{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1", "title": "Business Tax & Money House – blog", "home_page_url": "https://btmh.com.au/blog/", "feed_url": "https://btmh.com.au/feed.json", "description": "Business Tax & Money House (BTMH) is a Bondi Junction accounting and tax firm offering tax, business, accounting, SMSF and growth advisory services.", "language": "en-AU", "icon": "https://btmh.com.au/apple-icon.png", "favicon": "https://btmh.com.au/icon.png", "authors": [ { "name": "Business Tax & Money House", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/" } ], "items": [ { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/director-penalties/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/director-penalties/", "title": "Director penalties: when a company's tax debt becomes yours", "summary": "How a director becomes personally liable for a company's unpaid PAYG withholding, GST or super, what a director penalty notice is, and what to do if one arrives. Registered tax agents in Bondi Junction.", "content_text": "The point of a company is that its debts are its own. A supplier who is not paid sues the company, not you, and if there is nothing there, that is where it ends.\n\nTax debts are the exception. Three of them can be taken out of a director personally, and the mechanism for doing it is the **director penalty notice**.\n\n## The three debts that reach you\n\n- **PAYG withholding** – the tax the company withheld from wages and did not send on\n- **GST** – added to the regime in April 2020\n- **[Super guarantee charge](https://btmh.com.au/what-is-superannuation-guarantee/)** – what an unpaid or late super obligation becomes\n\nThe logic is the same in each case: this is money that was withheld from someone else, or owed to an employee's retirement savings, rather than the company's own money to spend on cash flow. Parliament has taken the view that a director who uses it as working capital should wear it.\n\nEverything else a company owes the ATO – income tax, for instance – stays with the company.\n\n## How a notice arrives, and why the address matters\n\nA director penalty notice is posted to the address ASIC holds for you as a director. Not your accountant, not the company's trading address, not where you actually live if those have drifted apart.\n\n**The 21 days run from the date on the notice, not from the day you read it.** A notice sent to an address you left three years ago is still effective, and the clock has been running the whole time it sat in someone else's letterbox. This is the single most common way directors lose their options, and it is entirely preventable: keep your details current with ASIC. Our post on [director ID](https://btmh.com.au/director-id/) covers the related obligations.\n\n## What happens next depends on what was reported\n\nBroadly, there are two situations.\n\n**Where the company reported its obligations on time**, a director generally still has choices when a notice arrives: pay the debt, or put the company into voluntary administration, small business restructuring or liquidation within the 21 days.\n\n**Where it did not report**, those choices generally close, and paying the amount is usually the only way to remove the liability. Appointing an administrator at that point does not undo it.\n\nThat is the shape of it. The detail – what counts as reporting on time, which deadline applies to which debt, and what happens in between – differs by debt type and has changed more than once. Super in particular works differently again since payday super started on **1 July 2026**. Whether options remain in a specific case turns on dates, so it is not something to work out from a web page.\n\nThe practical consequence is worth stating plainly, though: **lodging on time protects you even when you cannot pay.** A BAS lodged without payment keeps your options open. The same BAS left unlodged closes them, and does so quietly, months before anyone sends you anything.\n\n## If you are becoming a director\n\nTaking on a directorship means taking on what is already there. A new director can generally become liable for obligations that arose before their appointment, after a grace period of about a month from being appointed.\n\nBefore you sign anything, find out whether the company's lodgments are up to date and whether there is unpaid super. Those two questions tell you most of what you need to know, and they are much easier to ask now than to litigate later.\n\n## If you are leaving\n\nResigning does not clear liability for obligations that arose while you were a director. It stops the clock on new ones; it does not rewind it.\n\n## If a notice has arrived\n\nDo not put it aside. Twenty-one days is short, several of the options on the table take time to arrange, and the difference between acting on day 10 and day 22 can be the difference between a company problem and a personal one.\n\nRing us on **(02) 9386 0500** or [get in touch](https://btmh.com.au/contact/). If you are behind on lodgments or super and no notice has arrived yet, that is a much better time to call – there is more that can be done before a notice than after one.\n\nThis page explains how the regime works in general terms. It is not advice on your situation, and director penalties are an area where the specifics genuinely decide the outcome.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Structure" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/the-new-1000-deduction-and-its-one-trap/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/the-new-1000-deduction-and-its-one-trap/", "title": "The new $1,000 deduction – and its one trap", "summary": "From 2026-27, employees get an automatic $1,000 deduction for work-related expenses, no receipts needed. The catch: claim more than $1,000 and you need records for all of it.", "content_text": "From this tax year – **2026-27**, the year that started on 1 July 2026 – employees get something new: an automatic $1,000 deduction for work-related expenses. It does not apply to the 2025-26 return you may be lodging now. No receipts, no logbook – it just applies. Sounds like less admin for everyone, and mostly it is. But there’s one catch that trips people up.\n\n- **Who it’s for:** Australian residents earning salary and wages. It doesn’t cover dividend or business income.\n- **If you earn less than $1,000 in labour income**, the deduction is capped at that amount.\n- **Union fees, professional memberships, and anything non-work-related** donations, rental deductions, super contributions, income protection, the cost of managing your tax affairs – can still be claimed on top or stay unaffected either way, as long as you’ve got the records. The $1,000 itself is meant to cover everyday work costs: things like work gear, mobile phone use, and working-from-home expenses.\n\nHere’s the trap: if your actual work-related expenses come to **more than $1,000**, you need records for _all_ of them – not just the amount over $1,000. Claim $1,400 with receipts for only $300 of it, and the rest is exposed if the ATO asks.\n\nThis is exactly the kind of call BTMH makes for clients each year – take the automatic $1,000 and skip the paperwork, or claim the actual expenses because they’re genuinely higher, and keep records to back the whole claim, not just the extra.\n\n**Not sure which side of that line you’re on?** Ask BTMH before you lodge.\n\n📞 (02) 9386 0500 | [Get in touch](https://btmh.com.au/contact/)\n\n_General information only – your circumstances may vary, talk to BTMH before relying on this._", "date_published": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/hf_20260916_053626_20915797-c7bc-4184-a858-2e7a687cf102.png", "tags": [ "Uncategorized" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/is-your-business-ready/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/is-your-business-ready/", "title": "Is your business ready? The ATO is watching closer in 2026", "summary": "Industry benchmarks, contractors, shareholder loans, trust distributions and company car FBT: what the ATO is checking in 2026, and why clean records matter.", "content_text": "###### Is your business ready? The ATO is watching closer in 2026\n\nThe ATO can now see your bank transactions, contractor payments, even income from Uber or Airbnb – all cross-checked automatically. If something in your numbers doesn’t quite add up, there’s a good chance it’ll get noticed. Here’s what’s under the spotlight this year, and how we help you stay ahead of it.\n\n###### **Does your business “look normal” for your industry?**\n\nThe ATO compares your numbers against similar businesses – same industry, similar size. If yours stand out too much, that’s often enough to raise a flag.\n\n**How BTMH helps:** We know what “normal” looks like for your industry, and we review your numbers before the ATO does – so nothing catches you off guard later.\n\n###### **Are your contractors really contractors?**\n\nSame hours, same tools, same boss – just paid differently. It sounds harmless, but the ATO can spot that pattern pretty easily these days.\n\n**How BTMH helps:** We take a look at how your contractors are set up and tell you honestly whether it would hold up – and if not, we help you get it right.\n\n###### **Running a company or trust? Your loans and distributions are getting extra attention.**\n\nThis year, shareholder loans and how trust profits are shared out are under closer review than usual.\n\n**How BTMH helps:** We make sure everything’s properly documented and genuinely meets the requirements, well before it becomes an issue.\n\n###### **Got a company car? FBT shouldn’t be an afterthought.**\n\nIf it’s not tracked properly through the year, it can turn into an unwelcome surprise at tax time.\n\n**How BTMH helps:** We keep on top of it throughout the year, so there’s no last-minute scramble.\n\n###### **So what does this all mean for you?**\n\nSimply put – “close enough” doesn’t really cut it anymore. Clean, well-documented numbers are your best protection, and they also mean you’re claiming everything you’re genuinely entitled to. If you’re lodging your own business tax return, the deadline is 31 October. But if you’re with a registered tax agent like BTMH, you may have more time – as long as you’re on our books before that date.\n\n**Let’s go through your numbers together well ahead of any deadline, so there are no surprises later. Talk to BTMH now.**\n\n_This is general information, not personal tax advice – get in touch and we’ll look at your specific situation._", "date_published": "2026-09-03T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/ChatGPT-Image-Sep-3-2026-12_16_00-PM.png", "tags": [ "Business Structure", "Financial Compliance" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/how-to-calculate-gst/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/how-to-calculate-gst/", "title": "How to calculate GST: why you divide by 11, not 10", "summary": "GST is 10% of the price before GST – so to find the GST in a total you divide by 11, not take 10% off. Worked examples both ways, and the mistake that costs you money.", "content_text": "GST is **10% of the price before GST** – not 10% of the price your customer pays. That distinction sounds like hair-splitting and it is not. Getting it backwards is the most common arithmetic mistake in Australian small business, and it quietly costs you money on every invoice.\n\n- **Adding GST**: Multiply by **1.1**. A $500 job invoices at $550.\n- **Finding the GST in a total**: Divide by **11**. The GST inside $550 is $50.\n- **Stripping GST out**: Divide by **1.1**. The income inside $550 is $500.\n\n## Going up: adding GST to your price\n\nYou want $500 for the job. GST is 10% of that:\n\n- Your price: **$500**\n- GST: $500 × 10% = **$50**\n- What you invoice: **$550**\n\nStraightforward, and this is the direction everyone gets right.\n\n## Coming down: finding the GST inside a total\n\nNow reverse it. You have a $550 invoice and need to know how much belongs to the ATO. It is **not** 10% of $550:\n\n- GST: $550 ÷ 11 = **$50**\n- Yours to keep: **$500**\n\nThe divisor is **11**, not 10, because $550 is 110% of your price. The GST is one part in eleven of the total – 9.09% of it, not 10%.\n\n## The mistake, and what it costs\n\nTake 10% off the total instead: $550 less 10% is $495. That makes the GST look like $55.\n\nBut the GST is $50. So you would:\n\n- hand the ATO **$5 more than you owe**\n- record **$5 less income** than you actually earned\n\nNote which way that runs. It is an error that costs *you*, not the ATO – which is exactly why nobody comes to correct it. An underpayment gets a letter; an overpayment sits there quietly forever.\n\nAcross a quarter of invoices it is roughly **0.9% of everything you invoice**, given away for nothing.\n\n## Why it matters beyond the arithmetic\n\nThe same one-eleventh explains a question every business near the threshold asks: if you register for GST and hold your prices, you do not lose 10% of your revenue – you lose **9.09%**, because you are giving up one-eleventh of what you already charge rather than adding 10% on top.\n\nTwo different numbers describing the same change from opposite ends. It is also why a backdated GST registration hurts so much: you owe one-eleventh of everything you invoiced before registering, out of your own pocket, because you never charged it.\n\n## Not every sale carries GST\n\nBefore any of the arithmetic applies, the supply has to be taxable in the first place. Two categories are commonly confused, and getting them the wrong way round distorts every statement:\n\n- **GST-free** – most basic food, most medical and health services, most education. You charge no GST, and you still claim credits on related purchases.\n- **Input-taxed** – residential rent and most financial supplies. You charge no GST, and you **cannot** claim credits on the related expenses.\n\nThe difference is entirely in that second half. Both look identical on an invoice; only one lets you recover what you spent.\n\n**Exports are GST-free too**, and that is the good category to be in. You charge your overseas customer no GST and still claim back the GST on everything you bought to make the sale – so an exporter is often in a refund position rather than a paying one, quarter after quarter.\n\nThe conditions matter. Exported goods generally have to leave Australia within 60 days of the earlier of payment or invoice, and services supplied to overseas customers have their own tests. Get it wrong and a sale you treated as GST-free becomes a taxable one you never charged for.\n\n## On your expenses, check before you divide\n\nThe same ÷ 11 gives you the GST credit on what you buy – but **only if there was GST there to begin with**, and often there is not. Dividing every expense by 11 invents credits you are not entitled to.\n\nTwo reasons an invoice may carry no GST:\n\n- **The supplier is not registered.** Below $75,000 turnover registration is optional, so plenty of sole traders, contractors and small suppliers are not registered. Their invoice has no GST in it, whatever the amount looks like.\n- **The supply itself is GST-free or input-taxed.** Bank fees and interest, residential rent, most basic food, many medical and health services. No GST is charged, so none can be claimed.\n\n**So read the invoice.** A valid tax invoice states the GST amount, or says the total includes GST, and shows the supplier's ABN. If it says neither – or there is no ABN – treat it as carrying no GST rather than assuming. ABN Lookup will confirm whether a supplier is registered.\n\nFor anything over **$82.50 including GST**, you need a valid tax invoice to claim the credit at all.\n\n>\n> Note which direction this error runs. Miscalculating your sales makes you overpay, and nobody tells you. Over-claiming credits on purchases underpays – and that one the ATO does come looking for.\n\n## Where this usually goes wrong in practice\n\nRarely in a single calculation. It goes wrong in the systems around it:\n\n- **Invoice templates** set up to add a \"10% GST\" line to a total that already includes GST\n- **Spreadsheets** that strip GST with `×0.9` instead of `÷1.1`\n- **Cash sales** entered as gross in one place and net in another, so the two never reconcile\n\nSoftware gets this right when it is set up right. The errors we see are almost always configuration, not arithmetic – which is why they persist for quarters at a time rather than being caught on the next invoice.\n\nIf your BAS never quite reconciles to your accounts, this is the first thing worth checking. It is also the sort of thing that stops happening once someone else is doing the [bookkeeping](https://btmh.com.au/services/bookkeeping/) on a proper cycle.\n\n## The short version\n\n- **Add GST:** × 1.1\n- **GST inside a total:** ÷ 11\n- **Price before GST:** ÷ 1.1\n- **Never** take 10% off a GST-inclusive total\n\n>\n> Not sure your BAS reconciles, or think this may have been wrong for a while? [Talk to us](https://btmh.com.au/contact/) – correcting it voluntarily is treated very differently from waiting for the ATO to find it. See our [GST and BAS](https://btmh.com.au/services/gst-and-bas/) service for what that involves.", "date_published": "2026-09-01T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/assets/blog/how-to-calculate-gst.webp", "tags": [ "Taxes", "Tips" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/starting-contractor-business/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/starting-contractor-business/", "title": "Starting out as a contractor: what you actually need", "summary": "Going contracting? You probably need nothing more than a sole trader ABN. What to register, when GST kicks in, why the person paying you may owe your super, and when it is time for a company.", "content_text": "There is a lot of advice online about setting a business up properly – structures, trusts, forecasts, entities holding shares in other entities. Almost none of it applies if what you are doing is picking up contracting work on site.\n\nYou are not building a company. You are selling your labour to whoever needs it this month. The setup for that is genuinely small, and paying for anything more elaborate at this stage is money that could have gone into tools.\n\n## A sole trader ABN is almost certainly enough\n\nApply for an ABN as a sole trader. It is free, it takes minutes, and you quote it on every invoice. You keep using your own tax file number, and the business income goes in the business section of your ordinary tax return.\n\nYou do not need a company. A company costs money to set up and several hundred dollars a year to keep, and it buys you protection you mostly do not need yet – you have no employees, no stock, and nobody extending you credit. If that changes, so does the answer, and it is easy enough to change then.\n\n## But check you are actually a contractor\n\nHaving an ABN does not make you a contractor – and [the distinction is worth getting right](https://btmh.com.au/employee-vs-contractor-how-to-get-it-right-in-2025/). If you work set hours for one builder, use their tools, take their direction and cannot send someone else in your place, you are an employee in the eyes of the law regardless of what the paperwork says and regardless of what you both agreed.\n\nThat matters to you, not just to them. Employees get super, leave, workers compensation cover and notice. Contractors get none of it and have to arrange their own.\n\n## The one nearly everyone misses: super\n\nEven as a genuine contractor, **if your contract is wholly or principally for your labour, the person paying you has to pay your superannuation.** It does not matter that you invoiced them with an ABN.\n\nThis catches an enormous number of people in construction, on both sides. If you supply mainly your own labour rather than a result plus materials and plant, ask about super before you agree a rate – and if you have been contracting for a while without it, it is worth a conversation about what you may be owed.\n\n## GST, once you get busy\n\nRegister for GST once your turnover reaches **$75,000**, which on full-time rates does not take long. From then on you add 10% to your invoices, claim back the GST on your tools, fuel and materials, and lodge a BAS each quarter.\n\nYou can register before you reach it. Many contractors do, because the credits on tools and a vehicle are worth having and most of the people paying you are registered anyway. [How GST works and how to calculate it](https://btmh.com.au/how-to-calculate-gst/) covers the arithmetic – including why you divide by 11 rather than taking 10% off.\n\n## Tax does not come out automatically any more\n\nNobody is withholding it for you. Put money aside from every payment, because the bill arrives all at once after your first return, and then the ATO puts you on quarterly **PAYG instalments** for the year ahead – which can mean paying last year's tax and this year's instalments in the same period.\n\nSet aside more than feels necessary in year one. That is the year the timing catches people.\n\n## Insurance you will actually be asked for\n\n- **Public liability** – most sites will not let you start without it\n- **Income protection** – if you stop, the money stops. There is no sick leave\n- **Workers compensation does not cover you.** It covers your workers. As a sole trader you are not your own employee, so cover for yourself has to be arranged separately\n- **Tools and vehicle** – worth checking what your home policy does and does not extend to\n\n## Construction has a few of its own\n\nYou will need a **White Card** for any construction site. Building work over the licensing threshold needs a licence in your state, which is separate from anything the ATO asks for.\n\nAnd it is worth knowing that businesses in building and construction report to the ATO every year what they paid each contractor, through the **taxable payments annual report**. Your income is already visible. Declare it properly and this is a non-issue; the people it catches are the ones who assumed cash work was invisible.\n\n## When to stop being a sole trader\n\nCome back to the structure question when any of these become true: you start putting on employees, you take on work where something going wrong could cost more than you have, you begin subcontracting to others, or the profit starts staying in the business rather than funding your living.\n\nUntil then, simple is not a compromise – it is the right answer. If you are building something larger than a one-person trade, [business setup](https://btmh.com.au/services/business-setup/) walks through the whole of it. When that changes, our [business structuring](https://btmh.com.au/services/business-structuring/) page has a short tool that will tell you which way to go, and [the sole trader structure](https://btmh.com.au/the-sole-trader-structure/) covers what you have now in more detail.\n\n>\n> Going out on your own and want ten minutes with someone who has set up a few hundred of these? We are in Bondi Junction and work with clients across Australia.\n>\n>\n> [Book an appointment](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/) · [Get in touch](https://btmh.com.au/contact/)", "date_published": "2026-09-01T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/assets/blog/starting-contractor-business.webp", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Structure" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/the-company-structure/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/the-company-structure/", "title": "The company structure: is it right for you?", "summary": "How a Pty Ltd company works: limited liability, the company tax rate, Division 7A and the three situations where directors are still personally liable.", "content_text": "Most Australian businesses of any size end up in a company, and usually for one reason: it draws a line between the debts of the business and everything you personally own.\n\nThat line is the whole value of the structure, so it is worth understanding precisely – including the places it does not hold, which is where people get caught.\n\n## What a company actually is\n\nA company is a **separate legal person**. It owns the business, signs the contracts, employs the staff, owes the debts and pays its own tax. You do not own the business directly. You own shares in the company that owns it.\n\nTwo roles sit inside that, and in a small business they are usually the same people – but they are legally distinct, and the difference matters when something goes wrong:\n\n- **Directors** run the company and carry the legal duties\n- **Shareholders** own it and receive the dividends\n\nA company also outlives the people in it. Shares can be transferred or inherited and the entity continues, with its contracts, registrations and history intact. Nothing needs to be novated because nothing changed hands except shares.\n\n### Pty Ltd or Ltd?\n\n**Pty Ltd** – proprietary limited – is the private company that nearly every small and medium business uses. It can have up to 50 non-employee shareholders and cannot raise funds from the general public.\n\n**Ltd** is a public company. Far more disclosure, far more cost, and not what you want unless you are raising capital broadly. If someone is describing your situation and says \"company\", they almost certainly mean Pty Ltd.\n\n## What the structure gives you\n\n- **Limited liability**: Creditors reach the company's assets, not yours. This is the main reason to incorporate and usually the one that decides it on its own.\n- **The company tax rate**: 25% in most circumstances, and 30% above $50 million of turnover – against personal marginal rates that reach 47%.\n- **Ownership you can divide**: Shares make each person's stake unambiguous. Bringing someone in, or letting someone out, is a share transaction rather than a renegotiation of the whole business.\n- **Credibility**: Some clients – larger businesses and government especially – will only contract with a company, and some insurers price it differently.\n\nThe tax rate deserves a qualification, because it is the advantage most often misunderstood. It applies to profit the company **retains**. Every dollar left in the business to fund stock, equipment or staff is taxed once at the company rate rather than at your marginal rate, and the difference stays in the business working.\n\nDraw it all out to live on and that particular advantage does not arise – the money is taxed in your hands as it comes out. The liability reasons stand on their own regardless, and for most businesses they are the ones that decide it.\n\n## What it costs you\n\n**Setup and ongoing compliance.** ASIC registration, an annual review fee, a company tax return separate from your own, a share register and minutes of the decisions that need them. None of it is difficult; all of it is a cost that a sole trader does not carry.\n\n**Division 7A.** Money in the company is not simply yours to use. An unrepaid loan to a shareholder or an associate is treated as a dividend and taxed accordingly, which catches people who assumed the company account was another pocket. Drawings need to be planned as wages, dividends or a documented loan on commercial terms – not taken as needed and sorted out afterwards.\n\n**No 50% CGT discount.** A company cannot pass it to its shareholders. Where the plan is to hold something that grows in value and sell it later, a structure that saved tax every year can cost considerably more on the way out. From 1 July 2027 this gap narrows rather than closes: individuals and trusts also lose the 50% discount, replaced by cost-base indexation and a minimum 30% rate on gains for resident individuals, with gains accrued before that date preserved through a deemed disposal. The old rule of thumb – never hold appreciating assets in a company – is worth re-testing on your own numbers rather than assumed.\n\n**Losses are trapped.** They stay in the company and can only be used against its own future profits, and only if it passes the ownership or business continuity tests. A sole trader can sometimes offset a business loss against other income in the same year; a company never can.\n\n## Where a company does not protect you\n\nA company draws the line in most places, but not everywhere. Directors are personally exposed in three situations, and these are the ones that actually catch people.\n\n- **Trading while insolvent.** Incur debts when the company cannot pay them and directors can be made personally liable for those debts. \"I did not look closely at the numbers\" is not a defence – it is closer to the problem.\n- **Unpaid PAYG withholding, GST and super.** The ATO can issue a **Director Penalty Notice** making directors personally liable for these amounts. Superannuation catches people hardest, because unpaid super feels like a cash flow decision and is treated as something much closer to a debt you personally owe.\n- **Personal guarantees.** A landlord, a bank or a large supplier will usually ask for one, and it steps straight past the company. Read what you are signing – a guarantee undoes the protection you paid to establish.\n\n>\n> **Lodging on time is what preserves your options.** Unpaid PAYG, GST and super are the three company debts that can be recovered from a director personally, through a [director penalty notice](https://btmh.com.au/director-penalties/). Which is why lodging a [BAS](https://btmh.com.au/services/gst-and-bas/) you cannot pay is materially better than not lodging it at all.\n\nNone of this makes the company structure a poor one. It makes it a structure that has to be run properly, which is a different thing, and most of the exposure above comes from paperwork left undone rather than from bad luck.\n\n## Setting one up\n\nRegistering a company is quick – the entity, ABN, TFN, and GST and PAYG registrations where they apply. Getting it *right* is about what surrounds it: who the shareholders are, whether a trust should sit above it, and whether the people involved need an agreement between them.\n\n[Business setup](https://btmh.com.au/services/business-setup/) is where we handle the execution, and a [shareholders agreement](https://btmh.com.au/shareholders-agreement/) is worth reading about before you register anything with more than one owner.\n\n## Is a company right for you?\n\nUsually, if you employ people, carry real risk, deal with unrelated partners or reinvest your profit. Often not, if you are on your own, doing low-risk work and drawing everything out to live on.\n\nOur [business structuring](https://btmh.com.au/services/business-structuring/) page has a short tool that will point you one way or the other in about a minute, along with the ownership questions that a form cannot answer. The other structures are covered too – the [sole trader](https://btmh.com.au/the-sole-trader-structure/), the [partnership](https://btmh.com.au/the-partnership-structure/) and [trusts](https://btmh.com.au/the-trust-structure/).\n\n>\n> Deciding whether to incorporate, or wondering whether the company you have is still the right home for the business? We are in Bondi Junction and work with clients across Australia.\n>\n>\n> [Book an appointment](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/) · [Get in touch](https://btmh.com.au/contact/)", "date_published": "2026-09-01T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/assets/blog/the-company-structure.webp", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Structure" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/the-trust-structure/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/the-trust-structure/", "title": "The trust structure: discretionary and unit trusts explained", "summary": "How discretionary and unit trusts work, why the trustee carries the liability, and why trust income has to be distributed every year. Plus what replaces the 50% CGT discount from 1 July 2027.", "content_text": "A trust is not a thing that trades so much as a way of holding something. That distinction sounds academic and turns out to be the practical heart of the structure – it explains the liability, the annual distribution, and most of what people find surprising about trusts after they have one.\n\n## What a trust actually is\n\nThree parts, and each does a specific job:\n\n- The **trustee** holds the assets and is the party that actually enters contracts, employs people and owes the debts\n- The **beneficiaries** are entitled to the income\n- The **deed** is the document that governs all of it\n\nThat third one is easy to underrate. A trust does only what its deed permits. Who can be a beneficiary, what the trustee may distribute, whether the trust can be varied, when it ends – all of it comes from the deed, not from a general rule about trusts. When something in a trust cannot be done, the answer is usually in that document.\n\n## Discretionary trusts\n\nThe trustee decides each year who receives what, within a defined class of beneficiaries – typically a family and entities connected to it. That flexibility is the point: distributions can follow circumstances that change from one year to the next, so income can land where it is taxed most sensibly rather than on one person's return by default.\n\nNobody has a fixed entitlement until the trustee exercises the discretion. That is what makes the structure flexible and also what makes it unsuitable where the parties are unrelated – a person putting money in generally wants a stake nobody can decide against.\n\n## Unit trusts\n\nEntitlements are fixed. Units work like shares: each holder owns a set proportion of income and capital, and the trustee has no discretion to vary it. That is what makes a unit trust workable between unrelated parties, where a discretionary trust is not.\n\nUnits can also be transferred or redeemed, which gives people a defined way in and a defined way out.\n\n## The trustee carries the liability\n\nA trust is not a legal person, so the **trustee** signs the contracts and owes the debts. The trustee has a right to be indemnified out of the trust's assets – but if those assets do not cover it, the trustee pays personally.\n\nSo an **individual trustee** is exposed exactly as a sole trader is. Almost always the trustee should be a **company set up for that purpose and doing nothing else**: it holds no assets of its own, so there is little for a creditor to reach, and the people behind it are not personally on the hook.\n\nThat corporate trustee is an extra company to establish and maintain, and it is usually money well spent. It is a company like any other, though, so the same limits apply – the [places where a company does not protect its directors](https://btmh.com.au/the-company-structure/) apply to a corporate trustee too.\n\n## The income has to go out every year\n\nThis is the part that surprises people, and it is the sharpest practical difference between a trust and a company.\n\nA trust does not generally pay tax itself. Income flows through to whoever is presently entitled to it, and they pay tax on their share at their own rate. But that entitlement has to be created **by 30 June**. Miss it and the trustee is assessed on the undistributed income at the **top marginal rate** – which is an expensive way to find out that a resolution was left until July.\n\nBeneficiaries are taxed on their share whether or not the cash ever reached them, too. Where the money was needed as working capital, that is a familiar and unwelcome conversation. A trust cannot retain profit and pay tax on it at a low rate the way a company can, and if retaining profit is central to the plan, that is a real argument for a company instead.\n\n## The 50% CGT discount is being replaced from 1 July 2027\n\nThis matters more than anything else on this page if the plan involves holding something that grows in value, so it is worth being precise about it.\n\nTwo Acts assented on 26 June 2026 replace the 50% CGT discount for individuals and trusts, for CGT events happening **on or after 1 July 2027**. In its place: **cost-base indexation**, and for resident individuals a **minimum 30% tax rate** on capital gains, with exemptions for recipients of listed social security and veterans' payments. Companies are unaffected, because they never had the discount. Complying superannuation funds keep their one-third discount, which is also untouched.\n\n**Assets you already hold are not simply left alone.** The law deems them sold just before 1 July 2027 and reacquired that day at market value. The gain accrued up to that point is not taxed then – it is deferred until you actually sell, and it keeps the 50% discount and sits outside the 30% minimum rate. Growth after that date gets indexation instead. So the value of the discount on what you own now is preserved and carried forward; what changes is everything the asset earns from 1 July 2027 on. Pre-CGT assets, held since before 1985, are brought into this too.\n\nTwo pieces are still not settled. The carve-out that keeps a 50% discount for **new residential dwellings** depends on a definition the Minister has to make by legislative instrument, and no instrument has been registered yet. The method for apportioning a gain across the changeover, as an alternative to a market valuation at 30 June 2027, is also still in draft – so the default today is a valuation. A further tranche dealing with rollovers, foreign and temporary residents, consolidated groups and AMITs was still in consultation as at August 2026.\n\nThe practical consequence for anyone structuring now: the arithmetic that made a trust the obvious holder of an appreciating asset still holds for gains accrued up to 1 July 2027, and needs redoing for everything after it. If you are in one of the categories in the unfinished tranche, it cannot be settled off the current Act at all. [Talk to us](https://btmh.com.au/contact/) before you commit to a structure on the strength of the old rule.\n\n## What a trust gives you\n\n- **Character survives the trip**: Capital gains, franked dividends and foreign income keep their character on the way to beneficiaries, so the credits and concessions attached to them can actually be used.\n- **The 50% CGT discount reaches people – until 1 July 2027**: A gain made in a trust can reach individual beneficiaries with the discount intact, which a company can never do. That changes for CGT events from 1 July 2027: individuals and trusts lose the 50% discount, replaced by cost-base indexation, with a minimum 30% tax rate on gains for resident individuals. See below – what you already hold is treated differently from what you buy after that date.\n- **Distribution flexibility**: In a discretionary trust, who receives what can follow the year rather than a fixed formula set years earlier.\n- **Asset separation**: Assets held in a trust sit outside the entity that carries the trading risk, which is the basis of most multi-entity structures.\n\n## What it costs you\n\n**Establishment and ongoing compliance.** A deed, usually a corporate trustee to establish and maintain, a trust tax return each year, and distribution resolutions that have to be made properly and on time.\n\n**Losses are trapped, and harder to use than a company's.** A trust cannot distribute a loss. It stays in the trust to be offset against future income, subject to trust loss rules that are meaningfully more complex than the company equivalents.\n\n**It has to be administered.** Trusts are the structure most often found not being run the way the deed says. Resolutions missed, beneficiaries added who were never in the class, distributions recorded after the fact. A trust that is not administered properly does not deliver what it was set up to deliver.\n\n>\n> **Discretionary trusts and capital gains treatment are both affected by the May 2026 Budget.** If a trust is part of what you are planning, or part of what you already have, this is worth checking before anything is settled rather than after.\n\n## Is a trust right for you?\n\nA trust is rarely the answer on its own. It is usually the layer that sits **above** a trading entity – holding the shares in a company, or holding the assets that the trading business uses – rather than the thing that does the work.\n\nThat is a deliberate arrangement rather than a complication: the company carries the risk, the trust holds what you want kept away from it. Whether it is worth doing depends on how much there is to protect and how much complexity you will realistically maintain, and it is premature far more often than people expect.\n\nOur [business structuring](https://btmh.com.au/services/business-structuring/) page works through that, with a short tool for the trading entity decision and the ownership questions worth settling before anything is registered. If it is specifically a [unit trust against a company](https://btmh.com.au/unit-trust-vs-company/) you are weighing, that comparison has a post of its own. The other structures do too – the [sole trader](https://btmh.com.au/the-sole-trader-structure/), the [partnership](https://btmh.com.au/the-partnership-structure/) and the [company](https://btmh.com.au/the-company-structure/).\n\n>\n> Thinking about a trust, or holding one you are not certain is being run the way it should be? We are in Bondi Junction and work with clients across Australia.\n>\n>\n> [Book an appointment](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/) · [Get in touch](https://btmh.com.au/contact/)", "date_published": "2026-09-01T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/assets/blog/the-trust-structure.webp", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Structure" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/unit-trust-vs-company/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/unit-trust-vs-company/", "title": "Unit trust or company? What actually decides it", "summary": "A company can retain profit at the company rate; a unit trust passes the CGT discount and foreign tax offsets through intact. Why foreign tax never becomes a franking credit, and how to choose.", "content_text": "This question comes up whenever the people involved are not related to each other. Both a unit trust and a company give every owner a defined, transferable stake – units in one, shares in the other – so both do the job a discretionary trust cannot, which is to make each person's entitlement fixed and unarguable.\n\nOnce that is settled, the choice between them turns on two things, and they pull in opposite directions: **whether profit can stay in the entity, and whether the character of income survives the trip out to the owners.**\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
