If you’re a high income earner, you may soon be asked to pay an extra 15% tax on the amount of concessional contributions that exceed the $250,000 threshold.

There can often be a fine line between whether a person is carrying on property development activities or is “merely realising an asset”.

Probably the most overlooked reason for the housing affordability crisis in Australia at the moment is the capital gains tax (CGT) exemption for a person’s home itself. But not this alone.

Tax file numbers (TFN’s) are so much an everyday element when dealing with tax and the ATO that many taxpayers won’t give it a second thought when tax return software responds with an “invalid” message when a TFN is entered.

A common question that is often asked is whether amounts can be added to a superannuation pension account once it has commenced.

Don’t be another victim – be on the lookout for scammers who call you about your superannuation!

Superannuation is often a key source of income when you retire so it’s important to ensure your investment strategy makes your retirement savings last for as long as possible.

It is possible to receive amounts that are not expected by the ATO to be included as income in your tax return. However some of these amounts may be used in other calculations and may therefore need to be included elsewhere in your tax return.

The personal services income (PSI) rules apply to income that is earned mainly from the personal efforts or skills of a person.

It does not matter whether the income is earned by the individual in their own name or through an entity such as a business. The rules do not apply to income earned from being an employee.

When hiring new staff, there are certain steps you should follow to cover off on your tax, workplace, and superannuation obligations.

The Federal Budget for 2024-25 was handed down on Tuesday 14 May 2024. It contains a range of proposed measures across the areas of income tax, superannuation, tax administration and related cost of living measures.

Are you are planning to maximise your superannuation contribution caps this financial year? If so, it’s crucial to get the timing right so your contribution is received by your superannuation fund in the current financial year.

Following the ATO’s claims that nine out of ten residential rental property investors who have been audited have been getting their returns wrong, it might be worth touching on some of the tax traps and pitfalls to be wary of.

For most family businesses as well as private groups, succession planning (sometimes known as transition planning) involves considerations around the eventual sale of your business, or the passing of control of it to other family members when you retire. Depending on your circumstances, this may include realising assets and making other changes to ownership, but is certainly tied up with retirement planning and estate planning.

Keeping track of your superannuation balance is key as it impacts how much you can contribute to superannuation and whether you are entitled to other superannuation concessions and measures.

With the temptation for homeowners to cash in on spiralling house prices around Australia, it is important to turn your mind to whether you may only have a partial capital gains tax (CGT) main residence exemption available to you, and not a full CGT exemption (because of the way you have used your home).

Many of us wonder about the best vehicle to use for our extra savings. Is it better to direct extra savings to your mortgage or superannuation? As with most financial decisions, there is no one-size-fits-all approach as it depends on a number of factors for each individual.

With the end of financial year fast approaching, now is a great time to boost your superannuation savings and potentially save on tax. Below are six superannuation strategies to consider before 30 June 2024.

What happens from a tax point of view when a person leaves Australia part-way through the income year? How is the income they derived before that time taxed? And how is any income they derived after that time taxed (whether from Australian or foreign sources)?

If you own a family company, then it is very important how you receive and treat any payments made from the company to you (or your associates– for example, your spouse). And this is simply because any payment from a company (other than a return of the original capital) is, in most cases, prima-facie a dividend in the hands of the recipient – however it may otherwise be classified.