DO YOU SALARY SACRIFICE INTO SUPERANNUATION?

Consider Mavis’ case  Mavis is a 56 year old employee of BHP Billiton and has been salary sacrificing to superannuation for the last few years to build her retirement nest egg. Mavis is concerned that due to the changes in superannuation contribution limits that she may need to revise the amount that she salary sacrifices into superannuation.   Mavis currently earns $253,000 gross earnings per year as an office manager, her superannuation guarantee that is paid by her employer is 9.5% up until the maximum superannuation contribution base which comes to $20,049.   The new concessional contribution cap for 2018 is $25,000 which means Mavis has the ability to salary sacrifice up to this amount. As a result Mavis can salary sacrifice an additional $4,951 to be within the concessional superannuation contribution limit.   Mavis will need to consider Division 293 taxation consequences as her income (including reportable super) exceeds $250,000. Division 293 tax of 15% applies to concessional contributions when the $250,000 threshold is exceeded. As Mavis is $3,000 over the threshold she will pay an extra 15% tax on these superannuation contributions, equating to $450.  Please contact Andrew Marshall or Janine Orpwood at Langley McKimmie Chartered Accountants on (03) 5427 8100 to discuss further. We provide accounting and wealth management services to clients in Woodend, Gisborne and Macedon Ranges areas within Victoria Australia.

SIMPLER BAS

The ATO is reducing red tape for small businesses turning over less than $10m when it comes to reporting your GST obligations on your Business Activity Statement. As of 1 July 2017 you will now only need to report.

G1 – Total Sales
1A – GST on Sales
1B – GST on Purchases

This removes the need to report on various other labels on the BAS. 

Please see below from the ATO for further information: 

https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Business-activity-statements-(BAS)/Goods-and-services-tax-(GST)/Simpler-BAS/

Please contact Andrew Marshall or Janine Orpwood at Langley McKimmie Chartered Accountants on (03) 5427 8100 to discuss further.

We provide accounting and wealth management services to clients in Woodend, Gisborne and Macedon Ranges areas within Victoria Australia.  

LOW INCOME EARNERS MAY NEED TO LODGE A TAX RETURN

You may need to lodge a tax return even if your taxable income is under the tax free threshold.

 

Below are some common reasons why you may need to lodge:  

• Pay as you go (PAYG) was withheld from your wage during the year
• You had a reportable fringe benefit amount on your PAYG payment summary
• You had reportable employer superannuation contributions on your PAYG payment summary
• You have made a loss or can claim a loss in a previous year
• You received franked dividends  

Please click on the link below to find out whether you need to lodge a 2017 tax return:

 

https://www.ato.gov.au/Tax-professionals/Newsroom/Income-tax/Low-income-earners-may-need-to-lodge/

Please contact Andrew Marshall or Janine Orpwood at Langley McKimmie Chartered Accountants on (03) 5427 8100 to discuss further.

We provide accounting and wealth management services to clients in Woodend, Gisborne and Macedon Ranges areas within Victoria Australia.  

 

DO YOU KNOW THE ATO INTEREST RATE?

Late payment of your taxation liabilities will generally incur ATO General Interest Charges.

The interest rate is currently 8.73% per annum and will change to 8.70% from 1 October.

For further information and historical rates see the below ATO link:

https://www.ato.gov.au/Rates/General-interest-charge-(GIC)-rates/

 

Please contact Andrew Marshall or Janine Orpwood at Langley McKimmie Chartered Accountants on (03) 5427 8100 to discuss further.

We provide accounting and wealth management services to clients in Woodend, Gisborne and Macedon Ranges areas within Victoria Australia.  

 

ARE YOUR EMPLOYEE SUPERANNUATION PAYMENTS UP TO DATE?

Employee superannuation payments are due 28 days after the end of each quarter, the next superannuation due date is 28 of October 2017 which covers the quarter 1 July 2017 to 30 September 2017. You are able to make superannuation payments to your employees superannuation funds more regularly if you would prefer.  

If the superannuation payment has not been made by the due date then a Superannuation Guarantee Charge statement will need to be lodged where you will have to pay the Superannuation Guarantee Charge. 

For further reading please visit the ATO website link below: 

https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Super-for-employers/Paying-super-contributions/When-to-pay-super/

Please contact Andrew Marshall or Janine Orpwood at Langley McKimmie Chartered Accountants on (03) 5427 8100 to discuss further.

We provide accounting and wealth management services to clients in Woodend, Gisborne and Macedon Ranges areas within Victoria Australia.  

 

PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

It is more important than ever to protect your personal information such as tax file numbers, your date of birth, current address and myGov and internet banking details to name a few.

With this information scammers have been organising loans from banks in other peoples names, and making calls purporting to be from the ATO in order to scare unsuspecting taxpayers into paying debts that do not exist. 

If you are unsure you are receiving a genuine call from a government authority and not a scam artist, state that you will call back, ensuring that you verify the contact number yourself.

If you have a registered tax agent they can deal with the ATO on your behalf. 

For more information click on the following link from the ATO:

https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Online-services/Identity-security/Protecting-your-information/

Please contact Andrew Marshall or Janine Orpwood at Langley McKimmie Chartered Accountants on (03) 5427 8100 to discuss further.

We provide accounting and wealth management services to clients in Woodend, Gisborne and Macedon Ranges areas within Victoria Australia.