CompanyUnit trust
Retaining profitYes – taxed at the company rate and left to reinvestNo – income must be distributed each year
50% CGT discount
(replaced from 1 July 2027)		Lost – a company cannot pass it onFlows through to individual unitholders, for gains accrued to 1 July 2027
Foreign tax paidReduces the company’s own tax, but never becomes a franking creditFlows through as a foreign income tax offset the unitholder can use
Franked dividends receivedCredits sit in the franking account until a dividend is paidCredits flow straight through with the distribution
LossesTrapped in the company, subject to the ownership and business testsTrapped in the trust – they cannot be distributed to unitholders
\n\n## The company can hold on to the money\n\nThis is the company's real advantage. Profit that stays in the business is taxed once at the company rate and can be reinvested from there, with tax at the owner's marginal rate deferred until a dividend is actually paid. Where a business needs working capital – stock, equipment, staff, a bigger site – that deferral is money still working rather than money paid out in tax and put back in afterwards.\n\nA unit trust cannot do that. Income has to be distributed each year, and unitholders are taxed on their share **whether or not the cash ever left the trust**. That is a familiar and unwelcome conversation where the money was needed in the business: a tax bill arrives for income the unitholder never saw.\n\nWorse, missing the distribution is not a neutral outcome. If nobody is presently entitled by 30 June, the trustee is assessed on the undistributed income at the **top marginal rate**. It is not a decision that can be left until the accounts are done in October.\n\n## But everything comes out of a company as a dividend\n\nThat is the cost of the company's separateness, and it is the part that gets underestimated.\n\nA company pays its own tax and then pays dividends. Whatever the income was on the way in – a capital gain, foreign earnings, a franked dividend from somewhere else – it is a dividend on the way out. The credits attached to it are franking credits, and franking credits arise only from **Australian** tax the company has actually paid.\n\n### Foreign tax is where that bites\n\nA company earning foreign income claims a foreign income tax offset against its Australian tax. Sensible in itself – but it means less Australian tax is paid, so less is credited to the franking account.\n\nThe foreign tax does not convert. It reduced the company's bill and then disappeared. The shareholder receives a dividend that is partly or entirely unfranked, taxed again at their marginal rate with nothing to offset it. The tax was genuinely paid, and the owner genuinely cannot use it.\n\nRun the same income through a unit trust and the offset keeps its character all the way to the unitholder, who claims it against their own tax.\n\n### Capital gains behave the same way\n\nA gain made in a company is taxed in full at the company rate – a company cannot access the 50% CGT discount and cannot pass it to shareholders. A gain made in a unit trust reaches individual unitholders with the **discount intact**.\n\nWhere the plan involves holding something that grows in value and selling it later, that single difference can outweigh every year of company-rate advantage that came before it.\n\n**This changes on 1 July 2027.** Legislation assented in June 2026 replaces the 50% discount for individuals and trusts with cost-base indexation, plus a minimum 30% tax rate on gains for resident individuals. Assets held before then are deemed sold and reacquired at market value just before that date, so the gain accrued to that point keeps the discount and is taxed only when you actually sell; growth after it is indexed instead. Companies are unchanged – they never had the discount to lose.\n\nSo the comparison above still describes gains accrued up to 1 July 2027, and needs to be redone for anything after. Some of the detail is also unfinished: the \"new residential dwelling\" carve-out awaits a definition by legislative instrument, and a further tranche covering rollovers, foreign residents, consolidated groups and AMITs was still in consultation in August 2026. Worth [advice on your own facts](https://btmh.com.au/contact/) rather than a rule of thumb.\n\n>\n> In short: **a company suits profit that stays in the business**, and **a unit trust suits income whose character is worth preserving** – capital gains, foreign income, or franked dividends being passed along. Where a business does both, that is usually an argument for more than one entity rather than a compromise between them.\n\n## Before you settle on either\n\nCapital gains treatment is affected by the **May 2026 Budget**, and so are discretionary trusts if one is part of the wider structure. That makes this a bad year to settle an entity choice on last year's rules.\n\nIt is also worth remembering that this is only the question of what the business trades through and who holds it. Who ultimately owns the units or the shares is a separate decision, and usually the more consequential one – a trust above a company changes the tax, the protection and what happens on a sale.\n\nOur [business structuring](https://btmh.com.au/services/business-structuring/) page works through that, including a short tool for the trading entity decision and an ownership checklist for the part no questionnaire can answer. The individual structures have their own posts too – the [company](https://btmh.com.au/the-company-structure/), [trusts](https://btmh.com.au/the-trust-structure/), the [sole trader](https://btmh.com.au/the-sole-trader-structure/) and the [partnership](https://btmh.com.au/the-partnership-structure/).\n\n>\n> Weighing a unit trust against a company, or holding one and wondering whether it is still the right vehicle? We are in Bondi Junction and work with clients across Australia.\n>\n>\n> [Book an appointment](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/) · [Get in touch](https://btmh.com.au/contact/)", "date_published": "2026-09-01T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/assets/blog/unit-trust-vs-company.webp", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Structure" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/director-id-reporting-changes-are-coming-from-1-july-2027/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/director-id-reporting-changes-are-coming-from-1-july-2027/", "title": "Director ID reporting changes are coming from 1 July 2027", "summary": "Companies will need to give ASIC director IDs for annual reviews, appointments, removals and detail changes. What to have ready.", "content_text": "**From 1 July 2027, companies will need to provide director IDs to ASIC as part of some company updates.**\n\nThis may include:\n\n- annual company reviews;\n- appointing a new director;\n- removing a director;\n- updating director details.\n\n**What is a director ID?**\n\nA director ID is a unique number given to a company director. A director keeps the same number for life, even if they become a director of another company. Once you have your director ID, you can view, update and manage your details online at any time by visiting **abrs.gov.au.**\n\n**Do you need to do anything now?**\n\nNo. There is no action required yet – but if you think of becoming a Director, it’s worth applying now. However, ASIC recommends checking that all director details are correct and up to date.\n\nThis includes:\n\n- full name;\n- address;\n- date of birth; and\n- contact details.\n\nIf a director’s details have changed since they received their director ID, they should update them with ABRS.\n\n**Why is this important?**\n\nThe details held by ASIC and ABRS should match. This will help avoid delays or problems when the new rules start. ASIC will provide more information before **1 July 2027**. Need help checking or updating your company details? **Contact the BTMH team.**", "date_published": "2026-07-21T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/hf_20260721_043232_6de66840-7368-4cd2-acf1-4d7f15bfffe2.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Structure", "Financial Compliance", "News" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/buying-a-house-through-your-super-the-rules-just-changed/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/buying-a-house-through-your-super-the-rules-just-changed/", "title": "Buying a house through your super? The rules just changed!", "summary": "From 10 August 2026 an SMSF can no longer borrow to buy residential property. What your fund can still do, and what it means if you were mid-plan.", "content_text": "If you’ve ever thought about using your **self managed super fund** to buy an investment property, there’s a new deadline you need to know about. **From 10 August 2026,** SMSFs will no longer be able to borrow money to buy residential property – houses, units, anything you’d live in or rent out. Your fund can still buy one after that date, just not with a loan. Loans will still be allowed for commercial property used in a business.\n\nWhat matters is the date you sign the contract, not settlement. Sign before 10 August 2026 and you’re covered under the old rules. Sign after, and borrowing for a residential property isn’t an option anymore. If your SMSF already has a property loan, this doesn’t touch you – it keeps running as normal, and you can still refinance.\n\nFor anyone considering this option who hasn’t yet begun the process: establishing an SMSF, setting up a Bare Trust, securing finance, and signing a contract all need to occur before 10 August.\n\nThis article is general information only and does not take into account your individual circumstances. Please speak with **BTMH team** before entering into any arrangement.", "date_published": "2026-07-13T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/hf_20260713_031513_32146712-67a3-4227-865d-dddce7df7fed.png", "tags": [ "News", "Superannuation" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/new-aml-ctf-rules-what-do-they-mean-for-btmh-clients/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/new-aml-ctf-rules-what-do-they-mean-for-btmh-clients/", "title": "New AML/CTF rules. What do they mean for BTMH Clients?", "summary": "From 1 July 2026 accountants must verify client identity for certain services. What we will ask you for, and why we now have to.", "content_text": "From **1 July 2026**, new Australian Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) laws apply to certain services provided by accountants and advisers. As part of these requirements, BTMH may need to complete identity verification **(Know your Customer / KYC)** checks before providing some services.\n\n**Are tax return / tax advice services affected?**\n\nNo, provision of tax service, including tax returns, is not affected, unless it comes with preparation of the documents that would implement corporate restructure.\n\n**What BTMH services are affected?**\n\nMainly, these services would relate to financial products, and us holding money on your behalf. These would mainly include:\n\n- Setting up a Company, or assisting in any transfers of shares, or changes to Directors and Secretaries\n- Providing service of a Registered Office for a company\n\n**How it works?**\n\n1. We ask for the required documents or information, e.g. your driver license, passport etc. – for all stakeholders, e.g. Directors, Secretaries, shareholders, trustees, beneficiaries and authorised representatives\n2. We may need to drill down to the ultimate beneficiary holders, if there is a complex structure\n3. We verify what you’ve provided, and run other checks, e.g. PEP, adverse media and others\n4. We may also enquire about source of funds / source of wealth\n5. We complete our AML/CTF assessment\n6. Once verified, we proceed with the requested service. If we cannot identify everyone and assess their AML risk (very rare scenario), we may need to refuse the engagement\n\nFor services covered by the new laws, we may not be able to start work until checks are complete – so providing information promptly helps avoid delays.\n\n**I’m an existing client – do I need to do this too?**\n\nPossibly, yes, but only if you request one of the Designated Services. This is an ongoing obligation under the legislation.\n\n**Your information is protected.**\n\nInformation collected for AML/CTF purposes is handled under Australian privacy law and our internal data security procedures, with access restricted to authorised BTMH staff and approved service providers where verification requires it.\n\nGet in touch with your **BTMH adviser** if you’re unsure whether this applies to you or want to know what’s needed in advance.", "date_published": "2026-07-10T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/BLOG_INDENTITY-CHECK.png", "tags": [ "News" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/working-from-home-deduction-what-the-70c-rate-actually-means/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/working-from-home-deduction-what-the-70c-rate-actually-means/", "title": "Working from home deduction: what the 70c rate actually means", "summary": "70c an hour already covers power, gas, internet, phone and stationery, so you cannot claim those again. What you can still claim, and the records to keep.", "content_text": "**Working from home?** You can claim related costs as a cents-per-hour worked method. ATO allows a claim of 70c per hour worked from home. Here’s how it works and where people go wrong.\n\n**What’s included in the 70c**\nThe rate covers four things and only four: electricity and gas, home and mobile internet or data, home and mobile phone usage, and stationery and computer consumables. It does **not** cover occupancy costs – rent, mortgage interest, house insurance, rates. Those are a separate question, and for most employees they are not deductible at all; where a home genuinely is a place of business they can be, but that also puts part of the main residence CGT exemption at risk, so it is worth advice before claiming any of it. If you claim the 70c rate, you cannot claim any of those expenses separately, the ATO treats them as already included. Claiming your internet bill on top is not allowed. You can claim your mobile phone for portion used outside of home, e.g. during client visits.\n\n**What’s not included and can be claimed separately:** Asset depreciation is not covered by the 70c rate. You can claim the work-use portion of:\n\n- Laptop or desktop computer\n- Monitor\n- Desk and chair (if over $300; under $300 is an immediate deduction)\n- Repairs to home office equipment\n- Cleaning of a dedicated office space\n\nSo 1,150 hours × $0.70 = $805 from the fixed rate. Add depreciation on a $1,200 laptop and a $400 chair and you’re looking at another $450 or so on top of that.\n\n**Record-keeping requirements:** The ATO no longer accepts estimates. Since **1 March 2023** you need a contemporaneous record of every hour worked from home – a spreadsheet, calendar entries, a timesheet. The representative four-week diary was accepted only up to 28 February 2023; for 2023-24 and every year since, it has to be the whole year. An end-of-year reconstruction won’t hold up. You also need to keep at least one bill for each expense type covered by the rate (one electricity statement, one internet invoice, one phone bill) to show you actually incurred the costs.\n\nIf you’re not sure which method suits your situation, or whether your records are in order before you lodge, call us on **02 9386 0500** or get in touch with the **[BTMH team](https://btmh.com.au/services/tax-returns/).**", "date_published": "2026-06-05T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/iStock-1603297158-ai-modified-4956e8dd-ef06-4ad9-9a6d-881bb4ce020f-scaled.jpg", "tags": [ "Individual Tax Return", "Tax Returns", "Taxes" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/has-your-business-crossed-a-gst-threshold-heres-what-changes-from-1-july-2026/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/has-your-business-crossed-a-gst-threshold-heres-what-changes-from-1-july-2026/", "title": "Has your business crossed a GST threshold? Here’s what changes from 1 July 2026", "summary": "The ATO now moves businesses onto the right GST reporting method automatically. If your turnover fell below $75,000 you can cancel or simplify before it does.", "content_text": "#### If your GST turnover has dropped below the $75,000 threshold, you may be eligible to cancel GST registration or move to simpler reporting options from 1 July. From 1 July 2026, the ATO will automatically move businesses to the correct GST reporting method. You can also make the switch yourself before that happens. **What is changing?**\n\n#### $10 million or more – full BAS reporting is required instead of simpler BAS, and GST must be accounted for on a non-cash (accruals) basis. You’ll also need to complete all GST labels on your BAS, rather than only reporting totals at G1, 1A and 1B. $20 million or more – monthly GST reporting is required instead of quarterly. This also affects wine equalisation tax, luxury car tax and fuel tax credit reporting – all of which will also move to monthly. **The way we explain it to our clients**\n\n#### Cash accounting reports GST when money is actually received or paid. Accrual accounting reports GST when invoices are issued, regardless of when payment is received. If your business is growing, it’s worth regularly checking your GST turnover, your current reporting method, and whether your BAS frequency is still correct. You can update your settings through [ATO Online Services for Business](https://onlineservices.ato.gov.au/business/BusinessLogin.html) – no need to wait for the ATO to do it for you.\n\n#### Not sure where your business sits? Our [Business Service](https://btmh.com.au/#services) team can help you work through it.", "date_published": "2026-06-01T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_GST-threshold.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Taxes" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/fbt-2026-how-we-approach-it-with-clients/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/fbt-2026-how-we-approach-it-with-clients/", "title": "FBT 2026 – how we approach it with clients", "summary": "Before anything is lodged, the question is which employee-related expenses exist and whether they create an FBT liability at all. Our process, step by step.", "content_text": "Before lodging electronically, FBT, the key step is to confirm **what employee-related expenses exist and whether they create an FBT obligation**. This is how we approach it with clients.\n\n#### **1\\. Gather and review employee-related expenses**\n\nWe start by identifying expenses that may relate to employees.\n\nIn practice, we focus on areas where FBT exposure most often sits:\n\n- vehicle costs where a car is available for private use\n- reimbursements or payments covering personal expenses\n- benefits provided outside payroll\n- travel & entertainment\n\nFor each item, the key is to confirm what it actually represents, link it to an employee where relevant, and assess whether there is a private benefit involved.\n\nThis is where FBT exposure is identified.\n\n#### **2\\. Confirm your FBT position**\n\nOnce those items are reviewed, the next step is to make a clear call.\n\nEither:\n\n- an FBT liability applies – you must register and lodge FBT return\n- or a nil return is appropriate if you are registered\n\nEven where nothing obvious appears, this step should still be completed before lodgment.\n\n#### **Where we focus our time**\n\nEnsuring compliance with FBT is about identifying the right items and confirming how they should be treated.\n\n**Need a second review?**\n\nIf you’d like a second view before lodgment, we can go through your accounts and confirm your FBT position.", "date_published": "2026-05-25T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-PAYDAY-SUPER-POST-NR-3.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Taxes" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/federal-budget-2026-27-what-it-means-for-your-business/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/federal-budget-2026-27-what-it-means-for-your-business/", "title": "FEDERAL BUDGET 2026-27: What it means for your business", "summary": "The $20,000 instant asset write-off is now permanent, and there is more in this Budget affecting how you structure and run a business.", "content_text": "The Federal Budget has landed – and there’s quite a bit in it that affects how you run and structure your business. Here’s what you need to know, and what you should be thinking about right now.\n\n**$20,000 instant asset write-off is now permanent**\n\nThe temporary $20,000 instant asset write-off will become permanent – that means it will apply to all future years, and you don’t need to rush with the acquisition, unless you want to catch the deduction this year.\n\n**Loss carry-back returns**\n\nCompanies with global turnover under $1 billion can now carry a tax loss back and offset it against tax paid in the prior two income years – and receive a refund. This is a genuine cash flow lifeline for businesses that had a tough year. We have seen that before (during COVID) and assume the same rules will apply. More to come.\n\n**Discretionary trusts – major change coming in 2028**\n\nFrom 1 July 2028, a minimum 30% tax will apply to all distributions from discretionary trusts. Distributions to a company will effectively be double-taxed. A roll-over relief window runs from 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2030, giving you time to restructure – for example, into a company. We’ll be working closely with clients on new structures that protect assets while maintaining tax efficiency.\n\n**[R&D Tax Incentive](https://btmh.com.au/rnd-tax/) tightened from 2028**\n\nFrom 1 July 2028, the R&DTI program will focus on higher-value activities only. The turnover threshold for refundable offsets rises from $20M to $50M, and supporting R&D expenditure will no longer be eligible.\n\n**EVs in salary packaging**\n\nThe full FBT exemption for electric vehicles under salary packaging ends 1 April 2029. A discounted rate will apply after that date. We’ll keep you posted as further details emerge.\n\n**What to do next?**\n\nIf you derive income in a trust, you will have some time to rethink your structure, and implement changes. There will also be implications to your business exit strategy, due to CGT changes. We are sure this will be a hot topic in the coming months, and new resolutions will appear as we see the details emerging.", "date_published": "2026-05-19T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-federal-budget1.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Growth", "Business Structure", "Financial Compliance", "Loans", "Taxes" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/federal-budget-2026-27-what-it-means-for-your-personal-finances/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/federal-budget-2026-27-what-it-means-for-your-personal-finances/", "title": "Federal Budget 2026–27: What it means for your personal finances", "summary": "Tax cuts, and real changes for investors, especially anyone holding an investment property. What is in it, and where you may need to act.", "content_text": "Every budget brings change – but this one has some real bite for investors, especially owners of investment properties. Here’s what the 2026–27 Federal Budget means for your personal finances, and where you might need to act.\n\n**Tax cuts – more money in your pocket**\n\nThe tax rate on income between $18,201 and $45,000 drops to 15% from 1 July 2026, and again to 14% from 1 July 2027. That’s a saving of $286 per year – and that’s the best news we have for you.\n\n**Capital Gains Tax – a significant shift**\n\nFrom 1 July 2027, the 50% CGT discount will no longer apply to most assets. Indexation will apply instead, but a minimum 30% tax rate on capital gains applies regardless. Importantly, pre-CGT assets sold after 30 June 2027 will be subject to CGT for the first time. If you’re holding assets with this in mind, it’s worth reviewing your position before that date.\n\nInvestors in new residential property can still access the 50% discount.\n\n**Negative gearing – it depends on when you bought**\n\nProperties purchased before 12 May 2026 – negative gearing continues as normal. New investments in existing dwellings – negative gearing is available until 30 June 2027 only. New dwellings – negative gearing remains available. If you no longer qualify for negative gearing, losses carry forward and can offset future rental income or capital gains.\n\n**EVs in salary packaging**\n\nIf your employer offers electric vehicles as part of a salary package, the full FBT exemption ends 1 April 2029. A discounted rate will apply after that. More detail to come – we’ll keep you updated.\n\nTax, property, and investment planning just got more complicated – but that doesn’t mean your decisions have to be. If any of these changes have you wondering what to do next, we’re here to help you get the grasp of it.", "date_published": "2026-05-19T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-PAYDAY-SUPER-POST-NR-2.png", "tags": [ "Individual Tax Return", "News", "Tax Payments", "Tax Returns", "Taxes" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/fuel-response-payment-plan/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/fuel-response-payment-plan/", "title": "Fuel Response Payment Plan – our approach to assessing if you qualify", "summary": "Not a grant, but an ATO payment arrangement for tax you already owe. How we assess whether deferring genuinely helps, starting from the cause not the debt.", "content_text": "> **The fuel response payment plan has closed.** Applications ran from 1 April 2026\n> to **30 June 2026** and it is no longer available. The post is kept because the way we\n> assess these cases has not changed – see \"What to do now that it has closed\" at the\n> end for the options that remain, including a change to interest deductibility that\n> makes deferring a tax debt more expensive than it used to be.\n\n## **Fuel Response Payment Plan – our approach to assessing if you qualify**\n\nFuel Response Payment Plan is not a grant – it’s a fuel-related ATO payment arrangement for the taxes you owe, but in some cases, deferring the payment is a significant help itself. To get it, you had to show that your costs were significantly dependent on fuel costs.\n\n## **Start with the cause – not the debt**\n\nOur recommendation is to start with what created the tax position. The test is:\n\n**Would your business be able to meet its tax obligations if fuel costs hadn’t increased?**\n\nIn practice, ATO looks for a clear link between fuel or transport-related cost increases and the business’s ability to pay.\n\nIt’s usually granted for 36 months. If you will have difficulties paying, we recommend you are upfront with the ATO, and call them before you default on any payments.\n\n## What to do now that it has closed\n\nAn ordinary ATO payment plan is still available, through ATO online services for business or through your tax agent, and the same reasoning applies: start with what created the tax position, be upfront before you default rather than after, and get your lodgments up to date first, since the ATO is far less accommodating with a business that has not lodged.\n\nOne thing has changed that makes deferring more expensive than it used to be. **General interest charge and shortfall interest charge incurred on or after 1 July 2025 are no longer deductible**, and there is no grandfathering for older debts. Interest on a commercial loan used to pay the ATO generally still is. That reverses the arithmetic a lot of businesses were relying on when they chose to owe the ATO rather than a bank, and it is worth running the numbers rather than assuming. For the September 2026 quarter the general interest charge is 11.43% a year, compounding daily – and now paid out of after-tax money.\n\nIf you would like to work through it with someone, [we can help](https://btmh.com.au/contact/) with the assessment and the next steps.\n\n📞 (02) 9386 0500", "date_published": "2026-05-08T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-ATO-fuel-related-payment.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Structure", "News", "Taxes" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/payday-super-practical-checklist-for-businesses/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/payday-super-practical-checklist-for-businesses/", "title": "PayDay Super – practical checklist for businesses", "summary": "Since 1 July 2026 super is paid every payday, not quarterly, and what counts is when the fund receives it. What to check in your payroll setup.", "content_text": "###### From 1 July 2026, super must be paid on each payday instead of quarterly. You can work through this internally, or we can help you review your setup. What this change means in your practice?\n\nYou are moving from paying super once per quarter to:\n\n- paying super every payroll cycle (weekly / fortnightly / monthly)\n- making sure it is received by the fund on time\n\nIt’s not when you click “pay” – it’s when the super fund actually receives the money.\n\n###### **Step 1 – Check all employee and super details**\n\nGo into your payroll system and:\n\n- Make sure all your employees are set up\n- Check super fund details are complete (fund name, USI, member number)\n- Confirm correct super rate is applied\n\nIf details are wrong or missing, payments will fail.\n\n###### **Step 2 – Run a first super payment now**\n\nDo not wait until July.\n\n- Process a real super payment (e.g. May payroll)\n- Submit it through your current system or clearing house\n- Track when the money actually reaches the fund\n\nCheck after payment:\n\n- Did the payment go through without errors?\n- How many days did it take to clear?\n- Were there any manual steps or delays?\n\nFix any issues now – not when deadlines apply.\n\n###### **Step 3 – Check your clearing house or payment method**\n\nLook at how you currently pay super. You should:\n\n- Confirm your clearing house is still available. **The ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House has closed** – if that is what you were using, you need a SuperStream-compliant replacement or a payroll product that pays super directly\n- Check how long payments take to process\n- Make sure it connects properly with your payroll system\n\n###### **Step 4 – Plan cash flow for each pay cycle**\n\nYou will need to fund super every time you run payroll.\n\nSo it is important to identify your payroll cycle (weekly / fortnightly / monthly). Estimate super per pay run and make sure that cash is available at each cycle.\n\nIf needed, you can:\n\n- adjust pricing\n- follow up outstanding invoices faster\n- align incoming payments with payroll dates\n\n###### **Step 5 – Set an internal deadline (not the official one established by ATO)**\n\nPut a rule in place that Super must be processed within 1- 2 days after payroll, so do not wait until the official due date\nAssign responsibility to one person in your team. This removes delays and reduces compliance risk.\n\n**Final note, before July:**\n\n- run at least one test payment\n- confirm your system works\n- make sure cash flow can support more frequent payments\n\n###### This is what avoids last-minute issues. If you’d like a second look at your payroll and super setup, we’re here to help.", "date_published": "2026-04-23T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-PAYDAY-SUPER-POST-NR-1.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Structure", "Payroll" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/top-cyber-security-tips-for-individuals-2026-guide/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/top-cyber-security-tips-for-individuals-2026-guide/", "title": "Top cyber security tips for individuals (2026 Guide)", "summary": "Most attacks are stopped by ordinary habits rather than clever tools. The measures that protect your money, identity and accounts.", "content_text": "Cyber criminals are constantly looking to steal personal information, money and identities. The good news is that many cyber-attacks can be prevented from using basic security habits. This guide covers the top cyber security tips for individuals in Australia, helping you stay safe online.\n\n1. **Increase your online security with myID**\n\nYour personal information is a valuable part of your identity. To protect it, use **myID** to access online services where possible. This is one of the most secure ways to access ATO online services and helps protect against identity crime and tax fraud.\n\n2. **Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)**\n\nMulti-factor authentication adds an extra security layer by requiring two or more verification steps, such as:\n\n- something you know (PIN, secret question)\n- something you have (phone, token)\n- something you are (fingerprint or biometric)\n\nThis means that it makes it much harder for cyber criminals to access your accounts.\n\n3. **Use strong and secure passphrases**\n\nA passphrase is stronger than a password and can be easier to remember. It typically uses **4 or more random words**, plus numbers or symbols if needed. **Example:** “crystal onion clay pretzel”. The longer and more random your passphrase, the stronger it is.\n\n4. **Back up your devices regularly**\n\nBack up your files to a physical device (like an external hard drive) or the cloud. This helps if your data is lost, stolen or infected by ransomware. **Tip:** Keep backup devices secure and avoid leaving them connected to your main network.\n\n5. **Keep all devices updated**\n\nCyber criminals exploit known weaknesses in systems or apps. Regular software updates include security upgrades that make it harder to hack.\n\n**Do this:**\n\n- Turn on automatic updates\n- Install updates as soon as they’re available\n\nAntivirus software can also help prevent and remove malware. Keep it turned on and up to date.\n\n6. **Be careful with links, downloads, and attachments**\n\nRemember to avoid clicking links in unexpected messages and download only programs from trusted sources. Don’t open attachments unless you are sure they are legitimate.\n\n7. **Use a spam filter for your email**\n\nSpam emails can contain malware or be used to trick you into giving personal information. **Do not:**\n\n- open suspicious emails\n- click links in spam messages\n- respond to unknown senders\n\nA spam filter reduces the risk of phishing and malware.\n\n8. **Monitor your accounts for unusual activity**\n\nRegularly check your myGov inbox, bank accounts and online services for unusual transactions or messages.\n\nIf you receive unexpected alerts:\n\n- don’t click links\n- don’t open attachments\n- contact the organisation directly by phone\n\n9. **Keep your personal information secure**\n\nProtect your TFN, passwords, superannuation, myGov and bank details. Don’t share them in emails or on social media.\n\nProtecting your personal information is important – and it starts with simple habits. If you want a personal review or help setting up strong online security, contact **Business Tax Money House**.", "date_published": "2026-02-11T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-CYBER-SECURITY-FOR-INDIVIDUALS.png", "tags": [ "News", "Tips" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/top-cyber-security-tips-for-businesses-2026-guide/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/top-cyber-security-tips-for-businesses-2026-guide/", "title": "Top cyber security tips for businesses (2026 Guide)", "summary": "Lost or stolen business data is expensive to recover from and worse for your reputation. The practical measures worth having in place first.", "content_text": "Cyber security is not just a technical issue – it’s a business risk. If your business data is lost, stolen or compromised, recovery can be costly, time-consuming and damaging to your reputation.\n\n**TOP CYBER SECURITY TIPS FOR BUSINESSES**\n\n1. **Use strong and secure passphrases**\n\nInstead of passwords, use **passphrases** – 4 or more random words that are easy to remember but hard to guess.\n**Best practices:**\n\n- Change passphrases regularly\n- Don’t share them\n- Check if your passphrases have been compromised and change them immediately if they have\n\n2. **Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)**\n\nMulti-factor authentication adds an extra layer of protection. Even if someone gets your passphrase, MFA requires another verification step (like a code on your phone or mail).\n\n3. **Manage employee access**\n\nImplement access controls to limit what your staff can access. This includes restricting sensitive systems, programs and files. **Benefits:**\n\n- Reduces the impact of a cyber incident\n- Limits access to sensitive data\n- Helps prevent internal data breaches\n\n4. **Remove access for past employees**\n\nOne of the most common cyber security issues is that **former employees still having access**.\nEnsure you remove access when an employee leaves the business or an employee changes roles and no longer needs access. Also remember to update login details for shared accounts.\n\n5. **Back up your data regularly**\n\nRegular backups are essential. Use either:\n\n- a physical backup (external hard drive)\n- a cloud backup\n\nThis protects you if your data is lost, stolen or affected by ransomware.\n\n**6\\. Avoid unknown USBs or external drives**\n\nUSBs and external hard drives can contain malware. Only use devices from trusted sources.\n\n**7\\. Don’t download unknown programs or open suspicious attachments**\n\nOnly download software from trusted sources.\nMalicious files can install ransomware or steal sensitive information.\n\n8. **Secure your wireless network**\n\nAvoid using public Wi-Fi for business transactions – not all networks are secure.\n\n**Tips:**\n\n- Use a strong Wi-Fi password\n- Consider separate networks for staff and customers\n- Set your Wi-Fi network as private (not public)\n\nNeed help securing your business? Business Tax Money House can help you implement cyber security best practices and protect your business data.\n📩 **Contact us for more information**", "date_published": "2026-02-03T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-cyber-security.png", "tags": [ "News", "Tips" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/small-business-cgt-concessions-what-you-should-know/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/small-business-cgt-concessions-what-you-should-know/", "title": "Small business CGT concessions: what you should know", "summary": "Four concessions can reduce, defer or remove capital gains tax when you sell or restructure. The eligibility tests, and what each one is actually worth.", "content_text": "If you’re a small business owner in Australia planning to sell or restructure your business, **capital gains tax (CGT)** may apply. However, the Australian tax system offers **small business CGT concessions** that can significantly reduce, defer or even eliminate CGT if certain conditions are met.\n\nHere’s a clear overview of what these concessions are and when they may apply.\nUnder **Division 152**, eligible small businesses may access up to **four CGT concessions:**\n**• 15-year exemption** – a full CGT exemption if the asset has been owned for at least 15 years and retirement conditions are met\n**• 50% active asset reduction** – reduces the capital gain by 50%\n**• Retirement exemption** – allows up to $500,000 of capital gains to be disregarded over a lifetime\n**• Small business rollover** – defers CGT when replacing a business asset\nThese concessions can often be **combined** to maximise tax savings.\n\nTo qualify, you generally need to meet the **basic conditions**, including:\n\n- A CGT event occurs (such as selling a business asset)\n- The asset would normally result in a capital gain\n- You are a **small business entity** or meet the **$6 million net asset value test**\n- The asset sold is an **active business asset**\n\nDifferent rules apply to shares in companies or interests in trusts, so structure matters.\nWhen restructuring a business, owners often consider CGT rollovers. However, **small business CGT concessions can be more effective**, as they may provide **permanent tax savings**, not just deferral.\nA key benefit is the **market value cost base uplift**, which can reduce CGT on future sales. These concessions also offer more flexibility around ownership and consideration compared to traditional rollovers.