Giving the most with your Bushfire Donation

It’s amazing, and emotionally uplifting, to see how generous Australians are when it comes to making donations to help with the bushfire crisis.   It is also a good time to be aware that, for your donation to be tax deductible, it must be made to an organisation that has been given official status by the ATO as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR).  If you are on a high marginal tax rate and know that the donation will give you a year-end tax deduction, that may encourage you to give more.

Most of the major charities are DGRs but sometimes, in times of crisis like this, small groups of people set up local fundraising entities and these might not have registered to be DGRs.  Similarly, many of the donation-seeking funds set up online through websites such as GoFundMe will not necessarily be registered as DGRs.

Some people may not be too concerned about this, and may still choose to support the fundraiser that best suits their ethos, no matter whether it gives them a tax deduction.   Others may be willing to give more if they know they will get a reduction in their year-end tax.

So, How do you check if an organisation is a DGR?

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Think twice before writing 20 instead of 2020

Year 2020 has arrived, and we are nearly a week in. People are starting to get back to work – so are scammers.

When dating documents, we love using abbreviations.

Last year we used to write 19 instead of 2019.

So it’s normal for us to write 20 to indicate 2020, but this poses a fraud risk.

A date like 6 Jan 20 can easily be defrauded as 6 Jan 2019 by adding 2 more digits behind the year.

The consequence can be huge: imagine if this is written on a formal contract and the date has been fraudulently backdated, where you are liable for any monies owing since the date of contract. Or if someone post-dates a cheque that has turned stale.

So save yourself some hassles down the track by writing the full 2020 when dating documents.

Contributing to Super and the Work Test

If you are aged 65 and above and under 74, you will generally need to meet the work test prior to contributing to superannuation.  The work test is basically gainful employment of 40 hours in a consecutive 30 day period.  The work test must be met during the financial year and prior to making the contribution.

This often proved unfair where you have retired at the end of the financial year and received termination payments which fell in the next financial year. While there was now cash available to contribute to super, you may not have met the work test due to your retirement the previous financial year.

But here’s the good news – since 1 July 2020 you can access an exemption to the work test.

To be eligible:

  • you must be 65 years and over but under 75 years of age
  • you met the work test in the previous financial year
  • your total super balance (TSB) is less than $300,000 on the 30th of June of the previous financial year

The exemption will apply only once per individual and will be available for the financial year following when the work test was met.

Usual contribution rules and cap limits will still apply to making contributions.

If you are over 65 and interested in making additional contributions to superannuation, talk to us!

Please note due to covid19 this measure has been pushed back and currently may not apply

Want to minimise tax when selling your business?

Are you a business owner who is considering selling your business, but is unsure what the tax implications are?

When it comes to selling your business, there are many decisions to make, and sometimes these decisions may impact your tax liabilities on sale. It is therefore wise to speak to an expert about the road ahead before starting the journey of selling.

If a business is sold without having extensive analysis of its tax implications, you may end up having to pay up to 47% tax on the profit. However with proper consultation well before the sale, you may be able to reduce the income tax liability down (sometimes to nil!). The difference can be enormous when the profit is huge.

For example: a business sale with profit of $3m, with 47% tax, your share to keep is $1.59m, however with a 0% tax, you get to keep $3m. That’s a difference of $1.41m!

Below are some concessions you may be able to use to minimise your tax.

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5 time saving tips to managing your business

Small business owners wear a lot of hats – they are managers, marketers, salesmen, customer liaison officers, human resource managers, workers, bookkeepers and more!

It can be overwhelming at times so smart business owners try to manage these by working smarter. While we cannot tell you how to run your business, if you are using Xero accounting software, there are smarter ways to run your business when it comes to bookkeeping and record keeping, here are 5 of them.

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