those that carry stock. Get counting!      

Working from home changes  

From 1 July 2022 to 28 February 2023, the ATO will accept a record which represents the total number of hours worked from home (for example a 4-week diary) as usual. Then from 1 March 2023, a record of all the hours you worked from home is required.  

Key changes:   an increased rate – from 52 cents to 67 cents per hour worked from home.  inclusion of phone and internet expenses as well as electricity and gas usage, computer consumables and stationery costs in that per hour rate.  taxpayers will now separately claim the decline in value of work-related equipment, office furniture, and any other running expenses not covered by the rate per hour.   

Example: claim via rate method – let’s say 40 hours a week * $0.67 x 46 weeks = $1,232   We do have the option of claiming the actual costs for home office, which will allow for phone and internet to be claimed separately, however we would then need calculations for the costs for electricity and gas or we could simply ignore them.  

Actual Cost You don’t incur additional running expenses if other members of your household (who are not working from home) are in the same rooms as you while you are working from home.    

ATO Example: Working from a lounge room Lee works from her lounge room while her partner and 3 children watch television. Lee isn’t incurring any additional costs for lighting, heating, or cooling as a result of working in that room, so she can’t claim a deduction for them.  

ATO Example: Electricity for cooling and heating Ben works at home several days per week and keeps a record of the total hours he works from home. His record shows he worked a total of 768 hours from home in 2022–23. When he works from home, Ben sits in a separate room of his house and always uses a separate air conditioner in the room when he is working.   His air conditioning unit is a small with a 3.5 kilowatt (kw) capacityBased on the unit’s energy efficiency rating, the unit costs Ben 1.09 kw per hour to run.Based on his electricity bills, Ben pays 27.81 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity Ben calculates the cost of cooling and heating for the room he uses when he is working from home as:   1.09 kw per hour × 27.81 cents per hour = 30.31 cents per kw hour 768 hours × 30.31 cents = $233 (rounded up to the nearest whole dollar).  

ATO Example: Phone, data and internet If you receive an itemised phone or internet bill, you need to work out your work-related use over a continuous 4-week period. You can use your work-related percentage for the 4-week period to work out your expenses for the whole income year.   For example, you can mark your work-related calls on your monthly phone bill and work out your work-related use based on the number of those phone calls compared to your total calls. Similar method for internet use hours.   Link to our working from home seminar recording; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgIGCJc9cZA&t=201s    

For Employees  

Claiming covid test / RAT expenses again, for employees and business alike these are tax deductible expenses and can be claimed.  
Don’t forget – Sunglasses, Hats and Sunscreen for taxpayers that work in any outdoor occupation (including driving) they are tax deductible – keep receipts!  
Claim Everything This one each year is a bit tongue in cheek, though correctly claiming expenses is our expertise. Your job is to think of absolutely anything that has a connection with your incomes and let us measure the correct appropriateness of claim.    

Audits   True to form the ATO audits are back at it and their stated four areas of focus are:   Recordkeeping (car logbooks, receipts etc) Work-related expenses (must be connected to work activities especially study) rental property income and deductions (genuine repairs not capital improvements) Capital gains from crypto-assets, property, and shares (these are all tracked by ATO)

Superannuation  
Has become so complex that we recommend that you never contribute until you’ve cleared it with your advisors first.  

The Superannuation Guarantee rate is increasing to 11.0%, effective 1 July 2023  

The tax-deductible cap into super is $27,500 which includes super SG and salary sacrifices. Don’t forget personal super contributions can also be claimed as a deduction but you must have a confirmation from your superannuation fund that they have received and have processed your notice of intent to claim form. Age based limits for those wanting to claim personal super contributions are applicable so discus first with CIA tax.  

The limit for non-deducted superannuation is $110,000 annually or $330,000 for 3 years. Forget about it if over age 75 unless downsizer or employer contributions. Additionally, you must be under the $1.7m super balance cap (except downsizer and employer) and from 1 July 2023, that total super balance cap rises to $1.9M. Again, it’s one to discuss with your superannuation fund advisors or discus the caps with CIA tax.  

To claim deductions this tax year super needs to be paid WELL before June 30 (Now!)   In many cases you should contribute when appropriate for example, an average earner saves around 20% of tax on their contribution so even if they put the money into the safe cash option of the fund, they have already had one great investment year!   However, if you are on the younger side or burdened with a lot of debt then speak to us about doing the tax effective numbers to super contributions before you get to excited.   

Make larger super contributions when you haven’t used all your concessional cap in earlier years. Unused cap amounts can be carried forward for up to five years before they expire. 2018/19 was the first financial year you could accrue unused cap amounts. To be eligible to make catch-up CCs, your total super balance at the prior 30 June must be below $500,000.  

Superannuation Co-contributions for super is something you should still DO. Up to a 50% matching rate on up to $1,000 of after-tax contributions, so a maximum amount $500 FREE from the ATO into your super!! Income thresholds must be below $57,016 to receive any pro rata bonus.  

Superannuation Pensions remember, you need to have made your annual drawdowns by June 30 it is essential to maintain the tax free status.  

Superannuation Spouse Contribution of $3000 The amount of the offset is 18 per cent of the spouse contribution you make (max. offset of $540) reducing your own tax. Spouse income must be under $37,000 to get the full offset, then it gradually reduces to zero at $40,000. Again, there are always other conditions that effect spouses’ income (reportable amounts) so check with CIA first or your Superfund to avoid disappointment.    

For Investors  

Repairs and maintenance on investment properties?Consider bringing forward so you can enjoy a tax deduction in the current financial year as with all other costs!  

Pre-paying interest Say,on a loan of $300,000 it may cost $15,000 but it could get you up to $7,500 back as a tax refund this year. Discuss with your lender!!    

Made a capital gain?  

During the past year, for example, the sale or part sale of a business (including investments the business has made), shares or a property. If the answer is a ‘yes’ then you should be thinking about your options for managing the CGT liability.   Start by looking for capital losses to sell down to offset the CGT liability (or losses carried forward from prior years) to offset gains – call to discuss.    

Medicare levy surcharge & Private Health Insurance Rebate

For the rates of Medicare levy surcharge that applies or the amount of rebate you are entitled to see the rebate and surcharge levels applicable are:

https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Medicare-and-private-health-insurance/Medicare-levy-surcharge/Medicare-levy-surcharge-income,-thresholds-and-rates/

Single parents and couples (including de facto couples) are subject to family tiers. For families with children, the thresholds are increased by $1,500 for each child after the first.    

Book a time.  

No newsletter can ever contain or explain the full tax benefits to an individual’s circumstances so if you have any tax concerns reach out ASAP and we’ll bring the tax deducting expertise.  

CIA tax TV  

Watch our weekly MONEY series on Ticker Tv – by following CIA tax on YOUTUBE to stay right up to date https://youtube.com/c/CIATaxDrStevenEnticott  

Carbon Landscapes  

Is CIA’s supported climate positive corporate social responsibility project and we encourage everyone to support our awareness efforts by becoming free members (or take on a greater involvement)  www.carbonlandscapes.com.au