\n\nSmall business owners can benefit in several ways:\n\n- Reduced or eliminated CGT\n- Potential superannuation contributions under the **CGT cap**\n- Greater flexibility in business restructuring\n- Ability to apply concessions on an asset-by-asset basis\n\nSmall business CGT concessions can be powerful tools for **tax planning, business sales and succession planning**, but they are complex and must be applied correctly. Early advice and structuring are essential.\n\n**Thinking about selling or restructuring your business?** BTMH can help you understand your CGT position and structure your business in a tax-effective way — that is [tax planning](https://btmh.com.au/services/tax-planning/) work, and on a sale it has to happen before the contract is signed rather than after.", "date_published": "2026-01-23T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-CGT2.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Structure", "Financial Compliance", "Taxes" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/2026-financial-checklist-for-small-business/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/2026-financial-checklist-for-small-business/", "title": "2026 Financial checklist for small business", "summary": "The areas worth reviewing at the start of the year: compliance, cash flow, and the deadlines that turn into problems if you meet them late.", "content_text": "Starting 2026 with a clear financial review helps small businesses stay compliant, manage cash flow effectively, and avoid last-minute tax issues. This checklist outlines the key financial areas every Australian small business should review at the beginning of the year.\n\n**Review cash flow, payroll and tax obligations**\n\n- Begin by reviewing your **cash flow position**. Check outstanding invoices, payment terms, and upcoming expenses to ensure sufficient working capital. Identify late payers and consider tightening credit terms if cash flow has been inconsistent.\n\n- Review your **payroll setup**, including employee pay rates, superannuation contributions, and PAYG withholding. Confirm that payroll reporting is accurate and that Single Touch Payroll (STP) obligations are being met.\n\n- From a tax perspective, ensure your **BAS lodgment** schedule is correct, and that **GST, PAYG instalments**, and **payroll tax** (where applicable) are set up appropriately. If your turnover or business structure changed in the previous year, your tax settings may need adjustment.\n\n**Plan expenses, investments and compliance for 2026**\n\n- Review planned **business expenses** for the year ahead, including **staffing, software subscriptions, equipment purchases, and marketing costs**. Assess whether planned investments are deductible and how they will impact your cash flow and tax position.\n\n- Make sure your accounting records are up to date and supported by reliable **cloud accounting software**. Automation and accurate reporting can significantly reduce administrative workload and improve financial visibility.\n\n- Finally, consider whether additional support is needed. Staying informed about government initiatives such as the Small Business Independent Review (SBIR) and scheduling regular check-ins with your accountant can help prevent compliance issues and improve financial outcomes.\n\n**BTMH supports small businesses with practical, year-round accounting and tax advice to help you start 2026 compliant, organised, and in control of your finances.**", "date_published": "2026-01-12T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-start-2026.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Financial Compliance", "Payroll", "Superannuation" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/what-we-have-learned-from-another-year-of-helping-australian-businesses/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/what-we-have-learned-from-another-year-of-helping-australian-businesses/", "title": "What we have learned from another year of helping australian businesses?", "summary": "Reflections from 2025 on how businesses actually grow, and what the numbers never quite show about the people running them.", "content_text": "As the year draws to a close, we’ve been reflecting on what 2025 has taught us – about business, growth and people. Because behind every balance sheet, there’s a story.\n\nEvery business has its own rhythm\nSome move fast, others take steady steps – and that’s perfectly fine. Success looks different for everyone and understanding your unique rhythm makes all the difference.\n\nClarity creates confidence\nWhen business owners truly understand their numbers, decisions become easier – and the path forward, clearer.\n\nGrowth goes beyond profit\nWe’ve seen businesses grow through better systems, stronger teams and healthier balance between work and life.\n\nAnd above all – gratitude matters\nWe’re thankful to every client who trusted us this year. Your progress inspires us, and we’re proud to be part of your journey.\n\nHere’s to a successful, balanced, and inspiring 2026!\n**The BTMH Team**", "date_published": "2025-12-10T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-lessons-2025.png", "tags": [ "Business Growth" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/why-should-every-business-owner-keep-a-travel-diary/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/why-should-every-business-owner-keep-a-travel-diary/", "title": "Why should every business owner keep a travel diary?", "summary": "What to record, when a diary is compulsory rather than sensible, and how it protects a travel deduction if you are ever asked to substantiate it.", "content_text": "When you travel for business – meeting clients, visiting suppliers or attending conferences – it’s important to keep clear records of your activities and expenses. This helps you **claim tax deductions** and stay compliant with ATO rules. A **travel diary** is a simple way to do this: it records your business activities and expenses as well as separates business costs from personal ones.\n\nYou may need a travel diary if you’re away for **6 or more consecutive nights** or if you want to clearly track which part of your trip is for business purposes. **For every business activity, write down:**\n\n- **The activity** – client meeting, site visit or conference\n- **Date and time** – start time and duration\n- **Location** – where it took place\n- **Expenses** – transport, accommodation, meals and the business portion.\n\nDigital copies of receipts, tickets, and invoices make reporting easier. Tools like the **myDeductions feature in the ATO app** can help track everything while travelling. **Tips for an effective travel diary:**\n\n1. Record expenses **daily**\n2. Clearly separate **business and personal costs**\n3. Include all key details: purpose, attendees, location and amounts\n4. Keep records for **5 years**, as required by the ATO\n\nA travel diary is a **practical tool for organisation and tax efficiency**. With proper documentation, you can claim all eligible deductions and make your tax reporting easier.\n\n**BTMH can help you keep your travel records in order and ensure you’re claiming the deductions you’re entitled to!**\n📞 (02) 9386 0500 | [btmh.com.au](https://btmh.com.au/)", "date_published": "2025-11-18T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-Business-travel.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Financial Compliance", "Tax Returns", "Taxes", "Tips" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/claiming-vehicle-expenses-cents-per-km-or-logbook-method/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/claiming-vehicle-expenses-cents-per-km-or-logbook-method/", "title": "Claiming vehicle expenses: cents per km or logbook method?", "summary": "Which method gives the bigger deduction, what records each one demands, and when a car has to be owned, leased or on hire purchase to qualify at all.", "content_text": "If you use your car for business purposes, you may be able to claim a tax deduction – but how you calculate that deduction depends on the type of vehicle you use and how it’s used.\n\nTo qualify, the vehicle must be:\n\n- **Owned, leased, or under a hire-purchase agreement**, and\n- **Used for business purposes** (not just commuting between home and work).\n\nThere are two main types of vehicles for tax purposes:\n\n- **Cars** – designed to carry **less than 1 tonne** and **fewer than 9 passengers** (e.g. most sedans, hatchbacks, and 4WDs)\n- **Other vehicles** – such as:\n\n_·_ Motorcycles\n_·_ Utes and vans designed to carry **more than 1 tonne** or **9+ passengers**\n\nYou may be able to claim:\n\n- Fuel and oil\n- Repairs and servicing\n- Insurance premiums\n- Registration fees\n- Lease or loan interest\n- Depreciation (within the car limit)\n\nBut **only the business-use portion** is deductible – and not the part used for personal travel (like school runs or trips to the shops).\n\nYou’ll need to choose one of two methods:\n**1\\. Cents per km method (simpler option)**\n✔️ Quick and easy – no receipts required, just a reasonable record of your travel (like a diary or spreadsheet).\n✔️ Only available for cars, not motorcycles or heavy vehicles.\n✔️ Claim up to 5,000 business km per car per year.\n\nRate for **2025–26**: **$0.88/km** – the year you are lodging now. Rate for **2026–27**, for travel from 1 July 2026: **$0.91/km**. Both are set by the ATO, and the 5,000 km cap applies per car, so the most this method can produce is $4,400 for 2025–26 and $4,550 for 2026–27.\n**Example:**\nIf you drove 3,000 business kilometres during the year, your claim would be:\n3,000 km × $0.88 = $2,640\n\n**2\\. Logbook method (more detailed, more accurate)**\n✔️ Required if your business vehicle use is high or you want to claim actual expenses like fuel, rego, insurance, servicing, etc.\n✔️ You’ll need a logbook kept for a 12-week representative period.\n\nFrom this, you work out the business-use percentage and apply it to your actual vehicle expenses.\n**Example:**\nYou spend $5,000 annually on running your car, and your logbook shows **60% business use.**\n$5,000 × 60% = $3,000 deduction\n\nRemember that, driving from home to your regular place of work is generally considered **private travel**, even if you’re self-employed – unless you run a **home-based business** and are travelling to see clients or suppliers.\n\nWhether you choose the **cents per km** or **logbook** method, keeping records is essential. This can include:\n\n- Travel diaries/logbooks\n- Fuel receipts\n- Registration and insurance papers\n- Service invoices\n- Finance or lease documents\n\nAt **BTMH**, we help business owners and directors stay compliant – and make the most of their deductions. Choosing the right method can make a big difference to your return.\nIf you’re unsure how to claim vehicle expenses or what’s right for your situation, we work this out for clients as part of preparing their [tax return](https://btmh.com.au/services/tax-returns/) — including which method leaves them better off. **Let’s chat.**", "date_published": "2025-10-28T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-Business-vehicle-expenses_-2.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Financial Compliance", "Tax Returns" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/5-deposit-scheme-for-first-homebuyers-now-underway/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/5-deposit-scheme-for-first-homebuyers-now-underway/", "title": "5% deposit scheme for first homebuyers now underway", "summary": "The expanded scheme lets first-time buyers purchase with a 5% deposit. Who qualifies, what it covers, and what it saves in lenders mortgage insurance.", "content_text": "The expanded First Homebuyer Guarantee has officially begun, giving Australians looking to buy their first home a new opportunity. **From October, first-time buyers can purchase a property with just a 5% deposit.**\n\nThis scheme allows buyers to avoid lenders’ mortgage insurance (LMI), which can be a significant upfront cost. The government covers the remaining deposit if a buyer defaults, making it easier for more people to step onto the property ladder sooner.\n\nPreviously, eligibility was limited by income and property price caps. These restrictions have now been lifted:\n**– Sydney:** up to $1.5 million\n**– Melbourne:** up to $950,000\n**– Brisbane:** up to $1 million\n\nOfficials estimate that the expansion could help **around 20,000 additional buyers** secure homes in the first year. By shortening the time needed to save a deposit, participants may also save significantly on rent. The scheme is expected to have only a minor impact on property prices, projected at roughly **0.5% over six years.**\n\nThe 5% deposit scheme now provides an accessible path to homeownership with lower upfront costs. First-time buyers can enter the property market earlier and with fewer financial barriers.\n\nIf you’re considering buying your first home, **BTMH is ready to help you plan the tax side with confidence.**", "date_published": "2025-10-13T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2025-10-10-at-10.46.40.png", "tags": [ "Individual Tax Return", "Loans", "News" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/smart-moves-why-sydney-small-businesses-need-a-tax-expert/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/smart-moves-why-sydney-small-businesses-need-a-tax-expert/", "title": "Smart moves: why Sydney small businesses need a tax expert?", "summary": "Cafes, freelancers and online sellers all hit the same points: GST, super and staying compliant while the business is still finding its shape.", "content_text": "Running a café, freelancing, or selling online in Sydney? Managing Australia’s tax system can get complicated fast. From GST to super obligations, staying compliant while optimising finances is challenging. A tax professional can make a real difference.\n\n**1\\. Stay compliant and avoid penalties.** Australia’s tax rules change constantly. Missing BAS deadlines, lodging incorrectly, or misunderstanding GST can lead to fines or audits. A tax expert ensures your business meets all obligations:\n\n- BAS and tax return lodgement\n- GST registration and reporting\n- PAYG withholding and super compliance\n- Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting\n\n**2\\. Claim all eligible deductions.** Many business owners underclaim expenses. A tax expert can identify deductible costs such as:\n\n- Tools, equipment, and software\n- Vehicle and travel costs\n- Home office expenses\n- Training, licenses, subscriptions\n- Marketing and insurance\n\n**3\\. Plan strategically to minimise tax.** Tax professionals help you plan for savings and growth:\n\n- Time income and expenses before EOFY\n- Make extra super contributions\n- Choose the right business structure\n- Write off bad debts or obsolete stock\n\n**4\\. Ongoing support and expertise.** A tax expert provides year-round guidance:\n\n- Payroll, STP, and structuring advice\n- ATO liaison and dispute resolution\n- Strategic tax planning\n\n**Benefits:**\n\n- Peace of mind\n- Time saved\n- Money saved through maximised deductions\n\nHire a tax expert early in the financial year or when your business grows to plan proactively, maximise deductions, and stay compliant.\nEmpower your Sydney business with expert tax support.\n\n**Book a consultation with BTMH experts today.**", "date_published": "2025-09-19T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2025-09-19-at-13.06.32.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Taxes", "Tips" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/safework-nsw-1000-small-business-rebate/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/safework-nsw-1000-small-business-rebate/", "title": "SafeWork NSW $1,000 Small Business Rebate", "summary": "Who is eligible, which safety items qualify, and how to claim the rebate against equipment that removes a real hazard from your workplace.", "content_text": "If you’re a small business owner in NSW, you may be eligible for the **SafeWork NSW $1,000 Small Business Rebate.** This rebate helps you purchase **eligible safety items** to make your workplace safer by managing or eliminating hazards and risks that could cause serious injury, illness or death at work. This program is funded and administered by SafeWork NSW.\n\n_Who Can Apply?_\n\n- Small business owners and sole traders with an active **ABN** and between **1 and 50 full-time equivalent workers**\n- Charities and not-for-profits that employ between **1 and 50 workers (full-time equivalent)**\n\n_Important Details_\n\n- The rebate only applies to **items on the approved SafeWork NSW eligible items list**\n- The business owner must complete a **SafeWork NSW education activity** within 12 months prior to applying\n- You can only apply **once every five years,** regardless of how many businesses you own or co-own\n- If you have multiple eligible items, you must include **all invoices and proof of payment in one application**\n\nTo check the full list of eligible safety items and apply, visit the official SafeWork NSW website.\nIf you need support preparing your application, **contact our BTMH Team – we will be happy to assist!** Workers compensation and the rest of the employment paperwork sit inside our [payroll](https://btmh.com.au/services/payroll/) service.", "date_published": "2025-08-19T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/safety-workplace-small-business-rebate-NSW.png", "tags": [ "Business" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/claiming-business-expenses-whats-allowed-and-whats-not/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/claiming-business-expenses-whats-allowed-and-whats-not/", "title": "Claiming business expenses: What’s allowed and what’s not", "summary": "Not every cost of running a business is deductible. Which ones are, which are not, and where the line falls when an expense is part private.", "content_text": "Not every business cost can be claimed on your tax return, but knowing which ones can could save you real money. Here is the breakdown.\n\n## What makes an expense deductible\n\nYou can generally claim an expense that is:\n\n- **Directly related to how the business earns income** – software that manages your clients or bookings, for instance\n- **Used for business rather than privately**, or apportioned if it is both\n- **Backed by a record** – a receipt, an invoice, something you can produce later\n\n## What people commonly claim\n\n- **Everyday running costs** – rent on your workspace, electricity, phone and internet\n- **Supplies and tools** you need to deliver the product or service, from ingredients to packaging\n- **Equipment** such as a laptop, printer or coffee machine. Larger items are claimed over time as depreciating assets rather than all at once\n\n**Two worked examples.** A $50 monthly phone plan is $600 a year; use the phone 60% for business and roughly $360 is deductible. A $2,000 laptop used 80% for business gives you 80% of its cost, claimed over the eligible period.\n\n## What is not deductible\n\n- **Private costs** – gym memberships, groceries, clothes you would wear outside work\n- **Fines and penalties**, including a speeding ticket picked up while driving for the business\n- **Entertainment** – client meals and nights out, unless it is a staff benefit meeting the fringe benefits rules\n- **GST you have already claimed on a [BAS](https://btmh.com.au/services/gst-and-bas/).** You cannot claim it twice\n- **Payments made without following PAYG rules**, such as paying a contractor without meeting the reporting obligations\n\n## Splitting business from private\n\nWhere an expense covers both, it has to be apportioned honestly:\n\n- A personal laptop used 60% for business means 60% of the related costs\n- A home office is divided by the space it occupies and the hours you work in it\n- A car used for client visits and the school run needs a log of the business kilometres\n\n## Deductions people miss\n\n- **Technology** – new software, digital tools, systems upgrades\n- **Staff training** – eligible courses and upskilling, for you or your team\n- **Energy efficiency** – LED lighting, efficient appliances, smart systems\n\nThese incentives change from year to year, so it is worth checking what is currently available rather than assuming last year’s rules still apply.\n\n> Not sure what you can claim, or how to split business from private? We will make sure the claims are accurate and compliant, which usually means more of the money stays in the business.\n>\n>\n> [Book an appointment](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/) · [Get in touch](https://btmh.com.au/contact/)", "date_published": "2025-08-18T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2025-08-15-at-16.51.54.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Growth" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/fbt-2025-what-employers-need-to-know-before-lodging/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/fbt-2025-what-employers-need-to-know-before-lodging/", "title": "FBT 2025 – What Employers Need to Know Before Lodging", "summary": "The 2025 FBT year closed on 31 March 2025. What had to be reported, and the benefits employers most often overlooked.", "content_text": "The 2025 Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) year officially closed on **31 March 2025**, and employers across Australia should now be turning their attention to their FBT reporting and compliance obligations.\n\nWhether you’ve provided just a few benefits throughout the year or maintain a structured benefits program for your staff, this is a crucial window to review records, check exemptions and ensure your business is fully prepared before lodgement deadlines hit.\n\nFBT applies when non-cash benefits such as company vehicles, employee parking, entertainment, or reimbursements are provided to employees or their associates. Even if no additional salary is paid, these benefits can still trigger FBT liability. What’s important, FBT **is the employer’s responsibility,** and applies across a wide range of organisations including charities, schools, government bodies and not-for-profits.\n\nThere are also several key developments this year that may impact your obligations:\n\n- The **electric car exemption** will no longer apply to plug-in hybrids purchased after 1 April 2025\n- A **Federal Court case** may significantly alter how the ATO views what qualifies as a “commercial” car parking facility\n- **Record-keeping changes** now allow the use of standard business records instead of statutory declarations for certain benefits\n\nEven employers who don’t believe they’ve provided reportable benefits this year should still take time to assess their situation, including whether a **‘NIL’ return or notice of non-lodgement** is required to stay compliant and avoid penalties.\n\nNow is the right time to act, review your processes and ensure your records and reporting are in line with the latest guidance.\n\nBy taking a proactive approach, you can reduce risk, identify cost-saving opportunities through exemptions or concession and avoid surprises during an ATO review or audit.\n\nNot sure if you need to lodge FBT Return or need help with preparing one? Our Team at Business Tax & Money House is here to help. Contact us today!", "date_published": "2025-07-15T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/iStock-11284928571.jpg", "tags": [ "Business", "Financial Compliance", "Taxes" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/a-simple-tax-guide-when-subdividing-your-land-in-nsw/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/a-simple-tax-guide-when-subdividing-your-land-in-nsw/", "title": "A Simple Tax Guide when Subdividing Your Land in NSW", "summary": "Whether the profit is taxed as a capital gain or as income, what changes if you build to sell, and the GST question people find out about far too late.", "content_text": "**A Simple Tax Guide when Subdividing Your Land in NSW**\n\n**Thinking about subdividing your land in NSW?**\n\nMany property owners are transforming larger plots into smaller, more valuable lots. Here’s a quick guide to help you through the process.\n\n**What are Your options?**\n\nYou might be considering tearing down your home to build townhouses or subdividing your spacious backyard. Or perhaps, if you bought a large coastal plot for a holiday home, you may now be thinking about building houses to sell due to a hot market.\n\n**What should You know about Tax Implications?**\n\nIf the ATO classifies you as a small-scale property developer, your profits could be taxed as regular business income rather than as a capital gain. If you commit land to a development, capital gains tax (CGT) will apply to any gains or losses, except for your primary residence.\n\nA significant advantage of being recognised as a developer is the ability to deduct expenses, including loan interest, which can help alleviate financial pressure.\n\nHowever, if you’re only subdividing part of your backyard, you’ll primarily deal with CGT on profits or losses and won’t qualify for home exemptions.\n\nRegarding GST, it typically doesn’t apply unless you’re running a business and are registered for it. For one-off projects, GST is generally not a concern, but multiple lot sales could change that.\n\n**Conclusion**\n\nSubdividing your land in NSW can be a smart investment. With proper planning and the right support, you can unlock your property’s potential!\n\nAt B**usiness Tax & Money House**, we’re here to help you every step of the way — subdividing is a capital gains event, and [tax planning](https://btmh.com.au/services/tax-planning/) before you sign is what decides the bill. Contact us today to discover how we can assist you in achieving your property goals!", "date_published": "2025-06-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2025-06-12-at-13.07.57.png", "tags": [ "Business", "News", "Uncategorized" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/employee-vs-contractor-how-to-get-it-right-in-2025/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/employee-vs-contractor-how-to-get-it-right-in-2025/", "title": "Employee vs Contractor – How to Get It Right in 2025", "summary": "An ABN does not settle it. What actually decides the classification, and what getting it wrong costs in back-paid super, PAYG and penalties.", "content_text": "In 2025, it’s important for businesses to understand the difference between employees and independent contractors. Getting this wrong can lead to tax issues and potential penalties.\n\n**UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS**\n\nThe relationship between a worker and a business depends on the contract they have. Just calling someone an “independent contractor” doesn’t make it true. You need to consider the whole working arrangement.\n\n**KEY DIFFERENCES**\n\n**Employees** work within your business and follow your instructions on how and when to do their tasks – they are essentially part of your team\n\n**Independent Contractors** run their own businesses and provide services to you – they have the freedom to decide how and when they work\n\n**Employees** are usually paid for their time or may earn a commission while **Independent contractors** often get paid for completing specific projects or tasks, usually for a fixed fee\n\n**Employees** are protected from many business risks, as the employer takes on those responsibilities and **Independent contractors** handle their own risks and costs\n\n**Employees** typically use tools and equipment provided by the employer where **Independent contractors** usually supply their own\n\nSuperannuation Obligations – some independent contractors may still be entitled to superannuation – if their work is primarily for their labor, you might need to contribute to their super fund\n\n**COMMON MYTHS**\n\nMany businesses make mistakes when deciding if a worker is an employee or contractor. Here are some common myths:\n\n**Myth:** If a worker has an ABN, they are an independent contractor\n**Fact:** ABN itself doesn’t determine the work arrangement\n\n**Myth:** Everyone in my industry does it this way, so I should too\n**Fact:** You need to evaluate each worker’s situation on its own\n\n**Myth:** If a worker sends an invoice, they are a contractor\n**Fact:** You must look at the whole working arrangement, not just the invoice\n\n**CONCLUSION**\n\nProperly classifying your workers is essential for compliance and smooth operations. Make sure your contracts accurately reflect these relationships and review them regularly.\n\nIf you have questions about your work arrangements or need more information to determine whether you or your workers are classified as an employee or a contractor, please consult with our experts Team!", "date_published": "2025-06-05T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2025-06-05-at-14.41.07-e1749099486474.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Financial Compliance", "News" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/federal-budget-2025-26-what-it-means-for-you-and-your-business/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/federal-budget-2025-26-what-it-means-for-you-and-your-business/", "title": "Federal Budget 2025–26: What It Means for You and Your Business", "summary": "Cost-of-living measures for households and the changes aimed at business, from the Budget delivered on 25 March 2025.", "content_text": "### **Federal Budget 2025–26: What It Means for You and Your Business**\n\nThe Federal Budget for 2025–26, delivered on 25 March 2025, focuses on providing immediate support to households and businesses, while aiming to ease cost-of-living pressures and aid in economic recovery. While it doesn’t introduce major tax reform, several key measures could directly affect your personal finances or business operations.\n\n##### **1\\. Personal Income Tax Cuts**\n\nFrom 1 July 2026, the rate on income between $18,201 and $45,000 dropped from 16% to 15%, and a further cut to 14% follows on 1 July 2027. Both are legislated – they were proposals when this post was written.\n\n##### **2\\. Cost-of-Living Relief**\n\n\\-HELP Debt Reduction: A 20% reduction in HELP student loans will wipe out $16 billion in student debt, easing financial pressure for many young Australians.\n\n\\-Higher HELP Repayment Threshold: From 2025–26, the income threshold for starting HELP loan repayments will rise from $54,435 to $67,000. This means more income can be earned before repayments kick in.\n\n##### **3\\.** **Medicare Levy Threshold Increases**\n\nTo support low-income Australians, the Medicare levy low-income thresholds are increasing:\n\n\\-Individuals: from $24,276 to $26,000\n\n\\-Families: from $40,939 to $43,846, with an additional $4,027 per dependent child or student\n\n\\-Seniors/Pensioners: from $38,365 to $41,089\n\nThis change means more people will pay less or no Medicare levy.\n\n##### **4. Small Business Support**\n\n\\-Disaster Recovery Funding: $693.2 million will be available to help small businesses recover from natural disasters through co-funded initiatives.\n\n\\-Mental Health & Financial Assistance: Programs such as NewAccess for Small Business Owners and the Small Business Debt Helpline will offer mental health and financial support for business owners.\n\n##### **Conclusion**\n\nThe 2025–26 Federal Budget introduces practical support for both individuals and small businesses, particularly in the form of tax relief, student loan changes, and disaster recovery assistance. While there are no major structural reforms, the measures aim to address immediate needs and support longer-term stability.\n\nSOURCE: [https://www.businessnsw.com/members/member-alerts/federal-budget-2025-2026](https://www.businessnsw.com/members/member-alerts/federal-budget-2025-2026)", "date_published": "2025-04-23T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2025-04-22-at-13.16.59.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Growth", "Business Structure", "Financial Compliance", "News", "Taxes" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/guide-to-australian-tax-updates-income-tax-rates-medicare-levy-sapto-changes/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/guide-to-australian-tax-updates-income-tax-rates-medicare-levy-sapto-changes/", "title": "Guide to Australian Tax Updates: Income Tax Rates, Medicare Levy & SAPTO Changes", "summary": "Individual tax brackets for 2025-26 and 2026-27, the Medicare levy low-income thresholds and the SAPTO offsets, each labelled with the year it applies to. Registered tax agents in Bondi Junction.", "content_text": "Tax figures move every 1 July, and most of the confusion we see comes from reading a number without knowing which year it belongs to. So every figure below says which year it is for.\n\nThe return you are lodging now is the **2025-26** return, for the year ended 30 June 2026. The **2026-27** year is the one in progress – the year your PAYG withholding, instalments and planning are working on.\n\n## Individual tax rates\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Taxable income2025-26 (lodging now)2026-27 (in progress)
$0 – $18,200NilNil
$18,201 – $45,00016%15%
$45,001 – $135,00030%30%
$135,001 – $190,00037%37%
$190,001 and over45%45%
\n\nOnly the lowest rate moved: 16% to **15%** from 1 July 2026, with a further cut to **14%** legislated from 1 July 2027. The thresholds are unchanged.\n\nThese rates do not include the 2% Medicare levy, and they are the resident rates. Higher earners without private hospital cover pay more again – see [the Medicare Levy Surcharge](https://btmh.com.au/medicare-levy-surcharge/), which is a separate charge on top of the levy.\n\n### Foreign residents\n\nForeign residents get no tax-free threshold and pay **30% from the first dollar** up to $135,000, then 37% to $190,000 and 45% above that. Unchanged for both years – the 15% cut does not reach foreign residents, because they have no $18,201–$45,000 bracket to cut.\n\n### Working holiday makers\n\nWorking holiday makers pay **15% up to $45,000**, then the foreign resident scale: 30% to $135,000, 37% to $190,000, 45% above. Unchanged for both years. Your employer has to be a [registered working holiday maker employer](https://btmh.com.au/work-and-holiday-tax/) for this scale to apply.\n\n## Medicare levy low-income thresholds\n\nBelow the lower figure you pay no Medicare levy; between the two you pay a reduced rate; above the upper figure you pay the full 2%.\n\nThese are the **2025-26** thresholds – the ones that apply to the return being lodged now:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
No levy up toFull levy from
Singles$28,011$35,013
Families$47,238$59,047
Single seniors and pensioners$44,268$55,335
Senior and pensioner families$61,623$77,028
\n\nAdd **$4,338** to the family thresholds for each dependent child or student.\n\nThe 2026-27 thresholds have not been announced yet. They are normally set in the Budget and indexed, so expect them to rise again.\n\n## SAPTO\n\nThe Senior Australians and Pensioners Tax Offset reduces tax for eligible seniors, and can remove it entirely. It shades out at 12.5c for every dollar of rebate income above the shade-out threshold. These are the **2025-26** figures:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
CircumstanceMaximum offsetShade-outCut-out
Single$2,230$34,919$52,759
Each partner of a couple$1,602$30,994$43,810
Each partner, illness-separated$2,040$33,732$50,052
\n\nSAPTO is not automatic on lodgment in every case, and eligibility depends on your age, your pension and your rebate income rather than your taxable income. If you are close to a threshold it is worth having someone check it.\n\n## The offset people still ask about\n\nThe **low and middle income tax offset (LMITO)** is gone. The last year it could be claimed was **2021-22**; it ended on 30 June 2022 and was not replaced. If your refund dropped by up to $1,500 and you have never worked out why, that is usually the reason.\n\nThe **low income tax offset (LITO)** does still exist: up to **$700** where taxable income is $37,500 or less, reducing to nil at $66,667. It is applied automatically – there is nothing to claim.\n\n## What this means for you\n\nIf you are lodging now, use the 2025-26 column. If you are estimating this year's tax, projecting a bonus, or deciding when to realise something, use 2026-27 – the 15% rate is worth up to $268 a year on its own, and more once the 14% rate arrives in July 2027.\n\nNone of these figures tell you what you will actually pay, because offsets, the levy, deductions and the timing of income all move the answer. That is the part we do.\n\n[Book an appointment](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/) or [contact us](https://btmh.com.au/contact/) and we will work it through against your own numbers.\n\n###### Source: [ATO – Tax rates: Australian residents](https://www.ato.gov.au/tax-rates-and-codes/tax-rates-australian-residents)", "date_published": "2025-04-09T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2025-04-09-at-11.57.07.png", "tags": [ "Financial Compliance", "News", "Taxes", "Uncategorized" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/reduce-the-cost-of-your-energy-bills-with-smart-upgrades/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/reduce-the-cost-of-your-energy-bills-with-smart-upgrades/", "title": "Reduce the Cost of Your Energy Bills with Smart Upgrades", "summary": "Small changes at home or at work add up. Which upgrades pay for themselves, and the NSW programs that help cover the cost.", "content_text": "Small changes around your home or business can make a significant impact on your energy bills. With the growing availability of energy-efficient appliances, it’s easier than ever to save energy, reduce emissions, and lower costs.\n\nThe New South Wales Government is offering incentives to discount the cost of replacing or installing new energy-efficient equipment in your home or business. **These incentives will help you:**\n\n- **Replace Old Appliances**\n\nSwap outdated appliances for energy-efficient models to reduce energy consumption.\n\n- **Lower Your Energy Use**\n\nEnergy-efficient appliances use less power, helping to lower your bills.\n\n- **Save on Your Energy Bills**\n\nThe upfront savings from incentives can lead to long-term lower energy costs.\n\n**How the Upgrades Work:**\n\nIncentives are provided as an upfront discount on installation costs, applied directly by accredited installers. It’s a good idea to get quotes from multiple installers to ensure you get the best deal, as prices can vary.\n\n**Upgrade Options Include:**\n\n- **Install a Battery**\n\nLower the cost of purchasing a battery and make the most of solar energy.\n\n- **Upgrade Your Air Conditioner**\n\nSwitch to a more efficient model to reduce heating and cooling costs.\n\n- **Upgrade Your Hot Water System**\n\nSave money on your energy bills by replacing your hot water system with an energy-efficient model.\n\n**Other Ways to Save:**\n\n- **Energy Rebates**\n\nYou may be eligible for rebates like the Low-Income Household Rebate or the Family Energy Rebate, which can further reduce your bills.\n\n- **National Energy Bill Relief – ended**\n\nThe Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund closed on 31 December 2025. Its final round, over the second half of 2025, was up to $150 per household and per eligible small business, applied automatically as two $75 instalments. The $300 and $325 figures were the 2024-25 round. There is no Commonwealth energy **bill** rebate now – what remains is state and territory rebates and concessions, including the NSW ones above.\n\n- **Cheaper Home Batteries – still running**\n\nThe one live Commonwealth energy program is a capital subsidy rather than a bill rebate. It discounts the upfront cost of an eligible home battery through small-scale technology certificates, which your installer normally takes off the quote rather than something you claim back. It has applied since 1 July 2025, the battery has to be paired with rooftop solar, and the subsidy steps down every six months – so the discount shrinks the longer you wait. Ask your installer what the certificates are worth on the day you sign, because the value moves with the certificate price.\n\nUpgrading to energy-efficient appliances not only lowers your bills but also benefits the environment. By taking advantage of these government incentives, you can start saving today and secure a more sustainable, cost-effective future for your home or business.", "date_published": "2025-03-20T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/freepik__expand__29641.jpg", "tags": [ "News", "Tax Refunds", "Taxes", "Tips", "Uncategorized" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/maximize-your-long-service-leave-entitlements-what-you-need-to-know/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/maximize-your-long-service-leave-entitlements-what-you-need-to-know/", "title": "Maximise Your Long Service Leave Entitlements: What You Need to Know!", "summary": "How long you need with one employer, what counts as continuous service, and when a break or a transfer does not reset the clock the way people assume.", "content_text": "Did you know you’re entitled to Long Service Leave (LSL) after working with the same employer for an extended period? Whether in the public or private sector, it’s a valuable entitlement recognizing your long-term commitment.\n\nHowever, LSL isn’t just for those who stay with one employer indefinitely. In some cases, even if you’ve worked less than 10 years, you may still qualify if your employment ends under specific conditions.\n\n**Who’s Eligible for Long Service Leave?