ATO Tax Scam Warning
Fake ATO scam phone calls and emails are hurting many Australians. The ATO will not contact you by phone with threats for non-payment of taxes, and will never ask for iTunes or any other kind of gift card for tax payments.
Tell any ATO caller to contact us as your tax agent. Do not open attachments in emails which appear to come from the ATO: these may infect your computer. Never pay an alleged tax liability without first talking to us.
ASIC Late Payment Fees
We have seen an increase in the number of ASIC late payment fees that have been issued due to the non-payment of the ASIC annual statement fee on time. We would encourage you to pay the ASIC annual statement fee as soon as you received the statement in order to avoid the late payment fee. If the payment is more than one month late the second late payment fee is more than the original ASIC annual statement fee. You may also consider the 10 year prepayment option so you can forget about it for the next ten years as well as take advantage of the reduced fee.
Audit Shield Letters
We will be sending out letters in relation to our Audit Shield offering via email this year. Please keep an eye on your inbox for the email if you are interested in taking up the offer. Audit Shield covers professional fees charged when we assist you in responding to eligible official enquiries, reviews investigations or audits, of lodged returns including WorkCover and payroll tax.
Personal Property Securities Register - Preferential Payment Claims Causing Headaches
Recent publicity in Queensland has identified the ongoing risk that many contractors have if they have not registered their customers (even when they are major builders) on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR).
If the customer is not registered, then the contractor has no protection against a claim from a liquidator of an alleged preferential payment and the customer runs the real risk of liquidators "clawing back" payments made to the contractor in the six months preceding the liquidator's appointment. Complaining that a government agency responsible for the licensing of builders has not been diligent in their activities will not protect the contractor against a liquidator's claim for preferential payment.
Like everything else in business, someone has to prepare the registration and enter it onto the register, but this is just another of the many costs of running a business. There is a very high probability that a demand from a liquidator would not occur if the business had registered the customer on the Personal Property Securities Register. A registration on the PPSR only costs about $7 for six years. This is a very cheap "insurance cover".
If you are not aware of the PPSR we suggest you have a discussion about the matter with your lawyer or contact us and we will put you into contact with someone to assist.
New Child Care Package
From 2 July 2018, there will be a new child care package. The package will mean that child care will be more affordable for most Australian families.
Child Care Subsidy
The package includes a new Child Care Subsidy, which replaces the current Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate. It will be paid directly to services to reduce the out-of-pocket cost for most families.
Use the Family Child Care Subsidy Estimator to find out what it means for your family.
Families earning less than $185,710 will no longer be subject to a cap on the amount of subsidy they can access. The subsidy for families earning above this, up to $350,000, will be capped at $10,000 per year, per child.
Three things will determine a family's level of Child Care Subsidy:
1. Combined Family Income - A family's income will determine the percentage of Child Care Subsidy for which they are eligible for, with more financial support available to lower income families.| Combined family income | Subsidy rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $65,710 | 85% |
| Over $65,710 to under $170,710 | Gradually reducing to 50% |
| $170,710 to under $250,000 | 50% |
| $250,000 to under $340,000 | Gradually reducing to 20% |
| $340,000 to under $350,000 | 20% |
| $350,000 or more | Nil |
2. Activity level of parents - The number of hours of subsidised care families can access will be determined by an activity test. The higher the level of activity, the more hours of subsidised care families can access, up to a maximum of 100 hours per child per fortnight.
In families with two parents, the parent with the lowest hours of activity will determine the hours of subsidised care. Maternity leave will be treated as if you are at work and is included for the activity test.
3. Type of child care service - The new Child Care Subsidy is also based on the type of child care your family accesses subject to an hourly rate cap:
- Centre-based care – $11.55 per hour
- Family day care – $10.70 per hour
- Outside school hours care – $10.10 per hour
Crowd-Sourced Funding Presents Great Opportunities for Small/Medium Enterprises
29th September 2017 will go down in history as a great day for small/medium enterprises in Australia!
Why? – this is when Crowd-Sourced Funding Equity Raising is available for companies with turnovers under $25 million and assets under $25 million.
Well-run companies will be able to raise up to $5 million per annum from investors, if they wish.
What will companies need to do to be able to avail themselves of this great opportunity?
- A good business - a business that has a vision and has identified clear strategies for its future.
- Directors who are willing to work with others.
- Shareholders who accept that owning 100% of the shares is not the most important thing for many businesses – the introduction of external cash can be very important to assist the company to achieve its strategies.
- TV programs like the "Shark Tank" have alerted many smaller company directors to the opportunities that are available, if the company places itself into an "investment ready phase" so that the company is attractive to potential investors.
Who are the prospects for Crowd-Sourced Funding?
- Companies with visions to expand the business.
- Companies wanting to "commercialise" a new product, process or service and for various reasons they might not be eligible or wish to participate as an Early Stage Innovation Company.
- Willingness to accept external investors into their company.
- Companies with loans, especially if the loans are not secured by first mortgages on the company's own real estate – these loans could be from family and friends and the directors might be quite happy to raise capital to pay out those loans, thus saving the company interest payments and potential questions about "when will the money be repaid".
- Companies with credit card debts wanting to repay the debt and save the interest.
If you are interested in having a discussion with us relative to the potential for your company or business to raise capital as a crowd sourced funding entity please do not hesitate to contact us.
Tips for Business Success
- To be successful you must have an aspiration. You must have people you look up to so you can see what's possible - try and find a mentor or join a group of other people running businesses.
- Planning is very important; in fact, it could be described as being "everything". The reason so many people get themselves into trouble in business is that they haven't invested enough time in planning their business operations.
- Business plans for business people are like maps for tourists - if you don't know where you're planning to go, how are you going to know when you get there? A plan will help you survive in business. Businesses do not just "grow" - you will need a template/plan on how to grow your business.