Starting a New Business - Aston Accountants

ATO & Director Penalty Notices

With the recent collapse of some high profile businesses, it is a good time to review the personal obligations that can fall on a company director to pay certain tax debts of the business.

Director Penalty Notices:

When a company fails to pay the superannuation contributions for its employees or the PAYG withheld from its employees’ wages, the ATO can recover those debts from the company directors personally. They do this by issuing a Director Penalty Notice (DPN). A DPN outlines the unpaid amounts and if there are any options to have the penalty remitted.

Directors receiving a DPN have only 21 days to pay the debt or to apply for remission by putting the business into the hands of an Administrator or by commencing to wind up the company.

If the PAYG withholding tax or super contributions have not been reported to the ATO within 3 months of the original due date, then there is no option for remission and the Director must either pay the debt or the ATO will initiate legal proceeding to recover the debt.

Directors take note:

When a business is experiencing financial trouble, it is often seen as a better option to ignore lodging BAS returns as the amount of ATO debt will just become larger. However, by doing this, a Director can put their own personal assets at greater risk if they become no longer eligible for remission by acting to put the business into Administration.

If you feel that this may apply to you or to your business, it is best to seek help before the ATO act. We can assist you with your lodgements to keep you up to date and help you manage your cashflow.

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More information can be found on the ATO website

$20,000 Instant Asset Write Off Extension

Just a reminder…

The small business asset write off threshold of $20,000 will continue until the 30th of June 2018. This applies to small businesses with a turnover threshold of less than $10 million in the 2017 financial year.

To refresh your memory, the small business instant asset write off applies to small businesses that purchase assets costing less than $20,000.

Under this concession, business owners can deduct 100% of the asset in the financial year they are purchased, rather than having to depreciate the asset over its useful life which could be 10 years for example. .

Eligibility

The asset is to ready to use in the financial year you make your claim. This means the asset needs to be fully installed.

You must be a small business with a turnover under $10 million

Things will change 1 July 2018…..

On the 1st of July 2018 the ATO will be reducing the threshold from $20,000 to $1,000, so now is the time to consider whether you can take advantage of this opportunity.

If you are considering purchasing business assets, give us a call first. We can help make sure you are getting the best deductions for your business.

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in News / Running A Business / Starting a New Business / Tax Advice and Planning by Melissa de Largie

Attention employers – Single Touch Payroll is coming!

The ATO is introducing a new system – Single Touch Payroll – to help employers report their employee payment information more easily and efficiently.

What is Single Touch Payroll?

Single Touch Payroll is a new system for employers to conveniently report their employee wages, withholding and superannuation information at the time when they prepare payroll on their accounting or payroll software.

What does it mean to you?

Remitting employee super payments when there is insufficient information

As an employer you are obliged to pay your employee their wages, remit their PAYG Withholding to the ATO as well as remit superannuation payments to their superannuation fund accounts.

In an ideal world, on the first day your employee starts work with you, they would complete their forms including a Super Choice Form informing you their superannuation fund account details for you to remit superannuation payments.

What if your employee did not provide enough information for you to remit superannuation payments, and the amount is due to be paid?

How to protect yourself from Internet fraud

With all the new technologies nowadays it is becoming more challenging for us keep on top of the technological advances, let alone new ways internet criminals (or often called scammers) can steal our money. In this article we will dig into a few common ways scammers can attempt to take our hard-earned dollars through emails, and also provide suggestions of what you can do (as an individual, or as a business owner) to reduce your exposure to scammers.