**\n\nEmployees in Australia typically become eligible for LSL after 10 years with the same employer. However, employees who’ve worked for 5-10 years may be entitled to pro-rata LSL payments under certain conditions. Make sure to understand the requirements in your state or territory to maximize your benefits.\n\n**What About Portable Long Service Leave?**\n\nIf you work in specific industries like construction, security, or community services, **Portable Long Service Leave** might be available to you. This means that even if you change employers, you can still carry over your LSL entitlement across the same industry.\n\nHowever, you can’t receive both Portable LSL and Employer-based LSL at the same time. Employer LSL is based on your recent pay, while Portable LSL uses standard payout figures. It’s important to understand how these affect your entitlements.\n\n**Stay Informed, Stay Ahead!**\n\nYour financial planning relies on knowing your rights and entitlements related to LSL. In upcoming articles, we’ll explore LSL from the employer’s perspective and for sole traders in construction. Stay tuned!\n\n**Need Help or Have Questions?**\n\nIf you’re uncertain about your entitlements or need assistance navigating the details, **contact us today**! Our expert team is here to guide you and ensure you’re maximizing your LSL benefits. For employers, leave accruals and final pays are part of our [payroll](https://btmh.com.au/services/payroll/) service\n\nSOURCE: https://www.nsw.gov.au/employment/rights-responsibilities/leave/long-service-leave", "date_published": "2025-02-28T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-Long-Service-Leave.png", "tags": [ "News", "Tips" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/comparing-smsfs-with-other-super-funds-what-you-need-to-know/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/comparing-smsfs-with-other-super-funds-what-you-need-to-know/", "title": "Comparing SMSFs with Other Super Funds: What You Need to Know", "summary": "Control, cost and the work involved, side by side. What an SMSF gives you that a retail fund cannot, and the point at which it stops being worth the effort.", "content_text": "When it comes to managing your retirement savings in Australia, choosing the right superannuation fund is crucial. Self-Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSFs) and traditional super funds both offer unique advantages and disadvantages. This article aims to provide a clear comparison to help you decide which option is best suited to your financial goals.\n\n**What is an SMSF?**\n\nA Self-Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) is a superfund that can have up to 6 members, who manage it. Unlike traditional super funds, where a professional trustee handles the investments, SMSFs give you full control over your retirement savings. This includes the ability to choose assets to invest in, from stocks and bonds, through private companies and cryptocurrency, to property.\n\nKey Features of SMSFs:\n\n- **Control**: You decide how and where your super is invested\n\n- **Responsibility**: the Fund must comply with all relevant laws and regulations, including Superannuation Industry Supervision Act (SIS Act)\n\n- **Flexibility**: You can tailor your investment strategy to suit your specific goals\n\n- **Investment Choices:** Options include direct property, shares, managed funds, and more\n\n- **Tax Benefits**: SMSFs enjoy concessional tax rates on earnings and capital gains\n\n**Traditional Super Funds**\n\nTraditional super funds, such as retail, industry, or corporate super funds, are managed by professional fund managers. Members contribute to these funds, which are pooled together for investment.\n\nKey Features of Traditional Super Funds:\n\n- **Professional Management**: Investment decisions are made by experienced managers\n\n- **Lower Responsibility**: You don’t have to worry about day-to-day management or compliance\n\n- **Variety of Investment Options**: While choices may be more limited than SMSFs, many funds offer diversified options. Each option would have its own class of assets, and you cannot specify investments to which you want to be exposed to.\n\n- **Insurance Options**: Many traditional funds include life, total and permanent disability, and income protection insurance as part of their package, and it’s easy to set up. SMSFs can hold these policies for their members, but the setup may be more complex.\n\n**Comparing SMSFs and Traditional Super Funds**\n\n1. **Control and Flexibility**\n\nSMSFs: You have complete control over investment choices and strategies. This can be beneficial if you have specific knowledge or experience in certain areas.\n\nBig Super Funds: Less control over individual investments, but this can be an advantage for those who prefer a hands-off approach.\n\n2. **Costs and Fees**\n\nSMSFs: Generally, SMSFs can be more cost-effective for larger balances. However, due to fixed fees associated with compliance and administration, cost as percentage of funds may be high if member balances are low.\n\nBig Super Funds: Fees are usually calculated as a percentage of your balance. They may be more cost-effective for smaller balances but can add up over time.\n\nSome advisors estimate that cost efficiency is better in SMSFs if member balances are approximately $300,000 or more.\n\n3. **Time Commitment**\n\nSMSFs: Managing an SMSF requires time and effort to stay compliant with regulatory requirements and make informed investment decisions\n\nBig Super Funds: Less time-consuming since professionals manage the fund, making it ideal for those with busy lifestyles\n\n4. **Regulatory and Compliance Responsibilities**\n\nSMSFs: SMSF trustees have significant legal and compliance responsibilities, including annual audits and regulatory reporting. Failing to comply can lead to hefty penalties.\n\nTraditional Super Funds: The fund manager handles compliance, allowing members to focus solely on their investments.\n\n5. **Investment Options**\n\nSMSFs: Offer a wider range of investment options, including niche assets such as collectibles or cryptocurrency.\n\nTraditional Super Funds: Generally, focus on mainstream investments, which may limit options for more adventurous investors. You also can’t choose specific investments, only class of them.\n\n**Conclusion**\n\nChoosing between an SMSF and a traditional super fund ultimately comes down to your individual circumstances, investment knowledge, and preferences. SMSFs can offer greater control and flexibility but require more time and responsibility. Traditional super funds, on the other hand, provide professional management and lower regulatory burdens, making them suitable for many Australians.\n\nBefore making a decision, consider consulting with a financial adviser who can help you evaluate your options based on your financial goals, risk apetite, and retirement plans. Whatever you choose, ensuring your superannuation is managed effectively is vital for a comfortable retirement. If an SMSF is the direction you are leaning, [our SMSF service](https://btmh.com.au/services/smsf/) covers setting one up and keeping it compliant.", "date_published": "2024-12-18T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-retirement.png", "tags": [ "Superannuation", "Tips" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/ato-lifestyle-assets-data-matching-program/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/ato-lifestyle-assets-data-matching-program/", "title": "ATO Lifestyle Assets Data-Matching Program", "summary": "Boats, aircraft, high-value cars and fine art. What insurers report to the ATO, and why the data is matched against what you declared.", "content_text": "The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has announced **a New Data-Matching Program** targeting lifestyle assets. This initiative aims to enhance tax compliance and provide a clearer understanding of taxpayers’ assets.\n\nThe ATO said it would review between 650,000 and 800,000 insurance policy records a year across the 2023-24 to 2025-26 financial years. That protocol period has now run its course, and no successor has been published – though the ATO has run lifestyle asset data-matching repeatedly since 2016, so treat it as a standing risk rather than a campaign that has ended.\n\nHere’s what you need to know:\n\n#### **What assets are included? The ATO will collect data on high-value assets, including:**\n\n- Caravans and motorhomes (min value threshold $65,000)\n- Vehicles, including cars, trucks, and motorcycles (min value threshold $65,000)\n- Thoroughbred horses (min value threshold $65,000)\n- Fine art (min value threshold $100,000 per item)\n- Marine vessels (min value threshold $100,000)\n- Aircraft (min value threshold $150,000)\n\nWhat data will be collected? The ATO will gather client identification details (name, address, contact info) and policy specifics (asset details, insurance values, and purchase prices), and compare them to income declared on tax returns. If the numbers don’t add up, e.g. your declared income could not sustain such a purchase, they may ask additional questions or refer the owner to an audit.\n\n#### **Are you on the list? There’s always time to review your tax returns and make corrections to:**\n\n- Incorrect income reporting\n- Omitted capital gains\n- Improper GST claims\n- Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) issues\n- Misuse of assets by self-managed super funds (SMSFs)\n\n**This is a crucial step towards ensuring tax compliance and managing risks associated with luxury assets. If you have questions about how this may affect you, reach out to us!**", "date_published": "2024-11-07T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_high-value-assets_Nov3.png", "tags": [ "News", "Taxes", "Tips" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/10-essential-points-to-consider-in-setting-up-a-business-in-australia/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/10-essential-points-to-consider-in-setting-up-a-business-in-australia/", "title": "10 essential points to consider in setting up a business in Australia", "summary": "Structure, registrations, tax, bookkeeping, licences, insurance and reporting: the ten decisions worth making before you start trading, not after.", "content_text": "Starting your own business in Australia is an exciting yet challenging journey. The key to success lies in careful planning and understanding the essential steps needed at the outset. In this article, we will explore the crucial stages of establishing a business, from choosing a legal structure and registering your company to navigating tax obligations and accounting practices. Each of these steps is vital for ensuring the stability and growth of your venture. Read on to discover how to successfully launch your business in Australia and avoid common pitfalls.\n\n### **Here are 10 essential considerations to take into account when embarking on your entrepreneurial journey in Australia:**\n\n#### **1.Choosing a Legal Structure**\n\n- **Sole Trader**: Easy to set up, but the owner is personally liable for all debts.\n- **Company**: Offers limited liability but involves more complex accounting and compliance requirements.\n- **Partnership**: Two or more owners share responsibility and profits and are personally liable for all debts.\n- **Trust**: Can be tax-efficient but comes with additional administrative costs.\n\n#### **2\\. Business Registration**\n\n- **ABN** (Australian Business Number): Register with the Australian Business Register to obtain an ABN, which is required to operate a business.\n- **Business Name Registration**: Check if your chosen name is available and register it if necessary. Check if a domain is available for your online presence.\n\n#### **3\\. Choosing and Registering Taxes**\n\n- **GST** (Goods and Services Tax): Register if you expect an annual turnover over 75,000 AUD. GST is a 10% tax on goods and services that you charge and remit to ATO (after deducting GST paid to your suppliers).\n- If you plan to employ staff, you must register for the PAYG Withholding, and have a proper Workers Compensation insurance in your state.\n\n#### **4\\. Understanding Tax Obligations**\n\n- **Income Tax**: Determine your tax obligations based on your legal structure. Companies pay a flat corporate tax rate, while sole traders report income on their personal tax returns.\n- **Deductions:** Learn about available tax deductions (e.g., business expenses, depreciation).\n\n#### **5\\. Accounting**\n\n- **Bookkeeping**: While you can manage bookkeeping yourself, hiring a professional accounting firm can significantly reduce stress and ensure accuracy. A qualified accountant has the knowledge and experience to keep your finances in order, manage cash flow, and ensure compliance with tax regulations. This allows you to focus on running your business rather than getting bogged down in numbers and paperwork.\n- **Documentation:** It’s important to maintain accurate records of all transactions, agreements, etc. Good documentation practices not only facilitate tax reporting but also provide valuable insights into your business performance. A professional accounting firm can set up efficient systems for tracking income and expenses, making it easier to gather necessary information for tax filings.\n- **Tax Compliance**: An experienced accountant will help ensure that you meet all your tax obligations, including timely filing of returns and payments. They can also provide advice on tax planning strategies to optimize your position and take advantage of available deductions.\n\n#### **6\\. Understanding Local Regulations**\n\n**Licenses and Permits**: Check what licenses are required in your industry and location. In some cases, additional permits may be necessary.\n\n#### **7\\. Insurance**\n\n**Insurance:** Consider various types of insurance, such as liability insurance, workers compensation insurance for employees, and property insurance.\n\n#### **8\\. Financial Reporting**\n\n**Regular financial reports**, such as profit and loss statements and balance sheets, are essential for monitoring your business’s health. An accountant can provide these reports, helping you make informed decisions based on accurate financial data.\n\n#### **9\\. Development Plans**\n\n**Growth Strategy**: Develop an action plan that includes business growth, investments, and potential structural changes.\n\n#### **10\\. Regular Reviews**\n\n**Monitoring and Review:** Regularly review financial performance and structure to ensure they are optimal and compliant.\n\n#### **Remember, each step should be tailored to the specifics of your business, and consulting a professional tax or legal advisor can be very helpful.**", "date_published": "2024-10-21T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-10points-min-1.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Growth", "Business Structure" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/abn-vs-tfn-understanding-the-differences/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/abn-vs-tfn-understanding-the-differences/", "title": "ABN vs TFN: Understanding the differences", "summary": "Not the same thing, and if you work for yourself you probably need both. Which one applies to you, whether an ABN is compulsory, and the mistake that gets 47% withheld from your invoices.", "content_text": "A TFN and an ABN are both issued so the tax system can tell who is who, but they identify different things and follow different rules. The short version: **your TFN is private and personal, your ABN is public and belongs to your business.** If you earn money in Australia you need a TFN. You only need an ABN if you are running a business – and if you are a sole trader, you will use both.\n\n- **TFN – keep it confidential**: Your Tax File Number is a private number. It is never published, and only your employer, bank, super fund, registered tax agent and Services Australia have any right to ask for it. Treat a request from anyone else as a warning sign.\n- **ABN – meant to be public**: Your Australian Business Number is designed to be seen. It goes on every invoice you issue, and anyone can look it up on ABN Lookup to check that your business is real and whether it is registered for GST.\n- **You may need both**: A sole trader trades under an ABN but still lodges a personal return under their TFN. The ABN identifies the business; the TFN identifies you.\n\n## What is an ABN?\n\nAn **Australian Business Number (ABN)** is a unique 11-digit number issued through the Australian Business Register (ABR) to businesses, organisations and individuals carrying on an enterprise in Australia. It is used for tax and administrative purposes, and it is a matter of public record.\n\n### Who needs an ABN?\n\nAnyone carrying on a business in Australia should have one – sole traders, partnerships, companies and trusts alike.\n\n> Thinking of setting up a business? [Talk to us and choose your business structure](https://btmh.com.au/services/business-setup/) – the structure you pick decides your tax, your liability and how easily you can bring in partners later.\n\nIt is worth being precise here, because it is widely misunderstood: holding an ABN is **not** legally compulsory. The catch is what happens without one. If you invoice another business and cannot quote an ABN, that business is required to withhold **47%** of the payment and send it to the ATO. You get it back at tax time, but you have handed over almost half your income in the meantime. In practice, that makes an ABN essential for anyone trading.\n\n### Benefits of having an ABN\n\n1. **Credibility.** An ABN shows you are a registered business. Unregistered operators are harder to find, harder to verify, and harder to pursue if a job goes wrong.\n2. **GST registration.** Once your turnover reaches **$75,000** a year – **$150,000** for not-for-profits – you must register for GST, and an ABN is a prerequisite. Registration also lets you claim GST credits on business purchases.\n3. **Clean invoicing.** Your ABN identifies you on every invoice, and clients can confirm on ABN Lookup that you are active and whether you charge GST.\n4. **Grants and programs.** Many government grants and support programs are only open to businesses with an ABN.\n\n### How to get an ABN\n\nApply free through the [Australian Business Register](https://abr.gov.au/). You will need your business structure, your business details and, ordinarily, your TFN.\n\n**Can you get an ABN without a TFN?** Yes – but expect friction. The ABR uses your TFN to confirm your identity automatically, so an application without one drops into manual review: you supply additional proof of identity, and processing takes considerably longer. If you are entitled to a TFN, apply for it first and the ABN becomes straightforward.\n\n**Keep your details current.** Update your ABN record with the ABR whenever your structure, address or contact details change. Stale details are a common trigger for ATO correspondence.\n\n## What is a TFN?\n\nA **Tax File Number (TFN)** is a unique 8 or 9-digit number issued by the Australian Taxation Office to individuals and entities. Older numbers run to eight digits and newer ones to nine – both remain valid, so a shorter number is not a sign of a problem. Your TFN stays with you for life, through every job, name change and move.\n\n### Who needs a TFN?\n\nAnyone earning money in Australia. Employees, sole traders, investors, students working part-time, and every company, trust and partnership that lodges a return.\n\nAs with the ABN, holding one is not technically mandatory – but the consequence is decisive. Without a TFN, your employer must withhold at **47%**, your bank withholds on interest, and your super fund cannot accept personal contributions. There is no practical scenario in which not having one works in your favour.\n\n### Benefits of having a TFN\n\n1. **Identification.** Your TFN is how the ATO, your employer, your super fund and your bank know your tax records are yours. It ties every piece of your tax history to one person, which is what makes a correct assessment possible.\n2. **Confidentiality.** A TFN is a confidential number, and that is a feature rather than a limitation. Only a short list of parties may lawfully ask for it, so it cannot be used to profile or track you the way a public identifier could.\n3. **Being taxed at the right rate.** Quote your TFN and you are taxed according to your actual income and circumstances, including the tax-free threshold. Withhold it and you are taxed at the maximum rate until you claim the difference back.\n4. **Superannuation that lands correctly.** Your employer uses your TFN to direct contributions to your fund. Without it, contributions can be rejected or sit unallocated, and your fund cannot accept after-tax contributions from you.\n\n### How to get a TFN\n\nApply through the [ATO](https://www.ato.gov.au/) – online, or in person at a participating Australia Post outlet or Services Australia centre. You will need proof of identity such as a passport, driver's licence or birth certificate. Applying is free, and the number arrives by post.\n\n**Protect it.** Give your TFN only to your employer (after you start, never on a job application), your bank, your super fund, your registered tax agent and Services Australia. No one else is entitled to it, and you are free to decline.\n\n> Not sure whether you need an ABN, a TFN, or both? [Talk to us](https://btmh.com.au/contact/) – a short conversation now is cheaper than unpicking it after your first invoice.\n\n## Key differences at a glance\n\n- **ABN**: Identifies your **business**. Public – printed on invoices and searchable on ABN Lookup. Eleven digits, issued through the Australian Business Register. Needed by anyone carrying on a business. Without one, payers withhold 47%.\n- **TFN**: Identifies **you**. Confidential – never published, and only a short list of parties may ask for it. Eight or nine digits, issued by the ATO. Needed by anyone earning money in Australia. Without one, payers withhold 47%.\n\nThe pattern to remember: an ABN is something you show people, a TFN is something you protect.\n\n## Staying compliant\n\n- **Keep details current.** Update both records when your circumstances change, so ATO correspondence reaches you and your reporting stays accurate.\n- **Cancel an ABN you no longer use.** A dormant ABN still carries lodgement obligations, and leaving one open is a common cause of unexpected ATO letters.\n- **Watch for scams.** Applying for either number is free through the ABR and ATO. Services that charge a fee to \"register\" one for you are reselling something you can do yourself, and requests for your TFN by text or email are not legitimate.\n\n## Do I need a separate TFN for my business?\n\nThere is no such thing as a general **business tax file number** you apply for once. Whether your business needs a TFN of its own depends entirely on your structure, and this is where the ABN/TFN distinction stops being academic and starts costing money if you get it wrong.\n\n- **Sole trader – no**: You use your **personal** TFN. There is no separate business TFN, because there is no separate entity: you and the business are the same taxpayer. You get an ABN for the business, but the business income goes on your individual return under the TFN you already hold.\n- **Partnership – yes**: The partnership has its **own** TFN and lodges its own return. It does not pay tax itself – each partner reports their share on their personal return, under their own TFN. So a partnership involves three numbers or more: one for the partnership, one for each partner.\n- **Company – yes**: A company is a separate legal entity with its **own** TFN, its own ABN, its own return and its own tax rate. Your personal TFN has no part in the company's lodgements – you use yours only for what the company pays *you*, as salary or dividends.\n- **Trust – yes**: The trust has its **own** TFN and lodges its own return. Income is generally distributed to beneficiaries, who then report it under their own TFNs. The trustee company, if there is one, has a TFN of its own again.\n\nThe rule underneath all four: **a TFN belongs to a taxpayer, and an ABN belongs to a business.** A sole trader is one taxpayer running one business, so one TFN and one ABN. Every other structure creates a new taxpayer, and a new taxpayer needs its own TFN.\n\nThis is also why the structure decision matters more than it first appears. Changing structure later means new registrations, new lodgement obligations and, often, capital gains consequences on the assets you move across.\n\n> Deciding between a sole trader, a company and a trust? [Talk to us before you register](https://btmh.com.au/services/business-setup/) – we set up the entity, its TFN, its ABN, GST and PAYG together, so the numbers are right from the first invoice.\n\n## Which one do you actually need?\n\nIf you are starting out, we register your ABN, TFN, GST and PAYG together as part of [setting up your business](https://btmh.com.au/services/business-setup/) – so the numbers are right before you send your first invoice.\n\nIf you are already trading and just need the return lodged, that is our [tax returns](https://btmh.com.au/services/tax-returns/) work, from sole traders through to companies and trusts.", "date_published": "2024-09-13T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Blog-post_-ABNvsTFN-min.png", "tags": [ "Taxes", "Tips" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/tax-fundamentals/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/tax-fundamentals/", "title": "TAX FUNDAMENTALS", "summary": "Income tax, CGT, land tax, GST, Division 293 and the contributions tax: what each one is and when it applies to you, without the jargon.", "content_text": "Australian taxes are complex, and our primary job is to make you navigate and be compliant with all of them. To make our job more efficient, it helps if you understand the basic concepts and definitions.\n\nThere are different types of tax that can apply to you, depending on your circumstances.\n\n### **Income Tax**\n\nMost ‘popular’ as it applies to everyone who earns money, whether as Wages, through business, from investments, or other sources. Depending on legal presence, different rates may apply.\n\n### **Capital Gains Tax (CGT)**\n\nThis tax applies to profits made from the sale of assets such as real estate, shares, or other investments. CGT is part of the Income Tax regime and is added to the individual’s income and taxed at applicable rates.\n\n### **Land Tax**\n\nTax paid by landowners, calculated on the value of the land. Main residence is usually exempt and depending on the state or territory in which the land is located, there may be tax-free thresholds.\n\n### **Superannuation Contributions Tax**\n\nPayable by the Superannuation Fund, 15% tax is charged on concessional contributions – those which you or your Employer claim as a deduction.\n\n### **Division 293 Tax**\n\nIf your income (including Superannuation Contributions) is over $250,000, you will be charged an additional 15% tax on all concessional contributions. You may elect your fund to pay this tax for you.\n\n### **Goods and Services Tax (GST):**\n\nGST is an equivalent of VAT in Europe, and registered business charge it on the value of goods and services sold domestically. You must be registered for GST if your annual turnover is likely to exceed $75,000. When registered, you claim back GST charged on goods and services you purchased in the course of your business.\n\n### **Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT)**\n\nWhen employers provide additional benefits to employees or their associates (e.g., company cars), they may be liable to pay FBT, calculated on their value.\n\n### **Excise Duty**\n\nCompanies that produce or wholesale certain goods, such as alcohol, tobacco, or fuel, must pay excise duty.\n\n### **Luxury Car Tax (LCT)**\n\nTax on new (and in some circumstances, used) luxury vehicles. Usually, car dealers charge this tax on the customers.\n\n### **Customs Duties**\n\nCompanies importing goods into Australia are required to pay customs duties based on the type and value of the imported goods.\n\n### **Financial Year**\n\nFinancial year in Australia starts on 1st of July and ends on the 30th of June.\n\nQuarters have the same period breakdowns, but their numbering is aligned with financial year:\n\n- 1st July – 30th September is Quarter 1\n- 1st October – 31st December is Quarter 2\n- 1st January – 31st March is Quarter 3 and\n- 1st April – 30th June is Quarter 4.\n\n### **PAYG Instalment**\n\nBriefly mentioned above, PAYG instalments are prepayments of your income tax for the current financial year in advance. Taxpayers can choose to enter the system voluntarily or are automatically enrolled by the ATO.\n\nTo read more about it please see our previous blog post https://btmh.com.au/payg-instalments/\n\n### **PAYG Withholding**\n\nIf you have employees, you must withhold tax from the Wages you pay them, and pay on their behalf to the Tax Office. This withholding must be reported via Single Touch Payroll and on Activity Statement. Amount to be withheld depends on the amount of Wages, ATO produces tables to follow, but it’s best to use dedicated software for payroll.\n\n### **Business Activity Statement (BAS)** and **Instalment Activity Statement (IAS)**\n\nActivity Statement is a form to report various taxes and instalments by businesses. If the list of taxes include GST, then it’s BAS. If not, then it’s IAS. Other taxes that can be reported on Activity Statement are:\n\n- Goods and Service Tax (GST)\n- PAYG Instalments\n- PAYG Withholding\n- Fringe Benefits Tax\n- Luxury Car Tax\n- Wine Equalisation Tax\n- Fuel Tax Credits\n\nUsually, these obligations are due every quarter, but can vary in certain circumstances. Also, different tax types may have different reporting periods as well, e.g. Quarterly BAS for GST and monthly IAS for PAYG Withholding.\n\nUnderstanding Australian taxes doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By familiarising yourself with these key tax types and their requirements, you can manage your financial obligations with confidence. If you ever have questions, our tax professionals are here to help. With the right support, managing your taxes can become a simple step toward reaching your financial goals.", "date_published": "2024-08-30T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/PAYG-instalments-Business-Tax-Money-House-Sydney-Australia.jpg", "tags": [ "Taxes", "Tips" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/key-changes-from-the-2024-25-budget-that-may-affect-you/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/key-changes-from-the-2024-25-budget-that-may-affect-you/", "title": "Key Changes from the 2024-25 Federal Budget that may affect you", "summary": "Stage 3 tax cuts, the extended instant asset write-off and the superannuation changes: what took effect, and who each one applied to.", "content_text": "With the new financial year just around the corner, we will soon see a few new taxation changes come into effect. Being formally publicised during the 2024-25 federal budget, some of the new changes that will come into effect include the implementation of stage 3 tax cuts, extending the instant asset write off scheme and increases in ATO compliance activity.\n\n#### **Stage 3 Tax Cuts**\n\nFrom the 1st of July, the previously negotiated stage 3 tax cuts will finally come into effect. Following their legislation in 2018, these amendments were finalised with the announcement of the 2024-25 budget as part of the government’s plans to provide Australians with some financial relief.\n\n**From the start of the 2025 financial year, the tax brackets for Australian residents will be adjusted as follows:**\n\n- Taxable income: $0-$18,200 → nil\n- Taxable income: $18,201-$45,000 →16% of amount over $18,200\n- Taxable income: $45,001-$135,000→ $4,288 + 30% of amount over $45,000\n- Taxable income: $135,001-$190,000 → $31,288 + 37% of amount over $135,000\n- Taxable income over $190,001 → $51,638 + 45% of amount over $190,000\n\n**So if we were to compare it to the ending financial year:**\n\n- The 19% tax rate has been reduced to 16%\n- The 32.5% tax rate has been reduced to 30%\n- The 37% tax rate threshold has been moved from $120,000 to $135,000\n- The 45% tax rate threshold has been moved from $180,000 to $190,000\n\n#### **Instant asset Write Off Scheme Extension**\n\nThe instant asset write off scheme has been extended for a further year. Originally developed to help small businesses navigate covid, the scheme will remain in place for another year until July 2025 in a bid to help small businesses manage their cash flow at a time where business costs continue to rise.\n\nBusinesses with an annual turnover of less than $10 million will be able to immediately claim the full cost of eligible assets which cost less than $20,000. This threshold is implemented on a per-asset basis, meaning that a small business can write off multiple eligible assets.\n\n#### **Increase in ATO Compliance Activity**\n\nThe ATO will continue to increase its measures to ensure that lodgments are submitted on time and that debts are collected more efficiently. From the start of the new financial year, the ATO will implement late lodgment fines with increased frequency, being less lenient with the remittance of fines and general interest charges. They will also make it harder for taxpayers to re-set up payment plans once they have defaulted.\n\n#### **Expert Advice**\n\nSeeking answers to your tax questions? Embrace a fresh start this new financial year and get your records in order with the help of an accountant! Understand your tax position and maximize your expense opportunities by consulting one of our team members today.\n\n[Download Important Tax Dates](https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/BTMH-Calendar-Print-v2.pdf)", "date_published": "2024-06-14T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/blog-post-featured-images-5.jpg", "tags": [ "Business", "News", "Taxes" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/increasing-compliance-activity-ato-small-business-benchmark/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/increasing-compliance-activity-ato-small-business-benchmark/", "title": "Increasing Compliance Activity – ATO Small Business Benchmark", "summary": "The ATO publishes what a typical business in your industry reports. How to compare your own figures, and what sitting outside the range tends to trigger.", "content_text": "There are many ways to improve your business’ performance. While a trip to the accountant is a great way to get professional help in the optimizing of business procedures, home calculations using tools such as the ATO’s small business benchmark data is also a great way to get valuable insight into how your business compares to others in the industry.\n\n#### **What are ATO Small Business Benchmarks?**\n\nThe [Small Business Benchmarks](https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/small-business-benchmarks/benchmarks-a-z) program is an ATO initiative involving the gathering and publishing of expense benchmarks per industry and business size. This data is compiled from tax returns of over 1.9 million business returns that are lodged each year. These benchmarks consist of costs, presented as a percentage compared to turnover. Listed expenses include:\n\n- Total expenses\n- Cost of sales\n- Cost of labour\n- Rent expenses\n- Motor vehicle expenses\n\nThese benchmarks are used by the government to identify business trends in the Australian economy, making it an incredibly useful tool to analyse your performance. ATO also identified businesses that fall outside of the benchmarks and may use that knowledge to initiate reviews or audits.\n\n#### **How can these benchmarks help me?**\n\nThe ATO promotes these benchmarks to help small businesses compare their turnover with other businesses in the same industry. By doing some basic calculations, you can see how your business is performing in comparison to others in your field, and take action where you will find room for improvement.\n\nTo check your own benchmarks against the set of ATO data, you first need to compile your information in an orderly manner. This will include:\n\n- Gross business income\n- Salaries and wages\n- Vehicles\n- Interest\n- Costs of purchases and sales\n\nYou can then compare your business performance with the ATO benchmarks [manually](https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/small-business-benchmarks/compare-your-business-now/how-to-compare-your-business-performance-manually#ato-Compareyourperformance) or via the ATO app.\n\n#### **Falling above or below the benchmark**\n\nIf your ratios fall above the benchmark, it may be indicative of a low volume of sales or larger output of waste in comparison to others in the industry. If your ratio falls below the average, it may indicate that your business is more efficient than others in the industry. It is important to remember that these figures are all very general in nature and will not be applicable to the circumstances of each business in Australia. It’s always a good idea to seek advice and guidance from a professional in the field.\n\n#### **Improving business performance**\n\nIf you are concerned about the performance of your business or would like a professional to review your business model and practices, speak to an accountant and get onto the path to success today. At BTMH, we can help you with creating business forecasts, plans, compliance and grants.\n\n#### **Consulting an expert**\n\nNavigating the world of business can be tricky, requiring experience and a certain degree of expertise. At BTMH, we can take your mind off taxes, so you can focus on what matters to you. Want to improve your business performance, cashflow or compliance? [Book an appointment with us today.](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/)", "date_published": "2024-05-13T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/shareholders-agreement-Business-Tax-Money-House-Sydney-Australia-2.jpg", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Growth", "Business Structure" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/preparing-yourself-for-your-tax-return/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/preparing-yourself-for-your-tax-return/", "title": "Preparing Yourself for Your Tax Return", "summary": "The documents to gather before you see an accountant, so the appointment is spent on your position rather than on hunting for paperwork.", "content_text": "The individual return is due by **31 October** if you lodge it yourself. If you are with a registered tax agent and on their lodgment program, you generally have until **15 May** the following year – but you need to be on their books before 31 October for that to apply. Either way, the appointment goes better when the paperwork is ready, so here is what to bring.\n\n#### **The Basics**\n\nWhen seeing an accountant, there are a few basic things that you should bring along with you. Firstly, bring a photo ID. If you are on a temporary visa and are not entitled to Medicare, bring your passport. Secondly, save a copy of your last payslip for the financial year (last pay before 30 June) from each of your employers.\n\n#### **Working under an ABN**\n\nIf you work under Australian Business Number (ABN), the accountant will need you to provide records of your income and expenses, as this information may not be reported to the ATO. You can present this information as an excel file, via a cloud software, or even a hand-written list.\n\n#### **Other forms of Income**\n\nIf you had other forms of income during the financial year, you will need to inform the accountant and provide them with any relevant information.\n\n- **Rental properties** – provide a list of income and expenses for each property. A separate list must be provided for each property which you rent out. An end of year statement from your agent will help, but remember that agents don’t cover all your expenses. Make sure you have interest charged (not repayments), rates and other expenses also summarised.\n- **Shares, cryptocurrency and employee share schemes** – a list or end-of-year statement listing your shares, dates acquired and sold, as well as the amounts relating to your purchases and sales.\n- **Overseas income or investments** – if you are an Australian permanent resident, you must declare any foreign income you earn. This includes any business activities, pensions, assets, investments and related capital gains events.\n\nDividend and pension information is usually provided to the ATO by payers. Documents only need to be supplied upon request.\n\n#### **Deductions**\n\nTaxpayers are eligible to claim certain expenses. These expenses need to be clearly related to your work. Certain expenses such as a car can be used for both business and personal use. In these cases, you will need to adjust your claims to reflect the business usage. This business usage must be evidenced in a log book.\n\n#### **Your expense lists can include:**\n\n- Car or travel expenses incurred when travelling from one work site to another\n- Personal protective equipment or uniforms\n- Accounting expenses\n- Tools or equipment purchased for work and many more\n\nList as many things as you can, as it is easier for the accountant to go through all your expenses during the appointment than to make adjustments after the tax return has been lodged.\n\n#### **Record Keeping**\n\nIf you plan on deducting expense, the accountant will not need to see all your receipts.