Taxing times for trustees?

Christine St Anne: I'm at the SMSF Association's Annual Conference and this time I have managed to grab a quiet room, and today I'm joined by Graeme Colley to talk about some of the key legislative issues for trustees.  Graeme, welcome. smsf auditor melbourne Graeme Colley: Thank you, Christine. St Anne: Now, Graeme, you had mentioned in your presentation some technical issues in particular the concession or contributions into superannuation...

Read More

US consumers increase January borrowing

US consumers increased their borrowing in January at the slowest pace in more than a year with borrowing on credit cards actually declining for the second time in three months. THE Federal Reserve reported on Friday that consumer borrowing expanded $US11.6 billion ($A14.92 billion) in January following a $US17.9 billion gain in December. BAS Preparation services in Australia It was the smallest monthly increase since borrowing rose by...

Read More

GDP growth slows in December quarter

Australian economic growth slowed in the final three months of last year and remains firmly below trend, according to official figures. The Bureau of Statistics says Australia's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.5 per cent in the December quarter. That took the annual rate GDP growth to 2.5 per cent, down from 2.7 per cent in the prior period. The decline was in line with the consensus view of economists, as the Reserve Bank considers...

Read More

Australian workers overpaid, hard to fire, says US economist

Aussie workers are getting paid too much and take too much annual leave, US economist Bob Baur says. Source: News Limited THE economy is struggling to grow because Australians get too much pay, too much annual leave and are too hard to fire, an American economist says. Bob Baur, chief global economist at Principal Global Investors, said the local labour market was in need of reform if the economy was going to shift from its dependence...

Read More

Qantas Swings Back To H1 Profit

Qantas Airways has swung back to a first-half profit, delivering its best interim performance in four years, as its massive transformation program continues to reap results. In the six months to December 31, Qantas posted a statutory net profit of $203 million, from a loss of $235m a year earlier. On an underlying basis, the national carrier posted a net profit of $367m, a sharp improvement on the $252m loss it posted in the previous corresponding...

Read More

Spending Slowed To Crawl In January

Economy-wide spending has slowed to a crawl but cheap petrol and the recent interest rate cut should hopefully turn that around. Spending rose just 0.2 per cent in January, marking the slowest spending growth since 2012, figures from the Commonwealth Bank on Monday show. Sales growth has been slowing for the past five months, but CommSec chief economist Craig James said consumers should start splashing more cash this year. “With household finances improving following the fall in petrol prices and recent interest rate cut, we can expect...

Read More

Bowen Stumped On Tax-Free Threshold

Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen is under fire for not being able to identify the cut-off point for the tax-free threshold. Under repeated questioning during the interview on Sky News’ Richo and Jones program, Mr Bowen was not able to correctly nominate the figure of $18,200. But Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is sticking by his shadow treasurer saying Mr Bowen ‘absolutely’ still has his confidence. ‘Chris knows what he got wrong last night....

Read More

Cuts To Research And Development Tax Breaks May Lead To Job Losses

Australian companies will lose out against against foreign players and may have to lay off workers if the Abbott government succeeds in passing laws that would cut research and development tax breaks for big companies, experts say. The federal government has struck a deal with the Palmer United Party in attempt to pass the laws, which were first introduced by the former Labor government. The original proposal would have affected about 15 to 20 of Australia’s largest companies, such as Telstra, BHP and Rio Tinto. Tax experts say the changes...

Read More

Tax Office Knew About Australians Channelling Money Into Swiss Accounts

The Tax Office has revealed it has investigated hundreds of Australians with Swiss bank accounts as a massive international data leak named prominent Australians, including late media baron Kerry Packer, model Elle Macpherson and former ANZ chairman Charles Goode, as having held accounts in the famous haven. An International Consortium of Investigative Journalists investigation found that the Swiss arm of HSBC had almost 500 clients linked to Australia, with 856 accounts, and total combined holdings of about $US959.2 million ($1.24 billion). The...

Read More

Australian Bitcoin Exchange Claims Exemption from 10% Government Tax

Australian exchange Coin Loft has received an official ruling exempting it from having to charge Goods and Services Tax (GST) on local bitcoin sales, according to the company. The exchange claims the private ruling from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) means that it need not apply the GST to its bitcoin exchange price. As a result, the firm ceased charging the tax on 26th January and says it is the first Australia-based exchange to do so. The tax must still be charged on the commission component of the order, however, and a Coin Loft blog...

Read More

Business Council Of Australia Seeks Tax Answers From Liberal Pollster

One of Australia’s most influential lobby groups, the Business Council of Australia, has commissioned Liberal Party pollsters Crosby Textor to conduct private research on changes to the tax system, including the GST. In a clear sign the BCA has heeded Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s call for help last year to make the case for tax reform in Australia, Crosby Textor will conduct qualitative and quantitative polling for the organisation. The research comes as the Abbott government prepares to launch a sweeping review of Australia’s tax system in...

Read More

Australias Record Jobs Growth Is A Game Changer

The December jobs number was a fairly pivotal report. It’s a game-changer, as it shows the nation enjoyed the strongest jobs growth on record in three months to December. In fact, 188,000 jobs were created over that period (original terms), which compares to more ‘normal’ jobs growth of about 90,000 (10-year trend over that period). That’s a fantastic outcome, yet somehow the Australian Bureau of Statistics reckons this equates to jobs growth of about 100,000 when you adjust for seasonality. That’s still strong — the best result in about a decade...

Read More

Australia Launches Online Visa Pilot Programme For Indians

A pilot programme was today launched to make it easier for Indian business and tourism visitors to apply online for travel to Australia. The pilot programme, which has been kicked off on a trial basis, covers online lodgement of subclass 600 visas for Indian business and tourism visitors. It will be rolled out through selected travel agents across India. “India is one of the world’s fastest growing outbound travel markets. This trial will make it easier for Indian visitors to apply for visas to travel to Australia,” Australia Trade and...

Read More

Tax Office Targets Rental Property

Owners of rental properties may need to exercise greater prudence when it comes to assessment of rental incomes and tax expense claims in 2015. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has indicated that it will expand the scope of its investigations of the rental incomes and expense claims of owners of residential properties this year as part of efforts to ensure that taxpayers pay the appropriate amounts. According to the ATO, it still faces an ongoing problem with taxpayers making errors with respect to either assessment rental revenues or...

Read More

Australian Equities Market

In Australia, the Performance of Services index is released. In the US, trade data is expected together with the ADP employment report and the minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting. OVERNIGHT MARKETS US Equities US sharemarkets fell again on Tuesday. Economic data was weaker-than- expected, lower oil prices weighed on energy stocks and investors continued to fret about the European economy. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones was lower by 130 points or 0.8%, after earlier being down 239 points. The S&P 500 index was down by0.9%...

Read More