Question: An employee that has handed in their resignation and I am after some advice as to whether they are entitled to a redundancy payment on termination. They are employed under the Building & Construction General Onsite Award 2010 and is currently employed as a trainee surveyor. When they first started with the company they were employed as a Civil …

Question: Scenario: A staff member requires time off for ill-health but has no sick leave accrued and is minus 27 hours. If we do not pay them for this time off, is it recorded as sick leave, even though they are not paid for it? If so, do we then still deduct the sick leave amount from their sick leave …

Question: I have a question regarding personal leave regulations. In the last couple of years, there was a period that paid personal leave for part-time employees was increased to 10 days. Can you please tell me when that started & finished? Answer: The decision was overturned by the High Court so there is no effect moving forward.

Question: An employee started on 29.5.12 then become permanent 27.8.12. When calculating LSL what date do I calculate from? Answer The Long Service Leave Act 1955 (the Act) provides full-time, part-time, and casual workers (or any combination of these throughout the period of service) in NSW to 2 months (8.6667 weeks) paid long service leave on completion of 10 years’ …

Question: We have a staff member who has been encouraged to have the Astra Zeneca Vaccine. “As recommended by my doctor and due to existing medical condition, I need to have Vaccine (Astra Zeneca).” It is for the entire day so have asked if they can submit the day off as sick leave? If everyone wants a day off to …

Question: Please advise if when using the statutory formula method for calculating FBT payable, if we should be using Type 1 or Type 2. Please provide an extract from the legislation if possible. Answer The difference between a Type 1 fringe benefit and a Type 2 fringe benefit is whether the amount is entitled to a GST credit. Type 1 fringe benefits are a GST …

Question: A quick question on an employee’s termination pay. A staff member worked full time before their maternity leave. Due to the COVID impact and their young child, changed to a different position and worked reduced hours after their return. However, the new role is no longer available, and the business has decided to pay them their redundancy and in …

Question: One of our employees is moving to China and will still work for us remotely. Is there anything we need to consider for tax purposes under this situation? Do we still need to withhold PAYG tax? Although the employee will be in another country, she will still have her TFN and Australian banking account. Answer In the event the …

Question: I know that the small company tax rate will be reduced to 26% from the year 2021/22. So far, the company has franking account balance on 30/06/2020 as below: Total profit $190,000    Tax (27.5%): $52250 all paid. If the company wants to distribute $100,000 profit to its shareholders(two), In this case, it is my understanding that the franking credit …

Question: Two employees have been doing extra days/hours for the entire term 1. Regarding the 2 weeks holidays approaching (in which we do not work) are they entitled to be paid for the hours they have worked during term 1 or do they go back to their normal hours? Also, we have an employee that has been absent (LWP) from …

Question: We have a new client they are a small family partnership. The previous accountant has deferred all the losses from the business activity. I believe this may have built up to approximately $200,000, for both partners. I suspect this was to enable the client to receive the Age Pension. Apart from a small holding of shares and age pension …

Question: Withholding Clearance – House Sold Over $750k Query please – client sold a house and was one day late with the certificate of clearance, so  $50K was withheld. Spoke to the ATO and they said I cannot lodge a 2021 tax return  now (by paper) to recoup the funds – the client needs the money now, not in say …

Question My query relates to Capital Gains distribution in a family trust. Have 3 beneficiaries who are presently entitled and could receive a distribution of CG in the 20/21 year. A – earns $3000 in the year. B – earns $50,000. C – is a foreign resident for tax purposes (no earnings here). Could you please show what would be …

Question We require clarification on an issue we are experiencing with an employee. The individual has not called or reported to work yesterday or today. Their usual workdays are Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. Can you advise how long it must be before they have “abandoned” their place of employment? Can you advise if we still must pay them for a …

2021-22 FEDERAL BUDGET TAX OVERVIEW Introduction… The 2021-22 Budget outlines the Morrison Government’s plan for recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic focused on growing the economy and creating jobs for Australians. On 11 May 2021, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg handed down his second “pandemic budget” amidst a backdrop of continuing uncertainty. Acknowledging that the virus is a continuing threat …

Question I have a few questions about GST on investment property transfer as below: My individual client bought a brand-new house from the developer. She then leases it back to them (for them to use as a display unit) for two years. After that she plans to sell the house immediately. Will there be GST on the sale price? My …

Question My client’s scenario is: The client decided to purchase land and build a duplex.  At the completion of the duplex, he decided to sell one of them and keep the other as an investment property.  I then advised my client that this would more than likely attract GST on the sale of the one he sold. He then went …

Question This is about an Australian private company (Pty Ltd), but 100% of ordinary shares are held by overseas company. It has one Australian resident director and main activity is medical research and development.  Q1.  1- Ultimate and immediate holding company name and ABN or country code:  Should I put the name of overseas company for this question in the …

Question The business partners are considering handing out cash bonuses to all their staff. They would prefer not to go through wages, so employees are not taxed. It is a one-off cash bonus, some employees $1,000, others $5,000. They are happy to register for fringe benefits tax if required. Is this the best way to go? Answer If you want …

Question Could you please explain what this means? This is from bO2 newsletter issue #108. There is temporary full expensing for the purchase of capital assets between 6.10.2020 and 30.6.2022. If your business has a genuine need for new equipment, you could directly benefit from this. Business with aggregated annual turnover below the relevant threshold will be able to deduct the full cost eligible …

Question I have received a booklet titled “Budget 2020” from the Liberal Party of Australia recently, and I would like confirmation on an item stating  Asset Write Off: “Over 99% of businesses will be able to write off the full value of any eligible asset they purchase for their business. This will be available for small, medium and larger businesses …

Question My client is on accruals. Do I account for the Cash Flow Boost via Journal Entry at 30 June or do I only account for the Cash Flow Boost NANE when received which is in the next Financial Year? The way I see it the CFB is an addition to the BAS & does not form part of the …

Question I have clients that have had to close their business for 6 days due to SA COVID restrictions.  Our question is do they still have to pay their staff under Fairwork, or can they force them to take leave? Most are no longer on JobKeeper payments, therefore Fairwork changes can not apply? Answer Firstly, they need to see if …

Question Facts of the matter.  We have 2 super funds; both have 2 members myself and my wife. We both are in pension mode.  Super fund 1 has cash only and has concessional contribution part.  Super fund (2) is made of non-concessional contribution only. It has property, cash, and some small number of shares. This is the fund we draw …

Question I have a question about the JobKeeper extension. Can you still get JobKeeper part 2 if you have an actual drop in turnover of 29%? Answer The requirement is 30%. Given you are so close to the required turnover decline carefully consider: The definition is GST turnover, so we are dealing with taxable supplies Carefully peruse for non-assessable deposits …

Question I have a client who was operating a gym business as a sole trader when COVID-19 hit. He qualified for JobKeeper as an Eligible Business Participant and we are now looking to see if he will qualify for the Extension to JobKeeper. As his gym business income fell, he found a new type of business to get involved in. …

Question: Thank you for your latest glossy Tax Essentials Manual. I have some questions regarding tax returns that are now due. Page 2 of Losses Schedule. Do we need to satisfy the ‘business continuity test, what is the test? What is a ‘superannuation income stream’, Item 7 In Tax return for individuals? Are we required to lodge a ‘reportable tax …

Question I have an employee who wishes to be paid out a portion of his annual leave entitlement. Can you please advise if the annual leave payout is part of the annual leave accrual? I am not certain it would be as it is a payment in addition to his ordinary time hours therefore if included, he would exceed his …