\n\nIf your total claims add up to over $300, you should be keeping your receipts in your records. Individuals should keep their receipts for five years since last claim (e.g. if you claim depreciation on car for 8 years, you should keep invoice for 13).\n\nYou can store the physical receipts or keep photos/digital copies on your computer. If you have a lot of expenses, you can keep track of them using the the ATO [my Deductions](https://www.ato.gov.au/online-services/online-services-for-individuals-and-sole-traders/ato-app/mydeductions/using-mydeductions) tool. If you are running a small business, it may be worth investing in an accounting software to streamline the process.\n\nAt BTMH, we can help you in setting up an accounting software. If record keeping is too much for you, we also offer a bookkeeping service, so you can focus on your passion and keep admin work to a minimum.\n\n#### **Lodging with BTMH**\n\nDon’t let your obligations pile up and get that return in before the end of this upcoming financial year!\n\nLodging your return with BTMH? [Ask us for a copy of our expenses template](https://btmh.com.au/contact/). You can see us in our office in **Bondi Junction** or connect online – [Book your appointment today](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/).\n\nYou can also keep up to date with our social media for tips and tricks!", "date_published": "2024-04-19T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/blog_april.jpg", "tags": [ "Individual Tax Return", "Tax Payments", "Tax Returns", "Taxes", "Tips" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/cash-flow-management-for-small-business/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/cash-flow-management-for-small-business/", "title": "Cash Flow Management – The Key to Financial Success of Your Business!", "summary": "Budget and projection, supplier terms, and staying on top of invoices. What to do when the business is profitable on paper and short of money in practice.", "content_text": "## **Let’s start with the purpose:**\n\n- ##### Proper cash flow management is crucial to maintain liquidity and growth\n\n- ##### All business decisions must be made in consideration of cash flow impact\n\n### **Cash is King**\n\nRunning a small business may be a rewarding experience, but more and more business owners face mounting cash flow challenges. With cost pressures on both the businesses and the consumers, growing costs of borrowing and tougher lending conditions, businesses must remember that cash is king: business keeps afloat as long as it has access to cash. In banking terms, it’s called maintaining liquidity.\n\nWhether the cash comes from investors or is generated through business, proper planning and management is essential to stay on top of your dues.\n\n### **Prepare a Budget and Cash Flow Projection**\n\nWith the dynamic nature of business, it’s important to develop projections and budgets for the future. Consider the timing of your budget, your fixed and variable costs and forecasted income. Keep track of your income and expenses and compare your predictions to actual results. By understanding the ebbs and flows of your business, you can make relevant adjustments and prepare for any shortfalls to ensure long term success. Make sure your tax obligations are included in your plan: ATO is now authorised to report your tax debt to credit agencies, and this may have a ripple effect on dealings with suppliers.\n\nConsider your cash flows when preparing your work and scheduling plans, don’t leave almost-finished work sitting around for too long, issue interim invoices whenever you can.\n\nBTMH can help you in forming these vital assumptions to build comprehensive cash flow projections and to help with performance analysis and strategies to grow your business.\n\n### **Negotiate with your Vendors**\n\nNegotiation is a vital tool for small business owners. Developing good relationships with your vendors can significantly help in cash flow matters. When discussing payments, negotiate payment dates that fit your cash flow. For example, if you purchase supplies which will take a few weeks to convert into a saleable product, negotiate payment after you turn the product into cash. can significantly reduce your business stress.\n\nKeep a tight grip on expenses. Commonly done via anexcel spreadsheet or accounting software, consistent and diligent record keeping will ensure that all your expenses are recorded. This data can be used not only to claim tax deductions but can also lead to an effective review of your spending; forming a plan to reduce it, or use your cash in a more efficient way.\n\nIf you’re in debt, stay on top of any debts by prompt communication, setting up payment plans and keeping your creditors in the loop. Lack of communication prompts creditors to take legal action early. At worst, consider legal paths to protect the value of the business, and its future potential, such as external administration.\n\nBTMH can help with your debts and finding paths to positive cash flow, and way out of debts.\n\n### **Stay on Top of your Invoices**\n\nA regular stream of income is important in every business. Reminding clients of their overdue invoices can be intimidating and easy to push to the side, but it’s important to take a proactive approach to ensure that the money continues to flow. Be clear about your payment agreements with your clients. Send your invoices to your clients as soon as you can and look at automating your invoicing system. By automating aspects of your system such as reminder emails, you not only save valuable time and money, but also eliminate the possibility of simply forgetting to do so. React quickly to overdue invoices and make sure you know your debtors’ situations. Good payers can turn into bad debts quickly.\n\nIt pays to offer a variety of payment options, such as PayID and credit cards. It may sound expensive, but if customer doesn’t have cash, or is otherwise in trouble, copping the fees may be the less expensive option.\n\nBTMH offers bookkeeping and debtor management services, helping you taking a firm stand on unpaid invoices.\n\n### **Help is Available**\n\nWhile cash flow management can be tricky, there are plenty of resources and guides available to help your business thrive. You can always follow BTMH on our social media to keep up-to-date with the last tax news and deadlines. Moreover, our **friendly** **accounting team** has extensive experience in assisting small businesses with their cash management. Whether you are just starting a business or have been in the game for a good many years, our team can provide you with essential insight into cash flow management and optimal taxation practices. We can develop cash flow projections, help with tax management, business structure, compliance and grants. We can also help with developing strategies, business plans and raising capital, as well as in bookkeeping and office management matters. You can us in our office in **Bondi Junction** or connect online – [Book your appointment today](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/).", "date_published": "2024-03-01T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/blog.jpg", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Growth", "Business Structure", "Tips" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/what-is-superannuation-guarantee/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/what-is-superannuation-guarantee/", "title": "What is Superannuation Guarantee?", "summary": "Super guarantee is 12% of qualifying earnings, and since 1 July 2026 it must reach the fund within seven business days of each payday. Who it covers, what counts, and what being late costs.", "content_text": "Superannuation Guarantee (SG) is the super an employer has to pay on behalf of an employee, on top of their wages. It is not optional, it is not part of the wage, and the rules for paying it changed materially on 1 July 2026.\n\n## The rate is 12%\n\nSG is **12% of qualifying earnings**. That is the final step of the legislated increases – the rate rose every year from 9.5% to 12% on 1 July 2025, and no further rise is legislated.\n\nIf you are reading an older article that says 10.5% or 11%, it is describing a year that has passed.\n\n## Who you pay it for\n\n- All employees, whether **casual, part-time or full-time**\n- **Directors**, on their director fees\n- **Contractors paid wholly or principally for their labour** – the contract, not the ABN, decides this, and it catches more people than employers expect\n\nYou do not pay SG for yourself if you are a sole trader or a partner in a partnership. You can contribute to your own super, but that is a personal contribution, not SG.\n\n## Since 1 July 2026: super is paid on payday\n\nThis is the change that catches businesses out. Super used to be quarterly, due 28 days after the end of each quarter. Those four dates are gone.\n\nUnder **payday super**, every time you pay qualifying earnings, the super on them must be **received by the employee's fund within seven business days**.\n\nTwo details do most of the damage:\n\n- **Received, not sent.** The clock stops when the fund has the money and can allocate it – not when your payroll run finishes, and not when the clearing house debits you. Build the lag into your process rather than paying on day six.\n- **Wrong member details mean it was never received.** A stale fund number or a mismatched name bounces the contribution back, and the deadline keeps running while it does.\n\n## What counts as qualifying earnings\n\nQualifying earnings (QE) replaced ordinary time earnings as the base. It broadly follows the old rules, but it is wider – it picks up commissions, amounts sacrificed into super, and payments to contractors who are treated as employees for super purposes.\n\nIf your payroll software was configured against the old OTE definition and nobody has revisited it, that is the first thing to check.\n\n## What it costs to be late\n\nMiss the seven days, even by a day, and the shortfall becomes the **SG charge**, which is built from:\n\n- the unpaid super itself\n- **notional earnings**, accruing daily from the payday you missed\n- an **administrative uplift of 60%** of those two combined\n- a **choice loading of up to 25%** where the choice-of-fund rules were not followed\n\nIf it is still unpaid 28 days after the ATO assesses it, a further penalty of 25% applies – 50% if you have been liable for the charge in the previous two years.\n\nUnlike the old superannuation guarantee charge, the charge itself is deductible. The penalties are not, and the arithmetic above means being late is far more expensive than any cash flow it buys you.\n\nThe ATO has said how it will approach the first year in **PCG 2026/1**: a risk-based approach through to 30 June 2027, with leniency for employers who are trying to comply and fix errors promptly. That is a transition concession, not a grace period, and it ends.\n\n## Paying it\n\nThe ATO's Small Business Superannuation Clearing House has closed. You need a SuperStream-compliant clearing house or a payroll product that pays super directly – and, given the seven-day rule, one that tells you when the fund actually received the money rather than when you submitted it.\n\nOur [payday super checklist](https://btmh.com.au/payday-super-practical-checklist-for-businesses/) walks through what to check in your own setup, step by step.\n\n## Where we fit\n\nBTMH looks after Superannuation Guarantee for our [payroll](https://btmh.com.au/services/payroll/) clients – calculating it, paying it on time under the new rules, and sorting out the ones that bounce. If you are not certain your current process meets the seven-day deadline, that is worth finding out before the ATO does.\n\n[Contact us](https://btmh.com.au/contact/) to discuss your payroll or get a quote.", "date_published": "2024-01-13T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/assets/blog/what-is-superannuation-guarantee.webp", "tags": [ "Business", "Payroll", "Superannuation" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/ato-scams-what-do-i-do/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/ato-scams-what-do-i-do/", "title": "ATO Scams – What do I do?", "summary": "The impersonation scams that target taxpayers, the warning signs worth knowing, and the steps to take if you have already clicked, replied or paid.", "content_text": "Scams are easily the most prevalent danger we face in our day-to-day lives. Even if you are familiar with all the classic warning signs, your online safety is not guaranteed. In light of this year’s Scams Awareness Week theme, ‘Impersonation Scams’, there is no better time than now to take a look at ATO related scams and what to do if you fall victim to online tax fraud.\n\n## **Popular Scams**\n\nWe’ve all received those suspicious texts about missing parcels or unpaid tolls, but scammers posing as the ATO are just as rampant, if not more dangerous.\n\nAccording to the latest figures from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Australians have lost $398.7 million to scammers since the start of the year. Scammers most commonly reach out to victims via text messages and emails, pretending that something is wrong and requiring action right away.\n\nThe most common ATO scams include:\n\n- ATO impersonation on social media\n- Tax refund SMS scams\n- Tax lodgment email scams\n- Fake TFN/ABN applications\n- Fake tax debt\n- False alerts of a suspended TFN\n\nYou can read in more detail about each of these types of scams in our [previous blog post](https://btmh.com.au/tax-scam/).\n\nIn just this past month, the ATO announced an increase in multifactor authentication email scams, where scammers try to convince their victim that their ATO account needs a security update. A QR code or a link is provided, leading you to a fake MyGov website asking you for log in details.\n\n## **Warning Signs**\n\nWhen dealing with strange correspondence from the ‘tax office’, keep in mind the following details.\n\nThe ATO will never:\n\n- Ask for your personal information over a text, email or social media\n- Send you an email, text message or social media post with a log in link/QR code\n- Send a prerecorded/robot voice message demanding urgent payment\n- Threaten to send over the police\n\nThe ATO will never ask you to pay via:\n\n- Cash\n- Overseas bank transfers\n- Gift cards\n- Cardless cash transfers\n- Cryptocurrency\n- Bank transfers OTHER THAN the Reserve Bank of Australia\n\n## **How to avoid being scammed?**\n\nThe main rule is to not click on links in text messages or e-mails, and to not give away any personal details over the phone. If you are not sure, request a call-back number and case reference. Search for this number on ATO website, to make sure it’s legitimate. Then, you can call the call-back number and discuss your matter. Remember, you are not under any obligation to provide your details over the phone.\n\n## **What to Do?**\n\nIf you believe that you have been scammed, you should contact the ATO or your accountant immediately. Once suspicious activity has been confirmed, The ATO will ask you if you have lost your wallet or if you have clicked on any suspicious links/correspondence. They will then provide you with a case number. Your ATO account will then be locked and your case sent off to their cybersecurity team. You should contact your bank and your superannuation company to inform them of the ATO investigation.\n\nTo try to minimise your exposure to ATO scams, change your passwords frequently and don’t use the same password for every account. You should also have your MyGov ID on maximum strength if possible and be very careful when choosing what devices to log into. Before making any lodgments, always triple check the bank details linked to your ATO account.\n\nIf you receive a fraudulent message, take screenshots of your correspondence and email them to [reportscams@ato.gov.au](mailto:reportscams@ato.gov.au). You can also make a report to Scamwatch [here](https://portal.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam/).\n\n## **What if I never clicked on a link?**\n\nSometimes, scammers will commit fraud in your name without contacting you directly. Whether it be through a data leak or some other sort of security breach, your data may have been compromised and used for fraudulent purposes. If you:\n\n- Get a notification that your return has been lodged when you have not done your tax\n- Notice updated bank details on your ATO account\n- Notice other unusual activity on your ATO account\n\nYou should get in contact with the ATO and your accountant immediately.\n\n## **Support for Victims**\n\nMany thousands of Australians fall victim to online scams, yet it can be very hard for victims come out about their experience. Victims of scams are often perceived as lacking common sense or education and can feel embarrassed to ask for help. It is important to engage in discussions around scams not only to raise awareness, but also to provide the victims with a sense of support.\n\nIf you are a victim in need of support, you can call the ATO ID Case Support Line on 1800 595 160. If you need assistance or would like to speak to an accountant, feel free to [make a booking](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/) with one of our friendly staff members.\n\n## **Contact Numbers**\n\nATO Client Identity Support Center – **1800 467 033**\nATO ID Case Support Line – **1800 595 160**\nThe Australian Cybersecurity Centre – **1300 292 371**\n\n**Further Reading:**\n\n- [National Anti-Scam Centre quarterly report | ACCC](https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/publications/serial-publications/national-anti-scam-centre-quarterly-report)\n- [Scamwatch – Scams Awareness Week 2023](https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/research-and-resources/scams-awareness-week-2023)\n- [ATO – Is it a Scam?](https://www.ato.gov.au/using-our-website/easier-to-read-information/is-it-a-scam-easy-read)", "date_published": "2023-12-08T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/blog-post-scam-alert.png", "tags": [ "Business", "News", "Tips" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/payg-instalments/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/payg-instalments/", "title": "PAYG Instalments: What Are They All About?", "summary": "PAYG (Pay-As-You-Go) instalments are a form of pre-payment for your income tax obligations. The amounts you paid in your instalments will be credited to you on your tax return. If your instalments (along with any other credits) exceed your tax obligation, the extra money will either be refunded to you or used towards your other tax office debts.", "content_text": "PAYG (Pay-As-You-Go) instalments are a form of pre-payment for your income tax obligations. The amounts you paid in your instalments will be credited to you on your tax return. If your instalments (along with any other credits) exceed your tax obligation, the extra money will either be refunded to you or used towards your other tax office debts.\n\n## What is an Instalment?\n\nInstalments are routine payments made during the financial year. They are calculated based on your past year tax return. PAYG instalments are issued after the lodgement of your return, usually in quarterly or annual instalments. Each instalment is dated, tying it to a respective financial year regardless of when you make the actual payment.\n\nWhen setting up your PAYG instalments, you can choose to pay either:\n\n- A fixed amount or\n- A percentage of your revenue\n\nPAYG instalments are for entities with business/ABN or investment income, not for people with salaries and wages. The aim of the system is to help people in business manage their tax and avoid a big tax bill at the end of the year.\n\nPAYG instalments can cover:\n\n- Bank interest income\n- Dividend income\n- Business income\n- Rental property income\n- Other forms of income\n\n## Entering The PAYG System\n\nEntities can be entered into the PAYG system automatically or manually. For individuals and trusts, automatic addition can be triggered based on the following factors:\n\n- Your business and investment income totalled $4000 or more\n- You had a ‘tax payable’ on your notice of assessment of $1000 or more\n- A notional (estimated) tax for the next financial year of $500 or more\n\nCompanies and superfunds may be added automatically if:\n\n- Their instalment income totalled $2 million or more\n- They have a notional (estimated) tax for the next financial year of $500 or more\n- They are the head company of a consolidated group\n\nMany choose to also enter the system voluntarily if they believe that they will hit the business and investment income threshold. You can do this through MyGov, or by speaking to a tax agent.\n\nYou can choose to enter, or be automatically entered, once your tax return has been lodged.\n\n## How Do I Lodge and Pay PAYG Instalments?\n\nYou can lodge and pay your PAYG instalments through your ATO online services account or through MyGov. You can also lodge your instalment through the mail using a paper form, which will be addressed to your activity statement account. It is important to note that sometimes, the ATO will address an instalment to your current or past business name. It is important not to disregard these notices and to pay them on time regardless.\n\n## Exiting and Variations\n\nIf you want to leave the PAYG instalment system, you need to contact the ATO prior to the 28th of October (the due date for the first instalment). If you find that your trading conditions change during the year, instalments can also be varied to suit your tax situation. You can also do this yourself, or through your tax agent. You must provide a reason and new amount or percentage and return the completed form by its due date.\n\nIt is important to understand that PAYG instalments are based on your past year financial activity. You may have stopped trading under your ABN or your other business activities, but unless you inform your accountant or the ATO, you will still be charged for these instalments.\n\nPAYG instalments are reported on your activity statement, so they sit inside our [GST and BAS](https://btmh.com.au/services/gst-and-bas/) service — and lodging through a registered tax agent buys roughly four extra weeks on every statement. If you need a professional consultation regarding your PAYG instalments, our chartered tax advisors are ready to help. [Book your appointment today.](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/)\n\nFurther reading:\n\n- [Pay as You Go: PAYG Instalments – ATO](https://business.gov.au/Finance/Taxation/Pay-as-you-go-PAYG-instalments)\n- [How to lodge and pay PAYG instalments – ATO](https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/PAYG-instalments/Lodging-and-paying-PAYG-instalments/How-to-lodge-and-pay-PAYG-instalments/)\n- [When are PAYG Instalments Due? – ATO](https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/PAYG-instalments/When-are-PAYG-instalments-due/)", "date_published": "2023-10-05T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/PAYG-instalments-Business-Tax-Money-House-Sydney-Australia.png", "tags": [ "Tax Refunds", "Tax Returns", "Tips", "PAYG", "PAYG instalments", "tax return" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/shareholders-agreement/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/shareholders-agreement/", "title": "Shareholders Agreement: a Must-Have to Reach Common Goals", "summary": "If you’re going into a business with others, we strongly encourage you to put a decent Shareholders Agreement in place.", "content_text": "If you’re going into a business with others, we strongly encourage you to put a decent Shareholders Agreement in place. When you plan your venture, your thoughts are most likely aligned, and your communication is superb. We wish you it lasts forever, but we all know this is not always the case. And it’s best to sign it when you are all in agreement, and before committing your time and capital. In this blog post, we briefly explain why a well-drafted shareholders agreement is not just a piece of paper, but a part of a solid foundation for business success.\n\n## **What is a shareholders agreement?**\n\nIt is a legally binding contract between the shareholders of a company. It serves as a guidebook for how the company will be managed, addressing important matters such as ownership structure, decision-making processes, dispute resolution mechanisms, and the rights and responsibilities of each shareholder. Shareholders agreements provide a clear framework for how the business will be operated, reducing misunderstandings and conflicts among shareholders. This clarity is especially crucial when there are multiple shareholders with varying expectations and goals.\n\n## **What elements should you include in a shareholders agreement?**\n\nThese agreements may seem complicated, but they boil down to a few universal elements that you should consider. Let’s have a quick look at what and why you should include the below:\n\n- **Business plan** – In first place you should write down main business goals and objectives, so that the Company does not ‘diversify’ or change its direction without consent of all shareholders;\n- **Dividend policies** – Establish guidelines for the distribution of profits to shareholders, ensuring transparency and fairness in the allocation of dividends based on agreed-upon criteria and timelines;\n- **Protection of minority shareholders** – In cases where one or more shareholders hold a minority stake, a well-drafted agreement can protect their interests by outlining special rights and protections;\n- **Confidentiality clauses** – Ensure that sensitive business information remains within the company’s walls;\n- **Dispute resolution** – Disputes are an unfortunate reality in business. A shareholders agreement can establish procedures for resolving conflicts, potentially preventing costly and time-consuming legal battles.\n\n## What else you should consider?\n\n- **Exit strategies** – Shareholders agreements often include provisions for selling or transferring shares, offering a structured way for shareholders to exit the business while minimising disruption, while protecting business from unwanted investors that would disrupt the business (Restrictions on share transfers);\n- **Breakdown rules** – If you can’t reach an agreement on any of the rules, you should implement rules that would provide a quick fix: either restructure of the Management, sale of the entire business, or buyout of one of shareholders. This clause can consider method of valuation and terms of repayment. It will allow the business to put its problems behind and ensure this loss of common ground will not lead all shareholders to lose their investment;\n- **Non-compete and non-solicitation agreements** – Protect the company’s interests by preventing shareholders from engaging in activities that could compete with or poach customers, employees, or business opportunities from the company;\n- **Future investments** – providing outline on how the Board should source its funding, e.g. new shares can only be issued if special resolution is passed, with exceptions where it would prevent insolvency;\n- **Compliance with Australian law and policies** – Shareholders agreements must comply with Australian corporate law. By consulting with legal and financial professionals, you can ensure that your agreement adheres to all relevant regulations.\n\n## **Involve taxation experts in drafting**\n\nDrafting a shareholder agreement requires legal expertise and involving a lawyer to prepare it. The tax and ownership side is ours — see [business structuring](https://btmh.com.au/services/business-structuring/) for how the entity and the ownership around it are put together. Nevertheless, don’t underestimate taxation expertise and engage with experienced tax advisor to ensure that the agreement covers all relevant matters. At BTMH, business & tax advisors offer their expertise in forming procedures, analysing consequences and effectiveness of each paragraph in reaching desired solutions in events considered. [Book your appointment with our Chartered Tax Advisor.](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/)\n\nFurther reading:\n\n- [Factors to consider in a partnership – CPA Australia](https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/-/media/project/cpa/corporate/documents/achivies/factors-consider-pp-partnership-shareholder-agreement.pdf?la=en&rev=7ad879da45e04d4fb77c0c28e7e980bc)\n- [Shareholders agreements – what can we learn from the Grill’d case?](https://www.somervillelegal.com.au/shareholders-agreements-what-can-we-learn-from-the-grilld-case/)\n- [A guide to shareholder agreements](https://www.somervillelegal.com.au/a-guide-to-shareholder-agreements/)\n- [Shareholder agreements: guide and checklist](https://ablawyers.com.au/expertise/shareholders-agreements/shareholders-agreement-guide-and-checklist)", "date_published": "2023-09-25T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/shareholders-agreement-Business-Tax-Money-House-Sydney-Australia.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Growth", "business planning", "growth strategy", "shareholder agreement" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/large-transactions-tax/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/large-transactions-tax/", "title": "What to Consider When Planning a Significant Acquisition? Large Transactions and Tax", "summary": "People plan significant acquisitions from various angles. However, tax and asset protection are often omitted. Let's analyse large transactions and tax...", "content_text": "People plan significant acquisitions from various angles. But large transactions, such as purchasing expensive equipment, taking out strategic lease, investment property or holiday house, may have different tax implications. However, tax and asset protection are often omitted. Today we will briefly analyse tax and asset protection consequences and explain how large transactions may impact your tax.\n\n## **Large transactions and tax: isolation of risks and assets**\n\nProper holding structure, such as trust, can save the asset from any problems that your business may face in the future, and can assist in a smoother financial settlement on marriage breakdown. It can also help managing tax on the yield if your family is involved. There may be additional expenses though, such as higher land tax, so you need to weight the costs and benefits and choose the most effective holding vehicle.\n\n## **Take care of your cash-flow**\n\nFirst, you should carefully plan the source of your funds, such as new and existing loans. Consider loans to retain existing loans’ deductibility status and ensure new loans are determined as investment, so you can claim the interest. If you are using own / family money, consider if the money is subject to any tax, e.g., untaxed profits, to avoid any surprise tax bills. Also, think about proper loan agreements to allow future refinance that retains deductible character of loan.\n\nPurchase of commercial property may also attract GST, which can be a short-term cash-flow problem. However, you can manage it and improve the cash-flow with proper planning and structuring of the purchase.\n\nIf you use assets in your business, put in place proper lease agreements to ensure deductibility of costs related to the asset from which you are generating profits.\n\n## **Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on the sale of assets**\n\nWhen buying an asset, you should consider consequences of sale at a profit to avoid traps. If you are a small business, you might be entitled to the [small business CGT concessions](https://btmh.com.au/small-business-cgt-concessions-what-you-should-know/) on active assets. Distributing of capital gains among the family can also make a difference in ultimate tax bill.\n\n## **Your chartered tax advisor at BTMH**\n\nGiven the complexity and frequent changes in tax law, you should always rely on the expertise of an accountant / tax advisor. When considering a significant investment, talk to BTMH and see if we can save you. We will do it by:\n\n- Identifying the purpose and characteristics of acquisition\n- Finding the most effective holding vehicle, given your circumstances\n- Ensuring most cost-effective way, considering cost to set up and maintain the asset in its proposed structure, and tax savings / other benefits\n\nDo you and your business need a consultation? [Book you appointment today.](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/)\n\nFurther reading:\n\n- [List of CGT assets and exemptions](https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Capital-gains-tax/List-of-CGT-assets-and-exemptions/)", "date_published": "2023-09-11T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/large-transactions-and-tax-BTMH.png", "tags": [ "Business", "large transactions", "tax planning" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/succession-planning-exit-strategies/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/succession-planning-exit-strategies/", "title": "Navigating Succession Planning and Exit Strategies", "summary": "A good plan for succession planning or exit strategy guarantees a new owner’s success and lets you leave on your own terms, be it due to retirement, new pursuits, or health.", "content_text": "Succession planning and exit strategies are vital for your business’s growth. A good plan guarantees a new owner’s success and lets you leave on your own terms, be it due to retirement, new pursuits, or health. Moreover, the dynamic nature of the Australian business landscape requires careful planning to secure smooth transitions and maintain business continuity. At BTMH, we have helped many clients dealing with these matters and today we want to share some insights.\n\n## **Understanding succession planning**\n\nSuccession planning involves identifying and developing internal talent to assume key roles within an organisation. In the end, it’s all about resourceful transition of leadership, maintaining business continuity, and minimising any possible disruptions.\n\n## **Key steps in effective succession planning**\n\nNo matter if you think about transferring your company’s ownership to a family member, employee or another entrusted person, these steps should help you with your strategy:\n\n- **Identify potential leaders** – Identify employees with leadership potential and skills that align with your business’s strategic goals.\n- **Invest in development** – Provide training, mentorship, and growth opportunities to nurture and enhance the skills of potential successors.\n- **Create a transition plan** – Develop a clear plan outlining the transfer of responsibilities, roles, and decision-making authority.\n- **Communication is key** – Transparent communication with both current leaders and potential successors ensures a smooth transition and minimises uncertainty.\n\n## **Crafting an effective exit strategy**\n\nWhat defines an effective strategy? Is there one universal recipe for success? Whether you’re looking to retire, pursue new opportunities or simply exit your business, you will need to have a well-structured strategy:\n\n- **Define your objectives** – Clearly outline your personal and financial objectives for exiting the business, such as financial security, legacy preservation or new ventures.\n- **Valuation and financial planning** – Accurately assess the value of your business and engage financial experts to plan for relevant tax implications and financial strategies. At BTMH, our tax advisors are experienced in those matters and can help you with minimising your tax burden.\n- **Select the right timing** – Market conditions and industry trends play a significant role in determining the optimal time for an exit. Therefore, strategic timing can impact your business’s value and marketability.\n- **Decide** whether to sell the business, pass it on to family members or employees, merge with another company, or consider an initial public offering (IPO).\n\n## **Legal and regulatory aspects of exit and succession planning**\n\nIn Australia, various legal and regulatory considerations impact succession planning and exit strategies, for example:\n\n- **Employee entitlements** – Ensure compliance with employee entitlements, including leave balances, superannuation, and redundancy pay.\n- **Agreements and contracts** – Review existing contracts, agreements, and leases to ensure a smooth transition or exit.\n- **Tax implications** – Seek professional advice to understand tax implications for both the business and its owners during succession or exit.\n\n## **Consult an experienced tax advisor at BTMH**\n\nNavigating succession planning and exit strategies can be complex, requiring expertise in financial planning, legal matters, and business valuation. Engaging an experienced accounting & taxation practice is essential to ensure a seamless transition and optimise your finances. At BTMH, we emphasise the importance of proactive succession planning and well-structured exit strategies for businesses. Do you think we might help you and your business? [Book an appointment with us today.](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/)\n\nFurther reading:\n\n- [https://business.gov.au/planning/business-plans/develop-your-succession-plan](https://business.gov.au/planning/business-plans/develop-your-succession-plan)\n- [https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/public-practice/my-firm-my-future/succession-planning](https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/public-practice/my-firm-my-future/succession-planning)\n- [https://www.hrmonline.com.au/section/featured/quarter-of-businesses-have-no-succession-plan/](https://www.hrmonline.com.au/section/featured/quarter-of-businesses-have-no-succession-plan/)", "date_published": "2023-09-01T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/succession-planning-and-exit-strategies-Australia-BTMH.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Structure", "exit strategy", "succession planning" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/digital-games-tax-offset/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/digital-games-tax-offset/", "title": "Boosting Australia’s Game Development Industry: Digital Games Tax Offset", "summary": "The DGTO offers a valuable opportunity to receive financial support for the completion, ongoing development, or porting of digital games.", "content_text": "The Digital Games Tax Offset (DGTO) gives eligible game developers a 30% refundable tax offset on qualifying Australian development expenditure. It applies to expenditure from 1 July 2022, and the law establishing it received royal assent on 23 June 2023 as Division 378 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.\n\n## **What does the DGTO mean for game developers in Australia?**\n\nThe DGTO offers a valuable opportunity to receive financial support for the completion, ongoing development, or porting of digital games. First of all, applicants must meet certain eligibility criteria. This includes certification by the Arts Minister and a minimum expenditure of $500,000 on qualifying activities. Applicants must be either Australian tax residents or foreign tax residents with a permanent establishment in Australia.\n\nThis offset is capped at $20 million per company or group of connected or affiliated companies per income year. Reaching this cap would require approximately $66.7 million in eligible expenditure, which showcases the potential impact and scale of this support for the industry.\n\nRead more on [the ATO’s digital games tax offset page](https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/income-and-deductions-for-business/concessions-offsets-and-rebates/digital-games-tax-offset).\n\n## **Consult a Chartered Tax Adviser about the Digital Games Tax Offset**\n\nIf you are a game developer or part of a game development company, you should stay updated about the eligibility criteria and application for the DGTO. It also sits alongside the [R&D Tax Incentive](https://btmh.com.au/rnd-tax/) and the other [government grants and incentives](https://btmh.com.au/services/government-grants/) a studio may be eligible for – they are assessed separately, and expenditure claimed under one cannot be claimed under another. However, to maximise benefits of the Digital Games Tax Offset, we recommend you seeking professional advice from a tax advisor. [Book your appointment with BTMH.](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/)", "date_published": "2023-08-18T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/digital-games-tax-offset-Australia.png", "tags": [ "Tax Offset", "digital games tax offset" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/student-loans-in-australia/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/student-loans-in-australia/", "title": "Understanding Student Loans System in Australia", "summary": "Are you seeking funding options for your studies? Do you have questions about student loans repayment strategies for the funds you've already utilized?", "content_text": "Universities and other facilities offer a myriad of different student loans and means in which to pay for higher education. As higher education becomes ever more important in opening up job opportunities, developing an understanding of the way these loans work is a great way to develop confidence in your studies.\n\n## **Different Types of Student Loans**\n\n**HECS and HELP** are loan programs which provide eligible students with an opportunity to defer the costs of their studies until they start to work. HELP covers costs for general higher education, such as TAFE, Universities or colleges, while HECS loans are specifically for students at public universities and certain private higher education institutions.\n\nHECS and HELP loans are provided for students in ‘Commonwealth Supported Places’, or CSPs. This is where the government pays for part of the total undergraduate course fee, while you pay the rest through these HECS loans. Only certain providers offer CSPs for postgraduate students.\n\n**FEE-HELP** is another form of commonwealth assistance, but instead of being available for CSPs, it supports students who enroll in courses or institutions where government funding is not provided and the university covers the full cost of the course.\n\n**VET loans** are offered to cover the fees of vocational and training courses, such as diplomas.\n\nFor most students, the loan limit is $113,028. These loans are only available to Australian citizens. You can check your HELP Balance [here](https://myhelpbalance.gov.au/). You can also see it on the bottom of your Notice of Assessment after the finalization of your tax return.\n\n## **How Do I Pay?**\n\nThere are two ways to pay off your student loans.\n\n## Compulsory Repayments\n\nYou start repaying once your repayment income passes the threshold: **$67,000** for 2025-26, the return being lodged now, and **$69,528** for 2026-27.\n\n**How it is worked out changed on 1 July 2025.** Repayments used to be a flat percentage of your *whole* repayment income, so crossing a threshold by a dollar could cost you hundreds. Since the 2025-26 year it is **marginal** – the rate applies only to the income above the threshold.\n\nFor 2025-26:\n\n- up to $67,000 – nothing\n- $67,001 to $125,000 – 15c for every dollar over $67,000\n- $125,001 to $179,285 – $8,700 plus 17c for every dollar over $125,000\n- $179,286 and over – 10% of your total repayment income\n\nFor 2026-27 the same shape applies from $69,528, with the second band starting at $129,718 and the flat 10% from $186,051.\n\nRepayment income is more than your salary: it is taxable income plus reportable fringe benefits, reportable super contributions, net investment losses and exempt foreign income. People are caught out by that more often than by the threshold itself.\n\nYou must tell your employer that you have a HELP debt. They will then use the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) system to withhold appropriate amounts from your pay. If your employer is not withholding these amounts from your pay, can complete a ‘withholding declaration’ online to tell your employer to start doing so through your MyGov account. When you complete your tax return, the ATO will determine the size of your compulsory payments. Note that these compulsory payments only appear once your tax return has been finalized.\n\n## Voluntary Repayments\n\nYou can also choose to voluntarily repay your HECS, which is most commonly done through Bpay or credit card. If you plan on making big contributions towards your debt, it is best to do so before lodging your return to avoid the debt from appearing on your Notice of Assessment, triggering more compulsory payments. There is **no upfront or voluntary repayment discount**. The 10% upfront discount was abolished on 1 January 2017, briefly reinstated, and abolished again from 1 January 2023; the 5% voluntary repayment bonus has not existed since 2017. If you have read otherwise, the page was out of date. (The one-off 20% reduction applied to HELP balances in June 2025 was a write-down of existing debt, not a discount for paying early.)\n\nBoth compulsory and voluntary repayments renew your available HELP balance starting from the 2020 financial year, allowing you to study more later in life.\n\n## Salary Packaging Agreements\n\nSalary packaging agreements can also be made by your employer, allowing you to make routine voluntary contributions as well as your compulsory payment. Consistent contributions will only appear on your debt once you have done your tax return. Voluntary repayments are not tax deductible. However, if an employer is making voluntary payments on your behalf, they may be entitled to a tax deduction. Note that this can have fringe benefit tax implications.\n\n## Get professional support with your student loan in Australia\n\nAt Business Tax & Money House, we can help you understand the tax implications of HELP loans and in making voluntary contributions. Compulsory repayments are calculated and settled through your [tax return](https://btmh.com.au/services/tax-returns/), which is where the surprises usually show up. [Book your appointment today.](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/)", "date_published": "2023-07-31T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/BTMH-student-loans-in-Australia-.png", "tags": [ "Loans", "HECS", "student loan", "voluntary repayment" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/medicare-levy-surcharge/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/medicare-levy-surcharge/", "title": "Medicare Levy Surcharge – What It Is and How to Avoid It", "summary": "Who pays the Medicare Levy Surcharge, the current income thresholds and rates, and how basic hospital cover can cost less than the surcharge. Bondi Junction tax accountants.", "content_text": "The Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) is an extra tax on higher earners who do not hold private hospital cover. It sits on top of the standard 2% Medicare Levy that most taxpayers pay, and it exists to take pressure off the public system by encouraging people who can afford cover to take it.\n\nThe part most people miss: **it is worked out through your tax return**, not billed separately. You can be liable for a full year of surcharge and only find out at lodgement.\n\n- **Who pays it**: Individuals and families above the income threshold who did not hold an appropriate level of private *hospital* cover for the full year. Extras cover does not count.\n- **What it costs**: 1% to 1.5% of your income for MLS purposes, depending on which tier you fall into – on top of the 2% Medicare Levy.\n- **How to avoid it**: Hold basic hospital cover. For many people the premium is less than the surcharge would have been, which is the whole point of the design.\n\n## The income thresholds\n\nThe thresholds are indexed most years. The figures below are for the **2026–27 financial year**. Income for MLS purposes is a broader measure than your taxable income – it adds back things like reportable fringe benefits and super contributions, which is why people are sometimes caught unexpectedly.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
TierSinglesFamiliesSurcharge
Baseup to $105,000up to $210,0000%
Tier 1$105,001 – $123,000$210,001 – $246,0001.0%
Tier 2$123,001 – $164,000$246,001 – $328,0001.25%
Tier 3$164,001 and above$328,001 and above1.5%
\n\nThe family threshold increases by $1,500 for each dependent child after the first.\n\n> Close to a threshold? The surcharge applies to your **whole** income for the days you were uncovered, not just the amount above the line – so a small pay rise can cost far more than it looks. [Talk to us](https://btmh.com.au/contact/) before the end of the financial year, while it can still be planned around.\n\n## How to avoid paying it\n\nYou only need **basic hospital cover** – not extras, not top cover. Insurers will happily sell you more, but the surcharge exemption turns on hospital cover alone.\n\nTwo things worth checking before you buy:\n\n- **Cover must be held for the full year** to exempt you for the full year. Take out a policy in March and you are still liable for the months before it.\n- **Some policies with very high excesses do not qualify.** There is a maximum excess above which a policy stops counting for MLS purposes, so the cheapest policy on a comparison site is not automatically the one that exempts you.\n\n## Lifetime Health Cover loading – a separate trap\n\nDistinct from the surcharge, and it catches people out because the two are often confused.\n\nIf you have not taken out private hospital cover by 1 July following your 31st birthday, a **Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading** is added to your premium – 2% for each year you delayed, up to 70%. It comes off once you have held cover continuously for ten years.\n\nSo delaying cover has two costs: the surcharge you pay now, and a permanently higher premium later.\n\n## Want to reduce your tax? Start with deductions\n\nThe surcharge is avoidable but not negotiable – you either held cover or you did not. Deductions are where there is actually room to move, and where most people leave money behind.\n\n- **Working from home**: The fixed rate covers energy, internet, phone and stationery – but it rules out claiming those separately, and it needs records kept as you go. [What the 70c rate actually means](https://btmh.com.au/working-from-home-deduction-what-the-70c-rate-actually-means/).\n- **Running a business**: Most business expenses are deductible where they connect to earning income, but the evidence matters as much as the expense. [what you can and cannot claim](https://btmh.com.au/claiming-business-expenses-whats-allowed-and-whats-not/).\n- **Planning ahead**: Timing, structure and super contributions change the outcome far more than any single deduction – but only before 30 June. [Tax planning](https://btmh.com.au/services/tax-planning/).\n\n## It is all settled in your tax return\n\nThe surcharge, the Medicare Levy, your private health rebate and every deduction land in the same place: your annual return. That is also the point at which mistakes become expensive, because the year is over and the options are gone.\n\nWe prepare returns for individuals, investors and businesses, and we check the health cover position as part of that – including whether you were covered for the full year, and whether the surcharge was worth avoiding in your circumstances.\n\n> Not sure whether the surcharge applies to you, or whether cover is worth it? We are in Bondi Junction and work with clients across Australia. Talk to us before 30 June, while there is still something to be done about it.\n>\n>\n> [Book an appointment](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/) · [Get in touch](https://btmh.com.au/contact/)", "date_published": "2023-07-14T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/medicare-levy-surcharge.png", "tags": [ "News", "medical levy", "medical levy surcharge" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/superannuation-guarantee-rise/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/superannuation-guarantee-rise/", "title": "Superannuation Guarantee rise", "summary": "Our July 2023 announcement of the SG rise to 11%. The rate is now 12% and super is paid each payday – see our current guide to the Superannuation Guarantee.", "content_text": "> **This post is from July 2023 and describes the rise to 11% as it was announced then.**\n> The SG rate reached its final legislated level of 12% on 1 July 2025, and since 1 July\n> 2026 super has been paid on each payday rather than quarterly. For the current rules,\n> see [What is Superannuation Guarantee?](https://btmh.com.au/what-is-superannuation-guarantee/).\n\nStarting from 1 July, the Super Guarantee (SG) Rate for your employees and eligible contractors has been increased to 11%. To ensure compliance, please update your payroll and accounting systems accordingly.\n\nRemember to:\n\n- Calculate super contributions at the new rate of 11% for payments of salary and wages made from 1 July onwards.\n- For the last quarter (ending 30 June), use the 10.5% rate for payments made before 1 July.\n\nPlease note that the SG rate is set to progressively rise to 12% by July 2025.\n\nIf you require assistance in determining the correct super contributions for your employees and eligible contractors post 1 July, you can always consult our accountants for professional advice. [Book your appointment](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/) today.", "date_published": "2023-07-13T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/superannuation-guarantee-rise.png", "tags": [ "News", "Superannuation" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/tax-scam/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/tax-scam/", "title": "How to Protect Yourself from Tax Scam?", "summary": "By familiarising yourself with these common tax scam methods and staying alert, you can protect yourself from falling victim to ATO impersonators. Remember the general rules for communication from the ATO.", "content_text": "## **How to Safeguard Your Finances During Tax Season (and not only)?**\n\nWith tax time just around the corner, scammers are stepping up their game by impersonating the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) with remarkable precision. It’s essential to be vigilant and familiarise yourself with the tell-tale signs of tax scam methods to avoid significant financial losses.\n\nFirst and foremost, it’s crucial to remember some general rules when receiving communication from the ATO. If you receive an email, SMS, or phone call purporting to be from the ATO, take a moment to pause and breathe. **If the message includes a link or an attachment, it is undoubtedly a tax scam.** Report it immediately and refrain from engaging with the sender.\n\nIt’s important to bear in mind that **the real ATO will never send you links to click on.** If the legitimate ATO contacts you, they will always direct you to contact them directly through their official sites, such as https://www.ato.gov.au or https://my.gov.au/, to log into your account securely. If you’re ever unsure about the authenticity of a communication or need clarification, don’t hesitate to call the ATO directly at 1800 008 540.\n\nNow, let’s explore some of the top scams to be aware of and how you can avoid falling victim to them. You can also explore [the ATO’s guidelines on verifying scams](https://www.ato.gov.au/general/online-services/identity-security-and-scams/verify-or-report-a-scam/?=redirected_scams&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzqKuufHV_wIVUddMAh2t4gK2EAAYASAAEgKq4_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds).\n\n## **Social Media Impersonation Accounts**\n\nScammers have infiltrated almost every social media platform, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, by impersonating the ATO and its employees. These fraudulent pages aim to trick you into sharing personal information such as email addresses, phone numbers, and bank account details. Remember that the genuine ATO has official presences on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, all of which bear the blue tick of authentication. Be wary of accounts without authentication and low follower counts, as **the real ATO will never request personal information through social media.**\n\n## **Tax Refund SMS Scams**\n\nThis scam has gained popularity and remains a significant concern in 2023. Scammers entice you to click on a link, leading you to a fake website that appears genuine. The goal is to collect your personal information. Always be cautious of SMS messages containing links. **The authentic ATO will never send you an SMS with a link in it.**\n\n## **Tax Lodgement Email Scam**\n\nScammers send deceptive emails containing false information about your tax return lodgement date, often including a fake receipt number. These manipulative emails discourage you from calling them directly and urge you to open an attachment instead. Clicking on the attachment will redirect you to a phony Microsoft sign-in screen. By entering your login details and password, cybercriminals gain access to your personal device, potentially compromising your sensitive information. Remember that **the real ATO will never send you an email with a link or attachment.**\n\n## **Fake TFN/ABN Applications**\n\nScammers advertise on social media platforms, promising assistance in obtaining a Tax File Number or Australian Business Number (ABN) for a fee. These advertisements are often found on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. However, remember that **applying for a TFN or ABN is free, and the real ATO will never advertise such services on social media.** Be cautious and avoid sharing personal information on fraudulent websites.\n\n## **Fake Tax Debt**\n\nScammers may contact you via phone or text, pretending to be from the ATO, and claim that you have a tax debt. They will use threatening language, stating that failure to pay immediately will result in arrest. These scammers will be persistent and demand payment through prepaid gift cards, credit cards, or even cryptocurrency. It’s important to note that **the authentic ATO will never call you to demand payment, threaten arrest, or use pre-recorded messages for such purposes.** If you receive such a call, hang up immediately.\n\n## **Asking You to Update Your myGov Details**\n\nThis recurring scam involves scammers impersonating myGov and sending emails informing individuals that they need to update their details. These emails often include a link, directing you to a fake myGov website where you are asked to sign in with your myGov credentials. Remember that **the real ATO and myGov will never send you an email or SMS with a link requesting you to update your information.**\n\n## **Sending Alerts Claiming You Have a Suspended TFN**\n\nIn recent years, the ATO has received reports of automated calls where a voice message claims that your Tax File Number (TFN) has been suspended and legal action has been taken against you. Scammers use this tactic to create fear and anxiety. They may ask for personal details, such as the last four digits of your TFN, address, date of birth, name of your bank account, and approximate account balance. It’s important to know that **the ATO will never send unsolicited pre-recorded messages to your phone or threaten immediate arrest.** If you receive such a call, hang up immediately.\n\nBy familiarising yourself with these common scams and staying alert, you can protect yourself from falling victim to ATO impersonators. Remember the general rules for communication from the ATO, such as not clicking on links or opening attachments. If you have any doubts or need clarification, contact the ATO directly using their official contact details. Stay informed, be cautious, and safeguard your financial well-being during tax season.\n\n## **If you are in doubts, you can always call your accountant to confirm if it is ATO**\n\nPlease note that scammers are constantly evolving their tactics, so it’s essential to stay updated on the latest scams and report any suspicious activity to the appropriate authorities. Your diligence and awareness are crucial in combating these fraudulent schemes and protecting yourself from financial harm.\n\n[Contact BTMH today.](https://btmh.com.au/contact/)", "date_published": "2023-07-03T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/scam-ATO-Australia-tax-how-to-protect-yourself-tax-period.png", "tags": [ "Tips", "scam", "tax scams" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/low-middle-income-tax-offsets/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/low-middle-income-tax-offsets/", "title": "End of Low & Middle Income Tax Offsets in 2023", "summary": "The Low & Middle Income Tax offset was originally introduced for those recognised as Australian residents for income tax purposes earning under $126,000 as part of a tax cut plan.", "content_text": "## **End of Low & Middle Income Tax Offsets**\n\nThe Low and Middle Income Tax Offset (LMITO) is gone, and it has been gone for longer than most people think. It is still the single most common explanation we give for a refund that came back smaller than the year before.\n\n## What is the Low and Middle Income Tax Offset?\n\nAustralian Taxation Office (ATO) introduced the offset for those recognised as Australian residents for income tax purposes earning under $126,000 as part of a tax cut plan. Between the 2019 and 2021 financial years, the offset amount stayed between $255 and $1080. ATO increased it by $420 for the 2022 financial year, to assist with the increase cost of living.\n\n## When it ended\n\nThe last income year LMITO could be claimed was **2021-22**. It ended on **30 June 2022** – not 2023 – and it was not extended or replaced. For most people that meant up to $1,500 less in the 2022-23 refund than the year before, with no change in their own circumstances to explain it.\n\n## What still exists\n\nThe **low income tax offset (LITO)** is a different thing and is still current – see [what tax offsets are and how they work](https://btmh.com.au/taxoffsets/) for the broader picture: up to **$700** where taxable income is $37,500 or less, shading out to nil at $66,667. It applies automatically – there is nothing to claim and nothing to do.\n\nIf you want the current brackets, thresholds and offsets in one place, our [guide to income tax rates, the Medicare levy and SAPTO](https://btmh.com.au/guide-to-australian-tax-updates-income-tax-rates-medicare-levy-sapto-changes/) is kept up to date. The ATO also publishes the [LMITO history](https://www.ato.gov.au/forms-and-instructions/low-and-middle-income-earner-tax-offsets).\n\n## Let us help you with your deductions\n\nAt BTMH, we are here to help you navigate these tax changes and maximise your deductions. Our team of experienced professionals can provide expert guidance tailored to your unique financial situation. [Contact us today](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/) to schedule a consultation and ensure you make the most of your tax return. Don’t miss out on potential savings – let us assist you in achieving your financial goals.", "date_published": "2023-06-26T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/low-middle-income-tax-offset-Australia-.png", "tags": [ "Tax Offset", "Tax Returns", "Low income" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/small-business-tax-management/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/small-business-tax-management/", "title": "Small Business Tax Management: Driving Success Through Effective Financial Strategies", "summary": "Tax planning is a critical aspect of running a small business. It involves a comprehensive review of your business, personal goals, assets, and liabilities.Tax planning is a critical aspect of running a small business. It involves a comprehensive review of your business, personal goals, assets, and liabilities to ensure that each position aligns with your overall tax strategy.", "content_text": "## Why Small Business Tax Management is Essential for Growth\n\nTax planning is a critical aspect of running a small business. It involves a comprehensive review of your business, personal goals, assets, and liabilities to ensure that each position aligns with your overall tax strategy. By implementing effective tax management techniques, small businesses can optimise their financial resources, reduce tax burdens, and ultimately pave the way for long-term success. We believe that proper accounting & taxation management goes beyond fulfilling tax obligations towards the [ATO](https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Tax-and-small-business/) as it has a significant impact on the growth of your company and your financial well-being. Business Tax & Money House (BTMH) is a trusted partner that can assist with all transactional tax planning, ensuring your business is on the right track.\n\n## **Maximising Deductions and Credits**\n\nSmall businesses often overlook potential deductions and credits that can significantly reduce their tax liabilities. Tax planning involves a thorough examination of eligible expenses, such as operational costs, marketing expenses, and employee benefits. BTMH’s expertise can help identify deductions and credits specific to your industry, ensuring you take full advantage of available opportunities.\n\n## **Structuring Business Operations**\n\nProperly structuring your business operations is essential for tax management. Whether you are a sole proprietor, partnership, or corporation, BTMH can guide you in selecting the most tax-efficient structure. They consider factors such as liability protection, ease of administration, and tax implications to help you make informed decisions that align with your long-term goals.\n\n## **Strategic Income and Expense Management**\n\nEffective tax planning involves strategically managing your business’s income and expenses. BTMH works closely with you to analyse your revenue streams, the timing of expenses, and potential tax implications. By optimising your income and expenses, you can smooth out tax obligations and minimise the risk of penalties or audits.\n\n## **Compliance with Changing Tax Laws**\n\nTax laws are subject to constant change, making it crucial for small businesses to stay updated and compliant. BTMH stays ahead of tax a reform, ensuring your business remains in adherence to the latest regulations. Their expertise allows them to proactively identify potential risks and opportunities for your business, keeping you on the right side of the law while maximising your tax benefits.\n\n## **Year-Round Tax Planning**\n\nTax planning should not be a once-a-year event but rather a year-round process. BTMH understands the importance of ongoing tax management and provides continuous support to monitor your business’s financial health. By regularly reviewing your financial statements, tax returns, and business goals, they can adjust your tax strategy accordingly, enabling you to stay ahead of potential challenges and capitalise on emerging opportunities.\n\n## **To Conclude**\n\nSmall business tax management is a critical component of overall business success. With the help of BTMH, you can navigate the complex landscape of tax planning and ensure your business remains financially optimised. By maximising deductions and credits, structuring business operations efficiently, strategically managing income and expenses, complying with tax laws, and implementing year-round tax planning, you can position your business for long-term growth and prosperity. Don’t let taxes hinder your success –partner with BTMH to unlock the full potential of your small business. [Book your appointment today.](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/)", "date_published": "2023-06-22T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/self-employed-sole-trader-ABN-small-business-owner.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Growth", "small business", "sole trader", "tax management" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/strategic-tax-planning/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/strategic-tax-planning/", "title": "How to Use Strategic Tax Planning to Reduce Your Taxes?", "summary": "Strategic tax planning is a powerful tool that allows individuals and businesses to minimise their tax liabilities while aligning their financial decisions with their overall objectives.", "content_text": "Tax planning is a vital aspect of financial management that allows individuals and businesses to optimise their tax liabilities. By strategically assessing and organising their financial affairs, taxpayers can legally minimise their tax burden while remaining compliant with the tax laws. One effective approach to achieving this goal is through comprehensive tax planning. Here, we will explore the importance of tax planning, its key components, and how a professional service like Business Tax & Money House (BTMH) can assist in transactional tax planning.\n\n## **Understanding Strategic Tax Planning**\n\n[Tax planning](https://btmh.com.au/services/tax-planning/) goes beyond simple tax preparation; it involves a comprehensive review of your business, personal goals, assets, and liabilities to ensure that each position aligns with your overall tax strategy. By analysing your financial situation, you can identify opportunities to reduce your tax liability while making informed decisions about investments, expenses, and deductions.\n\n## **Key Components of Strategic Tax Planning**\n\n- **Evaluation of Business and Personal Goals:** To create an effective tax plan, it is essential to understand both your business and personal financial objectives. A thorough assessment of your short-term and long-term goals will help determine the best tax-saving strategies for your specific situation.\n- **Income and Expense Analysis:** Identifying potential sources of income and analysing deductible expenses can significantly impact your tax liability. By strategically timing income recognition and managing deductions, you can optimise your taxable income and lower your overall tax rate.\n- **Asset and Liability Review:** Reviewing your assets and liabilities enables you to make informed decisions about investment strategies, debt management, and asset allocation. Properly structuring your assets and liabilities can minimise tax consequences and maximise deductions.\n- **Compliance with Tax Laws:** Tax planning should always prioritise compliance with applicable tax laws and regulations. It is essential to stay updated on current tax laws and leverage available incentives, credits, and deductions while adhering to legal requirements.\n\n## **Business Tax & Money House (BTMH): Your Tax Planning Partner**\n\nTransactional tax planning can be a complex process, requiring expertise and knowledge of ever-changing tax regulations. Seeking assistance from professionals like BTMH can provide invaluable guidance and expertise in navigating the intricacies of tax planning.\n\nBTMH offers comprehensive transactional tax planning services, tailored to individual needs and business objectives. The team of experienced tax professional can help identify tax-saving opportunities, devise effective strategies, and ensure compliance with all relevant laws and regulations. Whether you require assistance with income tax planning, investment strategies, or asset and liability structuring, BTMH can provide personalized solutions to optimise your tax position.\n\n[Book your appointment today.](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/)\n\n## **Conclusion**\n\nStrategic tax planning is a powerful tool that allows individuals and businesses to minimise their tax liabilities while aligning their financial decisions with their overall objectives. By conducting a comprehensive review of your business, personal goals, assets, and liabilities, you can identify opportunities to reduce your taxes legally. With proper tax planning and expert guidance, you can achieve greater financial efficiency and peace of mind.", "date_published": "2023-06-22T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/strategic-planning-taxes-business-growth.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Growth", "business", "business structure", "Tax" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/tax-return-2023/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/tax-return-2023/", "title": "Tax Return 2023 – Useful Tips from ATO", "summary": "Understand the most important aspects of your tax return, based on common errors that Australian taxpayers make every year.", "content_text": "> **This post is about the 2023 tax return.** Rates and thresholds have moved since: the\n> working-from-home fixed rate is now **70 cents per hour**. For the current year see our\n> [guide to income tax rates, the Medicare levy and SAPTO](https://btmh.com.au/guide-to-australian-tax-updates-income-tax-rates-medicare-levy-sapto-changes/).\n\nAs tax season approaches in Australia, it’s important to be aware of [the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) guidelines](https://www.ato.gov.au/Media-centre/Media-releases/In-the-ATO-s-sights-this-tax-time/) when it comes to lodging your tax return. In this post, we will briefly remind you the most important aspects of your tax returns, based on common errors that Australian taxpayers make every year.\n\n## How to Maximise Your Tax Deductions?\n\nDiscover the main tips and strategies that can help you make the most of your tax deductions. However, if you need professional support with your deductions, BTMH accountants can assist you in tracking your expenses effectively, identifying often overlooked deductions, and optimising your tax return.\n\n## **Define Properly Your Work-Related Expenses**\n\nThe ATO will prioritize ensuring that taxpayers understand the changes to work-from-home deductions and can substantiate their claims. The previous “shortcut method” (claiming 80 cents per hour) is no longer applicable. Instead, taxpayers can choose between the actual cost method or the revised fixed-rate method.\n\nFor the 2022-23 income year the revised fixed-rate method was 67 cents per hour, covering energy, phone usage, internet, stationery and consumables. However, it is essential to keep detailed records of all hours worked from home throughout the entire income year, rather than relying on estimates or a four-week representative diary. Read more [here](https://btmh.com.au/work-from-home-tax-2023/).\n\n## **If You Have Rental-Property Deductions**\n\nThe ATO will be scrutinising rental-property deductions, as previous audits revealed that nine out of ten rental-property owners made errors in their returns. Specifically, interest-expense claims will be closely examined. Taxpayers can only claim interest on loans used to purchase a rental property for the purpose of earning rental income. If the loan also covers private expenses, such as a car, interest deductions can only be claimed for the portion directly related to the rental property.\n\n## **Calculate Capital Gains Tax (CGT)**\n\nTaxpayers need to calculate capital gains or losses when disposing of assets such as shares, cryptocurrencies, managed investments, or properties. It is crucial to accurately assess CGT obligations and declare gains or losses for each asset unless an exemption applies. Attempting to avoid declaring gains by assuming the ATO won’t notice is a risky strategy, as the ATO actively monitors such transactions.\n\n## **Don’t Forget About Your Side Hustles and Gig Economy Income!**\n\nThe ATO emphasizes the importance of declaring income earned from side hustles or gig economy work. If you engage in repeated activities for the purpose of making a profit, you are likely running a business. Running a business entails specific obligations, including registering for an Australian Business Number (ABN), maintaining accurate records, filing the appropriate tax returns, and potentially registering for [the Goods and Services Tax (GST)](https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/GST/Registering-for-GST/).\n\nRemember to always keep the accurate records and do not hesitate to seek professional advice if needed. It will help you fulfill your tax obligations, and in the end, you will get the most of your potential deductions. In BTMH, we know how to manage taxes and optimise them either for individuals or businesses.\n\n[Book your appointment with us.](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/) Make sure you get the most out of your tax return!", "date_published": "2023-06-22T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/tax-return-deductions-ATO-2023-Australia-optimise-tax.png", "tags": [ "Individual Tax Return", "Tax Returns", "individual tax return", "sole trader", "Tax", "tax deductions", "tax offsets" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/work-from-home-tax-2023/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/work-from-home-tax-2023/", "title": "Work from Home? Learn about 2023 Tax Return Changes for WFH Employees", "summary": "If you work from home, it's the time to discover the latest tax changes announced by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Read more...", "content_text": "> **Written in June 2023, for the 2022-23 return.** The fixed rate has since risen to\n> **70 cents per hour**, from 1 July 2024, and the record-keeping rules tightened further.\n> For the current position see [what the 70c rate actually means](https://btmh.com.au/working-from-home-deduction-what-the-70c-rate-actually-means/).\n\n[The Australian Taxation Office (ATO)](https://www.ato.gov.au/Media-centre/Media-releases/ATO-announces-changes-to-working-from-home-deductions/) has announced some major tax changes affecting the millions of Australians who work from home. These changes will alter the way in which individuals can claim working from home tax deductions, with the aim of providing clearer guidelines and ensuring fairness in the tax system. It’s now the perfect time to explore the key changes and what they mean for you while working remotely.\n\n## Key changes for WFH employees in 2023\n\nPlease find below a comprehensive breakdown of the key changes introduced by the ATO and their impact on tax deductions for individuals working from home. We’ll provide clear explanations, practical examples, and actionable tips to help you navigate these changes effectively. Stay tuned to ensure you’re up to date with the latest information and make the most of the opportunities presented by the evolving work landscape.\n\n## **“Fixed Rate” Method Revision**\n\nOne of the more significant changes introduced is the revision of the “fixed rate” method for claiming work from home tax deductions. The fixed rate method allowed individuals to claim deductions for expenses such as energy bills, phone usage, and internet. For the 2022-23 income year the fixed rate rose from 52 cents to 67 cents per hour. This adjustment takes into account costs that are challenging for taxpayers to calculate precisely, such as phone, internet and electricity expenses.\n\n## **Separate Claims for Assets and Equipment**\n\nIt’s important to note that the revised fixed rate method does not include deductions for assets and equipment typically associated with working from home, such as tech and office furniture. Taxpayers will need to claim these separately using the appropriate methods, emphasising the need for individuals to maintain accurate records and receipts for such expenses.\n\n## **No Dedicated Home Office Space Required**\n\nUnlike the previous requirements, the revised fixed rate method no longer necessitates a dedicated home office space. This is good news for those who work from various areas within their homes or who have limited space. The ATO recognizes that many Australians have adapted their work arrangements due to the pandemic and this change allows for greater flexibility when claiming expenses.\n\n## **End of the “Shortcut Method”**\n\nThe “shortcut method,” which allowed individuals to claim 80 cents per hour for work from home expenses, has come to an end. Introduced during the pandemic, this method provided a simplified approach to claiming deductions. However, with the easing of restrictions and the return to normal working conditions, the ATO has reverted to the revised fixed rate method as the primary means of claiming working from home expenses.\n\n## **Maintaining Detailed Records**\n\nTo ensure compliance with the new regulations, it is crucial for Australians to keep accurate records of their work from home activities and expenses. Starting from March 1 2023, individuals will be required to maintain an ongoing diary for each work-from-home day throughout the year. A representative four-week diary will no longer be sufficient. You can prepare timesheets, rosters and activity logs of time spent accessing employer or business systems, or even a diary for the full year. Additionally, it is essential to retain copies of utility bills and any other relevant documents that support the claimed deductions.\n\nAlways ensure you understand new requirements to avoid facing potential issues with your tax returns. By maintaining detailed records and seeking professional advice, you can navigate these changes smoothly and make the most of available deductions while working from home. Remember that you can always rely on our experienced team of accountants and tax advisors.\n\n[Book your appointment with BTMH.](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/) We can prepare your tax return 100% online or during your visit in our office in Bondi Junction, Sydney.", "date_published": "2023-06-22T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/work-from-home-2023-tax-australia.png", "tags": [ "Individual Tax Return", "News", "individual tax return", "tax deductions", "tax offsets", "WFH", "work from home" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/taxoffsets/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/taxoffsets/", "title": "Tax Offsets in 2023 – Introduction", "summary": "Tax offsets, or tax rebates, are ways in which you can lessen the tax on your taxable income. They are different to tax deductions.", "content_text": "## **What are Tax Offsets or Tax Rebates?**\n\nTax offsets, or rebates, are ways in which you can lessen the tax on your taxable income. They are different to tax deductions, which reduce your taxable income. Tax offsets reduce the amount you pay after [the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)](https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-deductions-offsets-and-records/Tax-offsets/) does its work. Some of them are applied automatically by the ATO. For others, you must apply for independently. Some of the more popular ones include the low income, seniors and pensioners and private health insurance offsets.\n\n## **What are the types of Tax Offsets?**\n\nOffsets such as the ‘low-income tax offset’ are automatically applied by the ATO for those earning up to $66,667. Between the 2019 and 2022 financial years, a low-and-middle-income tax offset was introduced. It is no longer applicable from the 2023 FY onwards. The seniors and pensioners offset is around to help those on Centrelink payments, age pensions or veteran pensions pay their tax. This rebate has more fickle eligibility criteria and effects, it being a great example of how extensive rebates can be. The private health insurance rebate was introduced as a way to help people pay for their health cover. The claiming process is more complex, but our accountants are always happy to help.\n\nAs seen above, offsets can be both far reaching and quite niche. Disability, kids, and superannuation are all factors which can influence your tax rebate eligibility. It is worth discussing your options with an accountant to feel your best during tax time.\n\n## **Consult your Tax Offsets with an accountant**\n\nIf you are looking for professional support from an experienced accountant and registered tax agent, [book your appointment with BTMH](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/). We can assist you both in our office in Bondi Junction or connect remotely.", "date_published": "2023-06-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/tax-offset.png", "tags": [ "Tax Offset" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/the-new-toll-relief-from-july-2023/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/the-new-toll-relief-from-july-2023/", "title": "The New Toll Relief from July 2023", "summary": "Read about the new Toll Relief Rebate in NSW, which can give you up to 40% refund for your expenses. Eligibility requirement, exclusions...", "content_text": "> **This post describes the 40% toll rebate, which has ended.** Claims for the final\n> 2023-24 period closed on 30 June 2025. It was replaced by a weekly toll cap: spend\n> above the cap is rebated, up to $350 a week per tag or plate, on spending between the\n> cap and $400 a week, to an annual limit of $5,000. The cap ran at $60 from 1 January\n> 2024, was made permanent in December 2025, and is **$50 from 6 July 2026 until 4 July\n> 2027**, after which it returns to $60. Toll administration fees were abolished at the\n> same time. It is not automatic: link your toll account to a MyServiceNSW Account and\n> claim every three months – claims for the first period under the $50 cap open in\n> October 2026. See [Service NSW](https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/services/toll-relief).\n\n## **The New Toll Relief from 1 July 2023**\n\nWe all look forward to New Years, with parties, food, and fireworks. This new financial year has plenty to offer our clients as well. One of the more interesting introductions arriving on the 1st of July is the new Toll Relief Rebate. Those eligible may find themselves claiming a refund of 40%.\n\n## **Who is eligible for the New Toll Relief Rebate?**\n\nFirst off, eligibility is only granted to NSW residents. To be eligible, one must spend $375 or more on tolls in a financial year. One must have already paid for the tolls and accumulate the expense on one single personal toll account at a time. Personal toll account providers include E-Toll or Transurban Linkt. You must make the claim within one financial year end by which you paid the tolls.\n\n## **Exclusions from the New Toll Relief Rebate**\n\nTrips taken before the 1st of July 2022 will not be eligible for this rebate. Fees for administration, number plate recognition and other charges cannot be claimed. You will not be able to claim the yearly rebate if you have already received a refund during your quarterly lodgments.\n\nThere are also specifications for eligible cars and roads. You must accumulate the toll on a privately registered vehicle under 2794 kg in weight, so no heavy vehicles. The vehicle must be registered in NSW. Please read [the Service NSW toll relief page](https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/services/toll-relief) for the scheme that operates now.\n\n## **Book your consultation**\n\nIf you need help with your deductions, our friendly team of accountants and tax advisors in Bondi Junction would be happy to assist you. [Book your appointment](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/) today. Feel welcome to our office or let’s meet online if it’s more convenient for you.", "date_published": "2023-06-16T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/toll-NSW-Australia.png", "tags": [ "News", "Tax Offset" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/rnd-tax/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/rnd-tax/", "title": "The Research and Development Tax Incentive – 2023 Overview", "summary": "Research and Development Tax Incentive offers companies offsetting eligible Research and Development activities costs.", "content_text": "## **R&DTI – What is it about?**\n\n**The Research and Development Tax Incentive (R&DTI)** offers companies offsetting eligible R&D activities costs. It was developed to encourage companies to innovate and grow, benefiting the Australian economy.\n\n## **Who can claim R&DTI?**\n\nThe R&D Tax Incentive is only available to companies incorporated in Australia. Companies also need to be registered with AusIndustry within 10 months of the end of financial year. Trusts and Trustee companies are not eligible.\n\n## **What is the benefit of the Research and Development Tax Incentive?**\n\nFor companies with a group turnover of less than $20m, the offset is the company tax rate **plus 18.5 percentage points** – 43.5% for a base rate entity paying 25%. It is refundable, so a company in losses receives it as cash rather than carrying it forward.\n\nFor companies at $20m or more, the offset is non-refundable and depends on R&D intensity – R&D spending as a proportion of total expenditure. Up to and including 2% intensity it is the company tax rate plus 8.5 points; above 2%, plus 16.5 points.\n\nNotional deductions are capped at **$150 million** in an income year, and there is a **$20,000 minimum** spend, except where the expenditure goes to a registered Research Service Provider, which is not subject to that minimum.\n\n## Tobacco and gambling activities are now excluded\n\nFrom income years starting on or after 1 July 2025, activities relating to gambling or gambling-like practices, tobacco, tobacco products, vaping goods and certain nicotine goods generally cannot be core or supporting R&D activities. A narrow exception applies where the activity is solely for a specified harm-minimisation purpose.\n\nThis reaches further than the obvious operators – software, data analytics and platform businesses working in those supply chains are caught too – and there is no grandfathering for projects that began before it was announced. If any part of your R&D touches those areas, get advice before you register.\n\n## **What are eligible activities for R&DTI?**\n\nCore R&D activities are defined as:\n\n**Experimental activities** – whose outcome cannot be determined in advance, based on principles of established science proceeding from hypothesis to experimentation, evaluation and logical conclusion and conducted for the purpose of generating new knowledge including new or improved products, processes, materials, devices or services;\n\n**Supporting R&D activities are directly related to Core R&D activities** – directly related activities have a direct, close and relatively immediate relationship with the experimental activities, supporting activities are not experimental but are necessary for undertaking the project/activity e.g. travel to a conference, background research, regular tests, discussions with suppliers and Dominant Purpose test applies for activities that produce goods or services or activities on the ‘R&D excluded’ list.\n\n## **How to apply for R&DTI?**\n\nApplication can only be submitted through the R&DTI Customer Portal. To access the portal, the applicant needs to have a myGovID account and link to the company’s ABN using the ATO’s Relationship Authorisation Manager.\n\n## **If you have questions**\n\nIf you need a professional support with your R&DTI, you can [book your consultation with BTMH](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/). The R&D incentive is one of several [government grants and incentives](https://btmh.com.au/services/government-grants/) we handle. The registration deadline is a rule rather than a fixed date: **ten months after the end of your income year**, which for a 30 June balancer means **30 April**. Registrations for the year ended 30 June 2026 are due by 30 April 2027.\n\nAn extension can be requested through the R&DTI customer portal, and a request of 14 days or less made before the deadline is approved. The statutory maximum extension is 92 days past the deadline. Late applications for advance findings and overseas findings cannot be accepted at all, so those need planning well ahead.\n\nThe 2026-27 Budget announced a redesign of the incentive – a higher core rate, supporting activities removed, and different turnover and intensity thresholds. **None of it is law**, draft legislation is expected in 2027, and the proposed start is 1 July 2028. The rates above are what applies to the year you are registering now.", "date_published": "2023-06-08T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/research-and-development-tax-incentive-Australia.png", "tags": [ "Tax Offset" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/work-and-holiday-tax/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/work-and-holiday-tax/", "title": "Understanding Australian Backpacker Work and Holiday Tax in 2023", "summary": "Some Working Holiday Makers may be eligible for the same tax rate as Australian residents. Today we explain how Work and Holiday tax works.", "content_text": "Australia has got a reputation in the backpacking world for its culture, scenery and people. Holiday labor is also pretty integral to many of our farms and other seasonal industries. Unfortunately, holiday backpackers are not exempt from tax, which can become quite convoluted depending on your situation. Learn more on backpacker tax (work and holiday tax) from BTMH’s accounting & taxation specialists.\n\n## **Who Is Impacted by Backpacker Tax?**\n\nThe Australian ‘Backpacker Tax’ applies to two visa classes: the 417 ‘Working Holiday’ and the 462 ‘Work and Holiday’ visas. These people are classified as Working Holiday Makers. Tax and superannuation are usually taken by your employer in the form of PAYG. If your employer is a registered Working Holiday Maker Employer, you are taxed at 15% on the first $45,000 you earn, then on the foreign resident scale – 30% from $45,001 to $135,000, 37% to $190,000 and 45% above that. If they are not registered, the foreign resident rates apply to everything you earn, starting at 30% from the first dollar with no tax-free threshold.\n\n## **Your Residency Status**\n\nSome Working Holiday Makers may be eligible for the same tax rate as Australian residents. This depends on two things; your consideration as an Australian resident for tax purposes **and** your country of origin.\n\nResidents for tax purposes are those who can clearly show that they plan on living in Australia for an extended period of time or who have stayed in Australia for more than 183 days in the income tax year. You can prove your status as a resident for tax purposes by taking the [Resides Test](https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Coming-to-Australia-or-going-overseas/In-detail/Residency/Residency---the-resides-test/). As well as proving your residency, only Working Holiday Makers from specific countries can claim eligibility for this lowered tax rate. Referred to as [NDA countries](https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Coming-to-Australia-or-going-overseas/Coming-to-Australia/Working-holiday-makers/Taxation-of-Australian-resident-WHMs-from-NDA-countries/), these countries have signed a non-discriminate-article with Australia. These include Chile, England, Norway and Japan.\n\n## **What About Your Super?**\n\nSuper is paid by your employer on top of your wages, at 12% of your earnings – it does not come out of your pay. Since 1 July 2026 it has to reach your fund within seven business days of each payday rather than once a quarter, so it is worth checking your fund balance against your payslips while you are still here. You can claim it after leaving Australia, if you do not intend to work here again, by lodging a DASP application.\n\n## **How Can We Help?**\n\nOur team has extensive experience in helping Working Holiday Makers sort out their tax – it is what our [tax for travellers](https://btmh.com.au/services/tax-for-travellers/) service is for, from getting you a TFN when you arrive to finalising things after you leave. We can help with explanations, DASP applications and finalising your tax affairs before leaving the country. We also help those outside Australia with queries and outstanding tax obligations. You can visit our friendly team of accountants and tax advisors in Bondi Junction or connect with us online. [Book your appointment today.](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/)\n\n#### **Further Reading:**\n\n- [Working holiday makers | Australian Taxation Office (ato.gov.au)](https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/coming-to-australia-or-going-overseas/Coming-to-Australia/Working-holiday-makers/?=redirected_whm)\n- [Court ruling finds Australia’s backpacker tax illegal (for some)](https://btmh.com.au/australias-backpacker-tax-illegal-for-some/)\n\n- [The Australian Backpacker Tax – Everything you Need to Know (etax.com.au)](https://www.etax.com.au/australian-backpacker-tax/)\n\n- [‘Backpacker tax’ struck out by High Court of Australia (smh.com.au)](https://www.smh.com.au/national/high-court-strikes-blow-to-backpacker-tax-in-hit-to-budget-bottom-line-20211103-p595k8.html)", "date_published": "2023-06-08T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/backpacker-tax-working-holiday-work-and-holiday-Australia-1.png", "tags": [ "Individual Tax Return", "Tax Returns" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/safework-rebate/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/safework-rebate/", "title": "$1,000 SafeWork Small Business Rebate", "summary": "Are you an ABN holder based in New South Wales? Read how you can claim $1000 rebate for safety equipment and other safety related products.", "content_text": "The SafeWork NSW Small Business Rebate is a $1000 rebate for small businesses who purchase and install eligible safety equipment and other safety related products. The rebate is designed to help NSW businesses cover the cost of improvements to worker safety and working environment.\n\nThere are some eligibility requirements:\n\n- Your business: in general, it must be a small business registered and operating in NSW, be your main source of income and have 50 or less employees. You must also meet safety training requirement;\n- Purchases: a wide range of safety equipment and upgrades to current working environment that improve safety, such as anti-slip surface treatment, noise reduction, high-pressure water cleaning equipment, lighting, ladders, load covers and restraints for vehicles, vehicle-mounted and portable gazebo (sun protection), 2-way radios, trolleys, adjustable/tilting workstations for better office working posture and more.\n\nThis grant is available once every 5 years, so make sure you get the most of it in one application. See full terms and conditions, list of items and other eligibility criteria [here](https://www.nsw.gov.au/grants-and-funding/1000-safework-small-business-rebate#toc-key-information).\n\n**Contact us if you require our assistance in preparing the application.** Workers compensation declarations are part of our [payroll](https://btmh.com.au/services/payroll/) service.", "date_published": "2023-04-12T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/safety-workplace-small-business-rebate-NSW.png", "tags": [ "News" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/small-business-boost-2023/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/small-business-boost-2023/", "title": "Small Business Technology Investment Boost and Small Business Skills and Training Boost", "summary": "As part of the 2022–23 Budget, the Government announced it will support small business through the following new measures – Small Business Technology Investment Boost and Small Business Skills and Training Boost.", "content_text": "> **Both boosts have ended.** This post was written while they were still announcements.\n> They became law on 23 June 2023, and the windows have since closed: the **Technology\n> Investment Boost** covered expenditure to **30 June 2023**, the **Skills and Training\n> Boost** to **30 June 2024**. Neither can be claimed on new spending. Amending an\n> earlier return to claim one is generally out of time too – the amendment period for\n> those income years was two years, the four-year period applying only from 2024-25 –\n> so [ask us](https://btmh.com.au/contact/) before assuming a past year is still open.\n\nAs part of the 2022–23 Budget, the Government announced it will support small business through the following new measures – Small Business Technology Investment Boost and Small Business Skills and Training Boost. Both were legislated by the Treasury Laws Amendment (2022 Measures No. 4) Act 2023, which received royal assent on 23 June 2023 – seven days before the technology boost stopped accepting expenditure.\n\n**_**Small Business Technology Investment Boost**_**\n\nSubject to law, small businesses (with aggregated annual turnover of less than $50 million) are able to deduct an additional 20 per cent of the expenditure incurred for the purposes of business digital operations or digitising its operations on business expenses and depreciating assets such as portable payment devices, cyber security systems or subscriptions to cloud based services.\n\nBusinesses may continue to deduct expenditure that is ineligible for the bonus deduction under the existing tax law.\n\nAn annual $100,000 cap on expenditure will apply to each qualifying income year. Businesses can continue to deduct expenditure over $100,000 under existing law.\n\nThis measure will apply to expenditure incurred in the period commencing from 7:30 pm AEDT 29 March 2022 until 30 June 2023.\n\n**_**Small Business Skills and Training Boost**_**\n\nSubject to law, small businesses with an aggregated annual turnover of less than $50 million are able to deduct an additional 20% of expenditure that is incurred for the provision of eligible external training courses to their employees by registered providers in Australia. Businesses may continue to deduct expenditure that is ineligible for the bonus deduction in accordance with the existing tax law.\n\nThis measure will apply to expenditure incurred in the period commencing from 7:30 pm AEDT 29 March 2022 until 30 June 2024.", "date_published": "2023-04-12T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/small-business-technology-investment-boost.png", "tags": [ "News" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/financial-services/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/financial-services/", "title": "Financial services – partnership with Pulse Markets", "summary": "BTMH has formed a partnership with Pulse Markets to expand into the financial and equity markets. Learn more about our additional services and hear about great opportunities that they can deliver.", "content_text": "This year, Business Tax & Money House is putting Money in the spotlight.\n\nOver the years, we’ve helped setting up hundreds of businesses and helped with their growth and success. We also helped thousands of our clients with their tax compliance, where saving on tax is our focus. These services will continue to grow.\n\nBTMH has formed a partnership with Pulse Markets to expand into the financial and equity markets. From today, we can offer additional services to wholesale clients:\n\n- Investing in stock markets, using Individually Managed Accounts\n- Providing updates on upcoming investments in companies entering the stock market (IPOs)\n- Preparing your business for capital raising and listing it on the stock market\n- Sourcing investors for your business, both within your industry and passive capital, privately and through Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the stock market\n\nIf you would like to find out if you qualify for our additional services and to hear about great opportunities that they can deliver, [register your interest](https://btmh.com.au/financial-services/).\n\nOur new partner Pulse Markets is a wholly owned subsidiary of BIR Financial Limited (ASX:BIR), where Thomas Murmylo, the founder and principal of BTMH, was appointed to the Board of Directors in December 2021. Pulse Markets is a licensed broker operating on Australian and International equity and derivatives markets, also offering services in private and public offerings.\n\nAll financial services will be provided by Pulse Markets Pty Ltd AFSL 220383 ACN 081 505 268\n\nGENERAL ADVICE FOR WHOLESALE CLIENTS ONLY\n\n_The material contained within this email constitutes general advice and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. You must assess whether it is appropriate, in light of your own individual objectives, financial situation or needs, before acting upon this advice. Pulse Markets recommends investors obtain professional financial advice and consider all relevant information and material before an investment decision is made. This information is for wholesale clients only._", "date_published": "2022-02-24T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/financial-services-partnership-pulse-markets.png", "tags": [ "News" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/director-id/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/director-id/", "title": "Director ID", "summary": "Director ID is your unique identifier to link you to all the directorships you hold in Australia. It is a new initiative of the government to eliminate fraudulent directorships, and hopefully will reduce red tape in updating your details across all companies.", "content_text": "Director ID is your unique identifier to link you to all the directorships you hold in Australia. It is a new initiative of the government to eliminate fraudulent directorships, and hopefully will reduce red tape in updating your details across all companies.\n\n**If you are already a director and do not have one, you are overdue.** The transitional deadline for directors appointed on or before 31 October 2021 was 30 November 2022, with the registrar applying a non-enforcement approach until 14 December 2022. Both are long past. ASIC now prosecutes: directors have been fined for failing to hold one. Apply anyway – being late is a smaller problem than staying unregistered.\n\n**If you are taking on a new directorship, you must apply before you are appointed.** That has been the rule since 5 April 2022. The old \"within 28 days of appointment\" concession applied only to directors appointed between 1 November 2021 and 4 April 2022, and it no longer exists. Do not accept an appointment first and sort the ID out afterwards – the obligation is one of strict liability.\n\nFailing to hold one when required is a strict liability offence carrying up to 60 penalty units – **$21,840** for offences committed from 1 July 2026, when the penalty unit rose to $364. ASIC can also disqualify someone from managing corporations for up to three years where they do not apply after being directed to.\n\nFrom 1 July 2027, companies must give directors' IDs to ASIC through their company reporting, and a director has to give theirs to the company within seven days of appointment. A missing ID stops being a private problem for the director and becomes a filing problem for the company.\n\nOne date that trips people up: directors under the **CATSI Act** were on a different timetable – apply before appointment from 1 November 2022, with the transitional deadline 30 November 2023, a year later than the Corporations Act dates above.\n\nApplications can be made:\n\n- [online](https://www.abrs.gov.au/director-identification-number/apply-director-identification-number) – you need to have your myGovID set up\n- over the phone – 13 62 50 or +61 2 6216 3440\n- paper lodgements – from our experience, it takes 14 days to get it\n\nDuring the application, you will be asked to [verify your identity](https://www.abrs.gov.au/director-identification-number/apply-director-identification-number/verify-your-identity). Paper lodgements require certified copies of the documents.", "date_published": "2021-11-30T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/director-ID-Australia-blog-e1686121394831.png", "tags": [ "Business Structure", "News" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/moving-bondi-junction-office/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/moving-bondi-junction-office/", "title": "We’re moving our Bondi Junction office", "summary": "Visit our office in Bondi Junction! We are located in Bondi Central building: Suite 104 / 109 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction.", "content_text": "After 6 years on 78 Spring Street, we’ve outgrown this office, but still love the location.\n\nWe’re moving not more than 200 meters away, so we are still in a very convenient location.\n\nAs of 22nd of March 2021, we will be operating from Suite 104 / [109 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction](https://www.google.com/maps/place/109+Oxford+St,+Bondi+Junction+NSW+2022/@-33.8917943,151.2445497,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x6b12adf0ece7f751:0x788b970c4d33a727!8m2!3d-33.8917943!4d151.2467437). The building is called _Bondi Central_.\n\nThe building has two entrances as well: from 109 Oxford Street and from 32 Spring Street. Coming from the old office, just go towards city (away from Westfield Shopping Centre), cross Newland street and it’s the first entrance. We’re located on first floor – you can take the stairs or the Commercial Lift. [See Google Maps directions](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/78+Spring+St,+Bondi+Junction+NSW+2022/32+Spring+St,+Bondi+Junction+NSW+2022/@-33.8922383,151.2453499,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x6b12adf11b59b5fd:0x17c48ab10f34706a!2m2!1d151.2484744!2d-33.8922338!1m5!1m1!1s0x6b12adf094a9cf0b:0x6b90db8484448b72!2m2!1d151.2466437!2d-33.8920318).\n\nCome and visit us! [Book your appointment.](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/)\n\nOur phone numbers, PO Box and e-mail addresses will obviously remain the same.", "date_published": "2021-03-12T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Bondi-Juntion-office.png", "tags": [ "News" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/coronavirus-update/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/coronavirus-update/", "title": "Coronavirus update", "summary": "Ahead of the challenging time, we want to assure you that will continue providing our services to you, just in a different fashion. Yours and our Team’s safety is our priority.", "content_text": "> **This post is from March 2020 and describes emergency measures that have all ended.**\n> The Cash Flow Boost, early release of superannuation, the SME Guarantee Scheme and the\n> $150,000 instant asset write-off are long closed. It is kept as a record of what we told\n> clients at the time. Nothing in it should be acted on now – the instant asset write-off\n> is currently $20,000 per asset for businesses under $10 million turnover, and permanent.\n\nAhead of the challenging time, we want to assure you that will continue providing our services to you, just in a different fashion. Yours and our Team’s safety is our priority.\n\nWe are switching to a work-from-home mode. Our previous experience has proven that this adjustment will have little impact on our relationship:\n\n- **Our phones are working as usual\n\n**You can still reach us on 02 9386 0500 to speak to any of our Team Members, but you may experience slightly longer delay in getting connected.\n\n- **Face-to-face meetings**\n- Thomas and Anna are available by appointment only\n- We will appreciate if you reduce face-to-face meetings to absolute minimum\n- Rest of our Team is only available by phone or e-mail\n- **Online bookings will be suspended**\n\nSpectrum and quality of our services will not be reduced. Our focus will be to assist you with your stimulus package however we can, to ensure you receive it in full and without any unnecessary delay.\n\n## **The Government Stimulus Package**\n\nThere will be multiple forms of assistance to businesses and employees affected by this shutdown. Some of them will be paid through Centrelink and we will be of little help there. Others are paid by the ATO, and we’ll focus on them here. We are monitoring the situation and will inform you on the actual procedures related to obtaining it. The below options are generally available to small business with less than $50,000,000 in annual turnover:\n\n### **Up to $100,000 in cash for Employers**\n\nActive small and medium businesses that employ people can get between $20,000 and $100,000. First half of this will be delivered in April to help you with your March BAS, and the remainder will be paid in June, and for some it will be split between June and September.\n\nThis money will be credited into your Tax Account to first help with your tax liability, and if you will end up with credit, you will receive the refund within 14 days. For this money to be credited your Business Activity Statements must be lodged.\n\n**How much will I get?**\n\nIt all depends on how much tax you withhold from your employees. If you report your PAYG withholding quarterly, then in March quarter you will get:\n\n- If you paid your employees but did not withhold any tax: you’ll get $10,000\n- If you withheld less than $10,000: you’ll get $10,000\n- If you withheld between $10,000 and $50,000: you’ll get amount equal to your withholding\n- If you withheld above $50,000: you’ll get $50,000\n\nThe same thresholds and payments will apply in June quarter.\n\nIf you are lodging your PAYG withholding monthly, we will contact you separately. Your March package will be the same as above, but from April to September you will receive proportional payments, with the same minimum and maximum in total.\n\n**What you need to do:**\n\n- your business must remain active,\n- you must be registered for PAYG withholding.\n- Please also note that as of today, Superannuation Guarantee rules remain unchanged and must be paid by 28th of April.\n\n[_If you are an active business but not registered for PAYG please contact us immediately_](https://btmh.com.au/contact/).\n\n### **Enhancing the instant asset write-off**\n\nThe government has increased an instant asset write -off for assets purchased between 12 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 from $30,000 to $150,000. From 1 July 2020 the instant asset write-off was to drop to $1,000. That is not what happened: the threshold has been changed repeatedly since, and it is now **$20,000 per asset** for businesses with aggregated turnover under $10 million – made **permanent** from 1 July 2026, rather than extended a year at a time as it had been.\n\n### **Early access to superannuation**\n\nFrom mid-April 2020 you will be able to apply for early release of your superannuation, up to $20,000 in total, tax free over two applications. Applications will be done through myGov directly. To access this benefit, you will need to be unemployed or your hours must be reduced by 20%, or if you are a sole trader, your turnover must be reduced by 20%.\n\n### **Small business loans**\n\nBanks have received extra lending to provide loans to small business: up to $250,000 unsecured and $1,000,000 secured with property. Main things to know:\n\n- lower interest, up to 5.5% p.a.\n- no fees\n- you don’t need to start repaying in the first six months, and\n- government will provide guarantee security over half of the loans.\n\nLoans must be used in business and be repaid / refinanced within 3 years. Lending criteria will be relaxed but banks will make final determination who to lend the money and how much.\n\nAs a first point of contact, you should call your bank. [_We will be able to assist you with your financial information and forecasts._](https://btmh.com.au/contact/)\n\n### **Updates come daily and we’ll keep you posted!**", "date_published": "2020-03-24T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/coronavirus-update.png", "tags": [ "News" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/the-partnership-structure/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/the-partnership-structure/", "title": "Is a partnership the right business structure for you?", "summary": "If you’re thinking about going into business with a friend or family member, you’ll want to understand the partnership structure before you do.", "content_text": "If you’re thinking about going into business with a friend or family member, you’ll want to understand the partnership structure before you get too immersed in the other exciting aspects of your business idea.\n\nA partnership [business structure](https://btmh.com.au/services/business-structuring/) is considered to be relatively inexpensive to set up and operate. However, choosing a business structure is the most important decision you have to make at the beginning of your new venture. We can assist you in choosing a structure that best suits your business goals and plans. We can also help you consider where you want to take the business in the future.\n\n## What is a partnership structure?\n\nA [partnership structure](https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Starting-your-own-business/Before-you-get-started/Choosing-your-business-structure/Partnership/) refers to a group of two or more people that carry on a business and distribute income or losses between them. The most likely situation where this structure is used is between two friends in business, or parents and children running a family-owned shop or restaurant.\n\nEach partner is responsible for the debts of the whole partnership, no matter how close the partnership. It’s the ideal business structure for small businesses like parents and their children running a family-owned restaurant, or two friends running a small clothing store because it’s simple. While the partners in a partnership are not employees, the partnership might employ other workers to benefit the business.\n\n## Advantages and disadvantages of partnerships\n\nIt might sound like the perfect business structure for you, but you should consider the advantages and disadvantages of a partnership. It’s important to choose the right business structure to protect yourself and your assets from liability should things go wrong. Below are some of the advantages and disadvantages of a partnership business structure.\n\n## Advantages\n\n**It’s simple and inexpensive:** One of the most attractive aspects of partnerships is their ease and simplicity. It’s easy and inexpensive to set up a partnership through the [Australian Taxation Office (ATO)](https://www.ato.gov.au). Once up and running, we can assist you in a few setup and administration tasks. However, there are fewer reporting responsibilities with the ATO as a partnership isn’t considered a separate entity.\n\n**Superannuation is in your hands**: Partners are responsible for their own superannuation agreements which means you can put as little or as much towards your super as you wish. This means you can be much more flexible with the spending of your profits.\n\n**Responsibility is shared**: Running a business as a sole trader can put a lot of weight on your shoulders. In a partnership, you can share the weight. Partners share income, losses and control of the business.\n\n**Profits are taxed differently**: Instead of paying income tax on the profits the partnership earns, each partner reports their individual share of the partnership income in their own tax return. This tax is paid at the individual tax rate that may be eligible for the small business tax offset.\n\n**More opportunities for tax planning:** Unlike a sole trader, partners have more opportunities for tax planning such as splitting income between family members or keep it aside for your next holiday.\n\n## Disadvantages\n\n**Liability is yours**: Like a sole trader, a partnership is not a separate entity. While profits go straight into partners’ pockets when business is good, you and your business partners are personally liable for the debts of the business.\n\n**No deductions**: As a partner, you can’t claim deductions for money drawn from the business as they’re not wages for tax purposes.\n\n**Potential for disputes:** While you might have big dreams of running a business with your best friend, misunderstandings or disputes can occur over business decisions, profit sharing and the future business direction. You’ll need to consider the dynamics of the relationship before committing to working together.\n\n## How do I set up a partnership?\n\nIf you’re our client, we can have you set up as a partnership. You’ll need:\n\n- A Partnership [Tax File Number (TFN)](https://www.business.gov.au/registrations/register-for-taxes/register-a-tax-file-number) to lodge your income tax return.\n- An [Australian Business Number (ABN)](https://www.abr.gov.au/business-super-funds-charities/applying-abn) to use across all business dealings.\n- Register for [Goods and Services Tax (GST)](https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/GST/) if annual turnover exceeds $75,000.\n\nAlthough it’s not an essential part of a partnership, we highly recommend a written partnership agreement to solidify the business relationship. The agreement should outline how income or losses will be distributed to the partners and how the business will be controlled to prevent disputes and misunderstandings. It should clearly outline what each partner brings to the business and what they are entitled to receive in profit. This is particularly important for tax purposes if the profits or losses are not distributed equally among partners.\n\nThere are also a few rules you need to follow as a partnership:\n\n- Report all your individual income in your tax return.\n- Although a partnership is not a separate entity, you must lodge one partnership tax return at the end of each income year. The tax return must include the distributions made to every person who was a partner at any time during the income year, including those who left the partnership during the year.\n- Put aside money to pay your annual income tax at the end of the financial year. These will be paid through quarterly Pay As You Go (PAYG) instalments.\n\n## Learn more about partnerships\n\nAt Business Tax & Money House, we take the time to listen to you to determine which business structure is right for you. We look into your business succession, the distribution of your profits, your financial exposure, and your ongoing costs to decide how each structure will work at each stage of your business journey.\n\nWhether you’re starting up a new partnership, or restructuring your current business, getting us involved is a step in the right direction to help maximise your growth. If you want to learn more about partnerships, or any of the other business structures, [contact us today](https://btmh.com.au/contact/).\n\nWorth knowing before you commit: **we generally steer clients away from partnerships**, because liability is joint and several and a company gives you the same thing without that exposure. Our [business structuring](https://btmh.com.au/services/business-structuring/) page sets out the reasoning and has a short tool to work through it, alongside the [sole trader](https://btmh.com.au/the-sole-trader-structure/), the [company](https://btmh.com.au/the-company-structure/) and [trusts](https://btmh.com.au/the-trust-structure/).", "date_published": "2019-11-20T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Partnership-Structure-Image.png", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Structure" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/australias-backpacker-tax-illegal-for-some/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/australias-backpacker-tax-illegal-for-some/", "title": "Court ruling finds Australia’s backpacker tax illegal (for some)", "summary": "Court ruling finds Australia's backpacker tax illegal for some. Business Tax & Money House is pending the ATO's consideration to appeal against the ruling.", "content_text": "> **This post is from November 2019, when the case was still running.** It is kept as the\n> record of the Federal Court decision. The matter finished in the High Court in November\n> 2021 – see \"What happens now?\" below – and the rates quoted here are from 2017. For the\n> rates that apply today, see [work and holiday tax](https://btmh.com.au/work-and-holiday-tax/).\n\nAround 150,000 backpackers travel to Australia every year on working holiday visas, with many finding work in the farming and hospitality industries. And now, in what’s being hailed as a landmark ruling, many of them could be owed money by the Australian Government.\n\nAs reported by BBC News on 30 October in the article [_Australia’s ‘backpacker tax’ ruled illegal by court_](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-50230702)_,_ the Federal Court found that Australia has been using a so-called ‘backpackers tax’ to illegally tax foreign workers from the United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany, Finland, Chile, Japan, Norway and Turkey. Double tax agreements that Australia has with these countries contain a clause that prevents taxing citizens of these countries differently to their own. This means that if a citizen of Australia receives a tax-free threshold, so should citizens of these countries.\n\n## What is the ‘Backpacker Tax’?\n\nIn 2017, the Australian Government imposed a controversial tax rate for those on a Subclass 417 (Working Holiday) visa, a Subclass 462 (Work and Holiday) visa and a bridging visa permitting an individual to work in Australia.\n\nUp until 2016, working holiday-makers were eligible to earn up to $18,200 tax-free, similar to Australian citizens. From 1st January 2017, working holidaymakers have been taxed at 15 per cent on all earnings up to $37,000. Ordinary marginal tax rates apply after that amount and there is no longer the ability to claim the tax-free threshold under $18,200.\n\n## Federal Court findings\n\nThe 2016 tax amendments were challenged by an international tax company on behalf of a British tourist who worked in the hospitality industry in Australia between 2015 and 2017. The recent [Federal Court hearing](https://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2019/2019fca1768) found that the ‘backpacker tax’ was in breach of the existing treaties Australia has with the eight countries affected. The tax levy breaches anti-discrimination clauses in these treaties which require Australia to tax nationals from those countries in the same way as local workers.\n\nThese findings could potentially impact upon half of those who worked on a working holiday visa in Australia between the 2017 and 2019 financial years – thought to be around 70,000 backpackers. It could also force the government to collectively repay tens of thousands of foreign nationals hundreds of millions of dollars.\n\n## What happens now?\n\nThe ATO did appeal, and won in the Full Federal Court – but the taxpayer then took it to the High Court, which decided **Addy v Commissioner of Taxation** on 3 November 2021, unanimously in her favour.\n\nThe result: a working holiday maker who is an **Australian resident for tax purposes** and a national of one of the eight non-discrimination-article countries cannot be taxed more heavily than an Australian doing the same work. Residency is the hinge – most working holiday makers are not Australian residents for tax purposes, and for them the working holiday maker rates always applied and still do.\n\nIf you are on a working holiday visa now, the rates that apply today are in [work and holiday tax](https://btmh.com.au/work-and-holiday-tax/), and our [tax for travellers](https://btmh.com.au/services/tax-for-travellers/) service covers the rest of it.\n\nIf you think you were affected, the practical obstacle now is time rather than law: an individual generally has two years from their notice of assessment to amend a return, so the 2017 to 2019 years this case was about are long closed. Please follow our [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/btmhtax) to keep up to date or [contact us](https://btmh.com.au/contact/) with any questions.", "date_published": "2019-11-05T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Australias-Backpacker-Tax-Image.jpg", "tags": [ "Tax Refunds" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/the-sole-trader-structure/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/the-sole-trader-structure/", "title": "The sole trader structure: Is it right for you?", "summary": "Is the sole trader business structure the right one for you? If your structuring your business, or restructuring your current business, talk to the experts.", "content_text": "If you’re thinking of starting up the million-dollar business idea you’ve always dreamed of, you may want to prioritise structural business decisions before you get too carried away buying merch, an office pinball machine or a store ‘open’ sign.\n\nStarting a business can be fun and exciting – however, the most important decision you’ll make early on is your business structure. The business structure you choose may have serious effects on how you run and grow your business now and down the track. So, consider choosing a structure that’s simple and matches your business goals, keeping in mind that you can always change your [business structure](https://btmh.com.au/services/business-structuring/) later.\n\n## What’s a sole trader?\n\nA [sole trader](https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Starting-your-own-business/Before-you-get-started/Choosing-your-business-structure/Sole-trader/) is an individual carrying on a business. The business is owned directly by the individual and the individual is legally responsible for all aspects of the business. A sole trader will manage and operate a business under the individual’s name, meaning the individual takes on all responsibility for any debts, losses and profits made. This also means that sole traders can employ or contract others, but cannot employ themselves.\n\nThe sole trader structure is one of the simplest structures to set up, meaning it’s relatively inexpensive and easy, which is great for startups. It’s the first choice for small businesses and, in Australia, the sole trader structure is found commonly amongst contractors, tradespeople, entertainers, home businesses, online stores, e-commerce websites and most other small businesses.\n\nOne thing that surprises people: **you have one ABN for everything you do as a sole trader**. Run a consulting business during the week and drive a taxi at weekends, and both use the same ABN. There is also a single GST threshold across all of those activities rather than one each – and once you are registered, you are registered for all of them. Two small side businesses that each look comfortably under $75,000 can add up to a registration obligation you did not expect.\n\n## Advantages and disadvantages of sole traders\n\nFor those considering the sole trader business structure, it may be worth to jot down some pros and cons to opting in. Below are the most common advantages and disadvantages of the sole trader structure.\n\n## Advantages of sole traders\n\n**It’s simple:** For those choosing the sole trader structure, the simplicity of set up and ease of operation is one of the most attractive parts about it. If an individual is working on their own, or with only a few employees, the sole trader structure allows them to focus on more important aspects of their business due to the fewer reporting requirements for the ATO.\n\n**It’s profitable:** Whether it’s five dollars or five thousand dollars, all profit will land in the pocket of the owner of the sole trader business. For individuals, this structure works best due to the ease of money going straight to them. Plus, the privacy of these profits isn’t an issue – as sole traders aren’t required to disclose profit amounts to the public, except to the Government.\n\n**You’re in control:** If there’s a business decision to be made, the sole trader will make it. Individuals using this structure have full control of their assets and business decisions, making it the perfect structure for small businesses looking to make decisions quickly and attend to their customer’s needs.\n\n**You don’t have to pay super on your earnings**: Prefer to invest your profits in other ways? Well, you can since sole traders are not required to pay super for themselves. If you have employees, however – you’re still legally required to pay their super.\n\n## Disadvantages of sole traders\n\n**The liability is yours:** The age-old saying ‘what goes up, must come down’, doesn’t fall on deaf ears for the sole trader. Just as profits go in the pocket of the sole trader when business is good, assets and personal property come out when business is bad. These items of a sole trader may be vulnerable for debts and business liabilities in the unfortunate event the sole trader can’t pay back creditors. Debts stay with the individual even after the business is closed.\n\n**You cannot pay yourself a wage:** Money you draw out of the business is not a deduction, because the ATO does not treat it as wages – you are not an employee of yourself. You are taxed on the profit the business makes, whether you took it out or left it there.\n\n**Little room for tax planning:** As sole trader income belongs to the individual the moment it’s earned, it’s not possible to split the income amongst your family, or keep it aside. This income is combined with all other income (rental, dividends, salaries) and taxed at marginal rates.\n\n**If you don’t work, you’re not paid:** For sole traders, (or owners of any company), not working means that the income for that day will cease. If you have only one employer, consider being classified as employed rather than contracting out via your Australian Business Number (ABN). With employment comes benefits including sick leave, annual leave, Fair Work conditions and other government protections. But remember, whilst a sole trader or contractor is perfectly within their right to book a holiday or take a sick day, they may want to consider that if they shut down, their business does too.\n\n## How do I set up as a sole trader?\n\nWe can have you set up as a sole trader in minutes if you’re our client.\n\nSo, if you’re sold on the sole trader, you’ll need:\n\n- An individual [tax file number](https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Tax-file-number/) (TFN) to lodge your income tax return.\n- An [Australian Business Number](https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/International-tax-for-business/Foreign-residents-doing-business-in-Australia/Australian-business-number-\\(ABN\\)/) (ABN) to use across all business dealings.\n- A [Goods and Services Tax](https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/GST/) (GST) if your annual turnover is more than $75,000.\n\nThere are also a few rules to follow. You’ll need to:\n\n- Report all your income in your individual tax return using the business income and expenses section.\n- Pay tax at the same income tax rates as individual taxpayers.\n- Put aside money to pay your annual income tax at the end of the financial year. These will be paid through quarterly Pay As You Go (PAYG) instalments.\n\n## Want to know more about sole traders?\n\nAt Business Tax & Money House, we take the time to understand which business structure is right for you. We look into your business succession, the distribution of your profits, your financial exposure, and your ongoing costs to decide how each structure will work at each stage of your business journey.\n\nWhether you’re starting up a new structure, or restructuring your current business, engaging BTMH in this process is a step in the right direction to help maximise your growth. If you want to learn more about the sole trader structure, or any of the other business structures, [contact us today](https://btmh.com.au/contact/).\n\nYou can also work through the decision yourself on our [business structuring](https://btmh.com.au/services/business-structuring/) page, which has a short tool and a comparison of the alternatives – the [company](https://btmh.com.au/the-company-structure/), the [partnership](https://btmh.com.au/the-partnership-structure/) and [trusts](https://btmh.com.au/the-trust-structure/).", "date_published": "2019-10-21T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/SEPT-BLOG-BTMH.jpg", "tags": [ "Business", "Business Structure" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/what-can-you-actually-claim-on-tax/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/what-can-you-actually-claim-on-tax/", "title": "What can you actually claim on tax?", "summary": "Every wondered what you can actually claim on your upcoming tax return? Stop wondering and start doing with BTMH, a tax compliant tax agent during tax time.", "content_text": "With the EOFY deadline finally here, [getting prepared for your tax return](https://bit.ly/31LG8WG) should be your top priority if you want the best return possible. This means it’s time to stop and note all of those work-related expenses you’ve incurred during the financial year.\n\nMost of us know that work-related expenses are deductible to reduce your taxable income when you lodge your return. These expenses are considered claimable by the [Australian Taxation Office](http://www.ato.gov.au) (ATO) if:\n\n- Your expenses directly relate to earning your income, eg. vehicle and travel, dry-cleaning and uniforms, and tools and equipment.\n- You have a legitimate record of any work-related expenses, such as receipts, bank statements, bills, or diary entries.\n- Your expenses had both personal _and_ work use, you can claim the work portion of that expense.\n- You spent money for work-related reasons and you weren’t reimbursed by your employer.\n\nAccording to the [ATO](https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/Deductions-you-can-claim/), all employees (including casuals) can claim work-related expenses in the financial year that those expenses incurred. If you started employment in June but didn’t receive income until the next financial year, you can still claim deductions for any work-related expenses that incurred in June.\n\n## Common and uncommon tax deductions\n\nSo, now we’ve established what and when you can claim, we’ve broken down the deductions into a list of common and uncommon deductions you may or may not know that you can claim at tax time.\n\n### Common deductions:\n\n- Work-related vehicle and travel expenses\n- Clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning expenses\n- [Home office expenses](https://btmh.com.au/working-from-home-deduction-what-the-70c-rate-actually-means/) – the fixed rate is 70c an hour, and what it covers is narrower than people assume\n- Tools, equipment and other assets\n- Some other work-related deductions.\n\n### Uncommon deductions:\n\n- Gifts and donations\n- Union fees\n- Rental property expenses\n- Income protection insurance\n- Medical expenses\n- Work-related technology expenses: ie. mobile phone, laptop or home-internet use\n- Financial loss and bad debt\n- Self-education expenses\n- Tax affair management costs.\n\nTo further explain how these deductions work, we’ve put together a couple of scenarios.\n\n## If you’re a tradesperson\n\nIt’s easy to get confused with what’s claimable and what’s not when you work in a trade due to the number of transactions that are involved. To make it easier, we’ve put together a list of some things you may be able to claim if you’re a tradie on the tools.\n\n1. **Tools, equipment, repairs and other assets:** Using your own tools for work? You can claim a portion of your tools and repair of any tools in your upcoming tax return.\n2. **Occupation-specific clothing:** If you’re using protective wear while you work, this can be claimed as a deduction. Think steel-capped boots, hard hats and sunglasses.\n3. **Vehicle and travel expenses:** If you own a car related to work, or you travel to work using your own car and you don’t have a car allowance – you can claim a portion in your tax return. Remember, you can also claim any travel expenses relating to work if you travel far distances, and this may include meals!\n4. **Training courses, licenses and certifications:** If you’re studying in your industry, such as TAFE, University, or any courses that relate to your job, your tuition fees are 100 per cent tax deductible.\n5. **Union and association fees:** Are you subscribed to trade, business or professional associations? This is claimable in your tax return. Just provide your statement of fees and subscriptions paid.\n\nRemember, you can claim the cost of managing your tax, too. This includes tax agent fees if you’re an individual or a business, any [accounting software](https://btmh.com.au/single-touch-payroll-for-all-employers/) you use for payroll, and any appeals in court that relate to tax affairs.\n\n## If you’re studying\n\nIf you meet the criteria by studying to improve your current career, or you’re part of a traineeship and you can provide evidence that your self-education can lead to an increase of income, you may be eligible to claim deductions including:\n\n1. **Course or tuition fees not related to a [HECS/HELP debt](https://btmh.com.au/student-loans-in-australia/):** If your self-education courses have sufficient connection to your work, this is claimable.\n2. **Student service fees:** Just provide evidence of your receipts to your tax agent or the ATO.\n3. **Union fees:** Are you signed to any subscriptions that relate to your work and better your education? These subscription fees are deductible on your next return.\n4. **Equipment depreciation:** Using a computer, laptop or printer for work that’s depreciating from use? Don’t forget to lodge these expenses on your return to claim a portion.\n5. **Stationery and textbooks:** You can claim a portion of tools that are directly related to your self-education. And yes, we’re talking about your favourite fluffy pen.\n\n## So what can you potentially claim?\n\nWant to know what you’re eligible for in your upcoming tax return? The team at BTMH focus on delivering individualised tax return solutions to ensure the best possible outcome for you.\n\nWe review all investments, assets and work-related expenses when tailoring your lodgement to get you the highest return possible.\n\nIf you’d like to know exactly what you can claim, [contact us](https://btmh.com.au/contact/). We’d love to hear from you.", "date_published": "2019-07-01T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/JULY-BLOG-2.jpg", "tags": [ "Tax Refunds", "Tax Returns" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/prepare-for-tax-time/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/prepare-for-tax-time/", "title": "Why it’s never too early to prepare for tax time", "summary": "Are you prepared for tax time? Getting on top of your finances and receipts isn't the easiest task, but it's worth it. Get a registered tax agent on board.", "content_text": "It’s amazing how quickly tax time rolls around. One minute you’re buying gifts for Christmas and enjoying the Australian summer, and the next it’s time to exercise your brain as you try to recall how many kilometres you’ve travelled on work business and what defines a uniform deduction.\n\nWe understand the anxiety that this annual obligation can cause and, with new regulations being introduced every year, taking some simple steps early can help to put your mind at ease.\n\n## The all too familiar story\n\nIt’s 6 pm, 20 June, in a nondescript house in the suburbs. Tad and Jess – both in their early 20s – recently decided to save costs by becoming housemates while they each further their careers.\n\nAfter only remembering to file their tax returns on the 31 October deadline last year, the pair made a pact that they would sit down and organise their documents together well before the next end of financial year.\n\nHowever, Tad, who works as a chef, is slumped on a couch, a shoe box at his feet, with a bewildered expression on his face as he tries to make out the details on a receipt. Meanwhile, trainee accountant Jess is scrolling through her iPhone, pulling up copies of receipts from emails over the last 12 months.\n\nThe friends are intensely absorbed in the numbers, desperately trying to retrieve receipts and remember expenses so that they can lodge their paperwork with their tax accountant in July. However, failing to account for expenses and saving receipts throughout the year can be extremely costly come tax time (both in time and money).\n\n![tax-time image](https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/JUNE-COPY.jpg)\n\nIt’s easier on your mind and body if you maintain your financial records throughout the year.\n\n## How to store your documents the traditional way\n\nMany of us still prefer to keep our records in paper format. Unfortunately, an explosion in the use of thermal printers by retailers has led to problems with the ink fading out on [receipts](https://www.choice.com.au/shopping/consumer-rights-and-advice/your-rights/buying-guides/faded-receipts).\n\nA good way to keep your records straight is to have a filing system where you add to it regularly throughout the year. Never store it in plastic sleeves, as this could damage the paper, and always have a back-up copy.\n\nOne idea is to scan your documents monthly and to check your credit and debit card statements to ensure you have proof of purchase.\n\n## Prefer to go digital?\n\nAustralians are some of the biggest consumers of [smartphone data](https://www.businessinsider.com.au/deloitte-smartphones-technology-media-telecommunications-predictions-2-2018-2) on the planet and, as a result, much of the way we live our lives have become digital.\n\nNeed to order pizza? There’s an app for that. Have the urge (but not the cash) to go bowling? There’s an app for that too.\n\nOne way that digital technology can help in preparation for tax time is you can photograph and keep a copy of your receipt. There are many [apps](https://www.online-tech-tips.com/software-reviews/10-of-the-best-apps-to-scan-and-manage-receipts/) for this available on Android and iOS systems including the Australian Consumers Corporation (ACC) shopper app which allows you to photograph and store your receipts and also provides consumer information.\n\nIf you do decide to go the digital route, we strongly recommend backing up your files regularly by saving them to the cloud.\n\n## How we can help you\n\nIf you’re searching for a qualified and experienced accountant, [Business Tax & Money House](https://btmh.com.au/) (BTMH) can assist you with your tax needs.\n\nThe BTMH team is experienced in managing personal and business tax returns. We can also help with all transactional tax planning, including property purchasing, dealing with capital gains tax, asset protection and current and future tax obligations and minimisation, as well as ongoing management of your tax affairs.\n\n## Are you sick of paying too much tax?\n\nDo you pay too much tax? Are you unsure of where your finances are, or whether you can claim certain deductions?\n\nIf you’re new to us, contact us for a [complimentary tax review](https://btmh.com.au/contact/tax-health-check/) to find out how much we could save you in fees and taxes.", "date_published": "2019-06-20T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/JUNE-BLOG-1.jpg", "tags": [ "Tax Refunds", "Tax Returns" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/single-touch-payroll-for-all-employers/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/single-touch-payroll-for-all-employers/", "title": "Single Touch Payroll for all employers", "summary": "From July 1, Single Touch Payroll (STP) will soon be mandatory for all Australian businesses. Are you across it? Read our latest blog to find out more.", "content_text": "As an employer, the end of the financial year can be a stressful time. Not only are you worried about your own taxation, but you’re also having to take into account the taxation of employees and all those long-winded employee statements.\n\nIf only there was a better way, right? …Cue, Single Touch Payroll.\n\nSingle Touch Payroll (STP) is a simple way to report your employees’ payroll information to the Australian Tax Office (ATO). It keeps your business compliant by automatically reporting to the ATO your employees’ payment summaries and group certificates during regular payroll periods, rather than having to send them all through at the end of the financial year.\n\nDuring tax time, the burden is lifted. Your employees can jump on the [myGov website](https://my.gov.au/LoginServices/main/login?execution=e2s1) and easily access their tax and super documents that have been sent to the ATO.\n\n## Who uses STP?\n\nSimply put, the answer will soon be _everyone_. In the past, it was mandatory only for businesses with 20 or more employees to lodge through STP. According to the [ATO](https://www.ato.gov.au/), smaller businesses with 19 employees or less had the option to opt into the service, however, lodgement wasn’t compulsory.\n\nThat changed on 1 July 2019, when STP became compulsory for every employer regardless of size – it is part of what we handle under [payroll](https://btmh.com.au/services/payroll/). **STP Phase 2 has since been mandatory as well, from 1 January 2022** – it reports more detail, including income types, the components that make up gross pay, and employment and cessation information, so the ATO and Services Australia get it from your payroll rather than asking you for it separately.\n\n## But, how does it work?\n\nIf you’re a small business, getting a head start and learning how STP can benefit you and your business is essential.\n\nSTP works by sending employee tax and super information from your payroll or accounting software to the ATO in real-time. When you run your regular payroll, your STP-enabled payroll software will then send a report to the ATO, which would include all the information they need from you on your employees. Think salaries, wages, PAYG withholdings and superannuation – all wrapped up in a weekly, fortnightly or monthly package (your regular pay-run) and sent off to the ATO for review.\n\nIt’s pretty simple to understand, but how does it benefit you as a small business owner? Well, we’re glad you asked.\n\n### It saves you time and resources\n\nFor you, STP will win you back countless hours during the EOFY, and you’ll no longer have to provide a payment summary annual report (PSAR).\n\nAccording to the [ATO](https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Single-Touch-Payroll/About-Single-Touch-Payroll/), the way your STP information is sent to the ATO will depend on the software you use. These include:\n\n- An end-to-end solution, which allows you to run your payroll and send the STP information directly to us from your software\n- A solution which allows you to run your payroll and send the STP information through a third party sending service provider (SSP) integrated into your software\n- Or, a solution that allows you to run your payroll, but requires you to send the STP information through a third party SSP outside your software.\n\n### It’s easily accessible for your employees\n\nLodging STP regularly means you no longer issue payment summaries or group certificates for anything reported through STP. Employees get an **income statement** in myGov instead – the same information under a name that has replaced both older terms. You finalise it once a year, by 14 July, and that finalisation is what tells your employees their figures are ready to use.\n\nSTP means your employees have access to payment summaries, pre-filled tax return forms and online commencement forms, meaning employees or their registered agent will be able to lodge their income tax using STP information only.\n\n## Getting started with STP\n\nAt Business Tax & Money House, we’re experts when it comes to STP. We work with affordable, easy-to-use software and can comfortably advise you on how the process works. Or if you’re really time poor, we can even assist in managing the entire process for you.\n\nIf you’re interested in setting up STP with us or finding out more, [contact us](https://btmh.com.au/contact/) today.", "date_published": "2019-05-23T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/STP-image-BTMH.jpg", "tags": [ "Payroll", "Tax Returns" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/the-rise-of-the-smsf/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/the-rise-of-the-smsf/", "title": "The rise of self-managed super", "summary": "Self managed super funds mean flexibility and control over your investments. So, is it for you? Read our latest blog to find out. Bondi Junction, Sydney.", "content_text": "Superannuation – we all have it, we all contribute to it, and we all have to manage it. Superannuation can be the most tax-effective method of saving (depending on your age and circumstances) as you may benefit from a lower tax rate. But, you may be asking, what type of superannuation fund is appropriate for my needs?\n\nYou may currently have funds invested in an external superannuation account such as an industry or retail super fund. But, dependant on what your retirement plans are or if you’re looking at ways to take control of your savings, you could open a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) instead.\n\nWith a SMSF, there’s significantly more flexibility and control over your investments – you can plan for your future and, to some degree, take advantage of tax concessions to grow your wealth. You are in control of the way your retirement savings are invested, which may help fast-track this growth. But, there are responsibilities coming with this control.\n\n## Who are the super users of SMSFs?\n\nOn the ATO’s 2015-16 statistical overview – the figures this post was written from – 1.1 million Australians held an SMSF account, and by 2017, 83% of SMSF members were over 45, with the average age 56. The ATO has published newer statistics since; the shape of the trend below has held, but check the current numbers before relying on any of them. However, over the past few years, there’s been a growing trend of members aged between 25 to 49 years old switching to SMSFs. Currently, the most popular time to establish a SMSF is between the ages of 35 and 44. Younger to middle-aged people are considering alternative methods to manage and grow their wealth. But what about salaries? In 2016, the average taxable income of all SMSF members in the year was $109,000 and overall, members of SMSFs had higher average and median taxable incomes than non-SMSF members.\n\n## What’s the difference between a SMSF and other types of super accounts?\n\nMembers of a SMSF are usually the trustees, which essentially means members of the SMSF run it for their own benefit. However, with great power, comes great responsibility. Members of a SMSF are responsible for complying with the super and tax laws and a SMSF must be run for the sole purpose of providing retirement benefits for the members or their children. It’s also important to understand that there can be significant costs involved with establishing a SMSF, so it’s important to make sure that the benefits outweigh the costs.\n\n## Do I have to manage my SMSF on my own?\n\nThe good news is that accountants can help with the management of your SMSF. Working closely with a tax accountant can give you peace of mind that your SMSF is compliant with all Australian laws.\n\nAn accountant can assist with:\n\n- Establishing your SMSF as well as the transfer of any assets\n- Advising you and other trustees of your legal obligations and responsibilities\n- Assisting with fund compliance\n- All regular auditing that’s required\n- Preparation of all annual accounts, annual tax returns for the SMSF, trustees’ minutes and all other required statutory documentation\n- Continually monitoring your fund to ensure there aren’t any contraventions.\n\nIs a SMSF right for me?\n\nBefore jumping in, consider if a SMSF is right for you:\n\n- The first thing to do is to form an investment strategy. Find out how much money you have and what you want to do with it. You must also find out if the investment is allowed by law for a SMSF. If you don’t have a plan, you may find you’re better off leaving your money in commercial funds\n- Find out about your responsibilities and form procedures to avoid non-compliance\n- Find out about the costs of running the fund, including your time. Look into if the fees you pay in your current superfund are not lower.\n- Consider the chance that your superfund may cause cancellation of your current life insurance policy you hold through this account.\n\nAt Business Tax and Money House, we’re highly experienced in [opening and managing SMSFs](https://btmh.com.au/services/smsf/) for our clients. We pride ourselves on our knowledge around tax-effectiveness, protection of assets, applicable laws and regulations that must be followed. If you’d like to learn more about SMSFs or wish to speak with someone regarding opening an account, please [reach out to us today](https://btmh.com.au/contact/).", "date_published": "2019-05-23T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/SMSF-image-BTMH.jpg", "tags": [ "Superannuation" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/super-leave-australia/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/super-leave-australia/", "title": "How to get your super back when you leave", "summary": "Want to get your super back now that you've left Australia? BTMH are experts in assisting you gain your superannuation and superannuation transfers.", "content_text": "## Withdrawing superannuation\n\nIf you worked in Australia, your employer paid compulsory super into a fund of your choice, on top of your wages – currently 12% of your earnings, and less in earlier years, since the rate rose in steps to reach 12% on 1 July 2025. If you’re leaving Australia, you may be eligible to receive the money paid into the account.\n\nWe can arrange the withdrawal of Superannuation for you. Remember, once you sign up to a first SuperFund, provide the membership details to all your future employers, to keep all your super in one place. This option may not always be given to you, as some employers have their own designated SuperFund. Then you need to keep the membership details with you. They are delivered by post – if you are registered for our Mail Manager, all your data is secure.\n\nAll you need to do is give us your authority and provide us with the details of your Superfund.\n\nYou can apply for the refund of your Superannuation only when you have left the country. Of course, we can do this for you as part of our [tax for travellers](https://btmh.com.au/services/tax-for-travellers/) service, all you will need to do is giving us your details and some supporting documents. The below checklist will help you with this:\n\nYou can copy the below checklist to your e-mail, add your details and send it to us to office (at) btmhouse.net\nAlternatively, you can download form for editing in word processor.\n\nSuperannuation withdrawal\n1\\. Your details:\n1.1. Name: …\n1.2. Date of Birth: …\n1.3. Tax File Number: …\n1.4. Male/Female: …\n1.5. Date of Arrival to Australia: …\n1.6. Date of Departure from Australia: …\n1.7. Passport Number: …\n1.8. Country of Issue: …\n1.9. Home Address (overseas): …\n1.10. Contact Phone Number (overseas): …\n1.11. E-mail Address: …\n2\\. Fund details (please repeat this for all superfunds you were enrolled to):\n2.1. Superfund Name: …\n2.2. Membership Number: …\n2.3. Employer paying your Super: …\n2.4. Contact details for Employer: …\n2.5. Your address when you started work: …\n3\\. Photocopies or scans we need from you:\n3.1. Passport – photo page\n3.2. Australian Visa\n3.3. All Australian entry and departure stamps\n3.4. Fund correspondence you may have\n4\\. We will need the original of signed and witnessed Power of Attorney – Authority for us to act on your behalf – if you haven’t done that already.", "date_published": "2019-04-12T00:00:00+10:00", "date_modified": "2026-09-16T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/post-super-back-for-travellers.jpg", "tags": [ "Superannuation" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/tax-return/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/tax-return/", "title": "How to prepare for your tax return in 2023", "summary": "Are you prepared for your upcoming EOFY tax return? BTMH can assist you with tax refunds, tax compliance, business taxation and tax deductions.", "content_text": "## Tax Return\n\nIn Business Tax & Money House, we specialise in Australian and International Taxation. We prepare Tax Returns for clients based in Australia, as well as overseas. Having our international clients all around the world, we can prepare Tax Return remotely, no matter where you are located.\n\nIf you are in Sydney, NSW, feel welcome to visit our office based in Bondi Junction, where we can prepare your return on the spot, answering your questions and making sure we did not miss on any deductions. [Book your appointment today.](https://btmh.com.au/book-appointment/)\n\n## Tax Return Service Cost\n\nAn individual tax return starts at $220 for a TFN-only return and $330 where there is an ABN, including GST. Depending on the complexity of your return, additional fees may apply – rental properties, investments or complex deductions all take more work. Our [pricelist](https://btmh.com.au/about/pricelist/) carries the current fees for every service and is the figure to rely on.\n\nWe prepare your Tax Return professionally and effectively, and we always check on any possible deduction to maximize your refund. We treat all our Clients with the same care and respect, and our online Clients enjoy the freedom of having complex tax & accounting service at a click of the button.\n\nPlease read all below checklist titles below as more than one may relate to you.\n\n- Your personal info – starting point compulsory for everyone\n- Power of Attorney – authorising us work for you\n- Medicare exemption certificate – for Travellers\n- Employment income and deductions\n- Business income and deductions\n- Investment income in Australia\n- Checklist for early lodgment (Final Tax Return – leaving Australia)\n- Hints on getting a bigger refund\n\nPlease send the checklists to us, you may print them and complete manually, or copy them to your e-mail or open them in a word processor, edit and send to us.\n\n## How to Prepare Your Documents\n\nYou do not need to show us your receipts and tax invoices for the income and expenses you claim. We will require to see only income information where there was tax taken (withheld) from your payments. These include:\n\n- Your income statement (what used to be a group certificate or PAYG payment summary – it is in myGov now, and we can see it too)\n- Bank statement showing Tax Withholding, if greater than zero\n- Voluntary Withholding statements from your contractor employers\n- Dividend statements showing Franking Credits\n- All tax statements provided by investment bodies\n- Investment income statements showing tax amounts\n- Any other documents showing TFN Withholding or Tax Withholding\n\nThe above checklists do not form any advice and should not be relied on entirely, but used as a helping tool in preparation of documents for your Tax Return. We prepare all Tax Returns on a personal basis and we will review your personal situation before we will prepare and lodge your return. This will ensure compliance with all Australian Taxation laws and regulations.\n\nOur [tax return service](https://btmh.com.au/services/tax-returns/) covers the whole thing if you would rather hand it over. Please also read about [record keeping](https://btmh.com.au/prepare-for-tax-time/) and visit [ATO website](https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Tax-return/2023/Before-you-start/Important-information-2023/) to learn more.", "date_published": "2019-04-12T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Untitled-design-3.png", "tags": [ "Tax Returns", "Tax" ] }, { "id": "https://btmh.com.au/travellers-bigger-tax-refund/", "url": "https://btmh.com.au/travellers-bigger-tax-refund/", "title": "How to get a bigger tax refund", "summary": "Do you want a bigger tax refund in your next EOFY tax return? BTMH can help. We're experts in tax filing, tax accounting and tax claims. Bondi Junction.", "content_text": "Many travellers get all their tax back, but it is not a rule or law that all travellers must be paid all their tax they paid.\n\nTravellers come under the same rules as regular Australians do. Travellers take advantage of not working for the full year, and consequently falling within the low (or tax-free) thresholds.\n\nTravellers may also claim deductions for expenses incurred in employment or business. Please refer to our checklists for hints on types of expenses you may claim.\n\nGetting a high tax refund is not just getting the best accountant. It requires your awareness throughout the year. Most of your work simply comes down to “keeping your receipts” (receipts here have a wide meaning so please check our FAQ for more information).\n\nWithout receipts, you can only deduct $300 per year of your expenses – and in many cases taxpayers would be entitled to claim a lot more. We will not require you to present your receipts to us, you will only need to give us a summary of them, and sometimes we may come back with some questions.\n\nYou will then be required to keep the receipts for 5 years in case the ATO would like to see them. If you subscribed to our Secure Mail service, you may send the receipts to us from time to time. We will return them to you after preparing the return.\n\nIf you are here on a visa and want someone to handle the whole thing, that is our [tax for travellers](https://btmh.com.au/services/tax-for-travellers/) service – TFN, returns, and your super when you leave.\n\nIn general, you must declare your income from all sources, and from all over the world. In some circumstances, your foreign income is exempt from Australian taxation, mostly when you are not Australian Resident for immigration purposes (residency for tax purposes is a different matter). Most travellers fit into this exemption, but please check before making the decision.", "date_published": "2019-04-12T00:00:00+10:00", "image": "https://btmh.com.au/wp-content/uploads/post-hints-for-travellers.jpg", "tags": [ "Tax Refunds" ] } ] }