Blog

Our office will be closed on Thursday the 25th of April, and reopening on Friday the 26th of April.

Lachlan grew up in Hamilton and returned after completing University in Melbourne. Becoming a partner at CoggerGurry in 2011, Lachlan enjoys working closely with clients in a range of areas including strategic planning, structuring, and taxation. Outside the office, Lachlan is a keen yet average cricketer, and along with his wife Jessica and young family, enjoys boating, touring, and exploring new areas of Australia.

28 April 2024 – March 2024 QTR Instalment Activity Statements. 28 April 2024 – Due date for employers to pay superannuation contributions for the March 2024 quarter. 15 May 2024 – Due date for all entities that did not have to lodge earlier, to lodge 2023/24 income tax returns. If you have any concerns or issues regarding lodgement of ATO statements please be in contact with our office. When a due date for lodgment of an approved form or payment of a tax debt falls on a day that is not a business day, you can lodge or pay on the next business day.

With the end of the financial year fast approaching, there are some important considerations to keep in mind when reviewing your tax planning strategies for 2024.  Trust Distributions The ATO has recently released guidance on its compliance approach and viewed on the tax treatment of income from family trusts. In particular, it is proposing to take a stricter view on income distributions made to low-income taxpayers where other family members benefit from trusts’ funds. It will therefore be crucial to review trust distributions for 2024 to minimise the risk of ATO review. Superannuation Contributions The concessional contributions cap for 2024 remains at $27,500. For those with superannuation balances below $500,000, unused concessional caps from prior years can be applied as carry forward concessional contributions. A review of prior years may assist in maximising tax deductions for superannuation contributions and increasing superannuation balances. Instant Asset Write-Off and Temporary Full Expensing The instant asset write-off and temporary full expensing ended on 30 June 2023. Small businesses, with aggregated turnover of less than $10 million, will be able to immediately deduct the full cost of eligible assets costing less than $20,000 that are first used or installed read for use between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024. For assets that are priced at $20,000 or above, which do not qualify for immediate deduction, there is still a provision. These assets can be added to the small business simplified depreciation pool. In the first year of income, these assets can be depreciated at a rate of 15%, and in subsequent years, the depreciation rate will be 30%.

You may have seen headlines recently such as “Ute Tax” or “ Labor’s family car tax” but what actually is this? Well, it is not a direct tax at all but an impost on car manufacturers to reduce their carbon emissions. The federal government unveiled plans in February for a new vehicle efficiency standard “requiring car manufactures to meet certain standards on grams per kilometer of fuel used”. The proposed legislation is to be introduced to parliament in the first half of 2024 with plans to be implemented from 1 January 2025. Vehicle manufactures will be required to meet the national annual average emissions target that will be reduced over time. Those manufacturers that beat the target will earn credits and those not meeting targets will have two years to either trade credits with a different supplier or earn credits for themselves before financial penalties will be applied. What this means is that manufacturers may incur extra costs if they continue to sell less energy efficient vehicles, and hopefully encouraging more energy efficient vehicles to be sold here in Australia. Currently the EU and US both have energy efficient standards and on average new passenger cars in Australia use 20% more fuel than in the US. SUV’s and 4WD’s have been highlighted as more inefficient vehicles and hence the headlines implying a family car or ute tax. These standards are yet to go through parliament so we will have to watch this space as it unfolds.  For further details see: Sources: Press Release King, Catherine, MP Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22media%2Fpressrel%2F9585863%22;src1=sm1 Australian Government, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts website: https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure-transport-vehicles/vehicles/new-vehicle-efficiency-standard/australian-new-vehicle-efficiency-standard-frequently-asked-questions#:~:text=support%20more%20EVs%3F-,What%20is%20a%20New%20Vehicle%20Efficiency%20Standard%20(a%20Standard)%3F,they%20must%20meet%20or%20beat .

If you are a either a member of a SMSF or have employees who are members of a SMSF and use the ATO Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) the ATO is rolling out a new security feature to assist with fraud prevention and misconduct. The new feature consists of checking for a match between an employee’s SMSF bank account details and the SMSF record when electronic payments are made via the SBSCH. Where there’s a mismatch, the SBSCH cannot accept payments to an employee’s SMSF until the error is resolved. Employees need to ensure that the bank account listed with the ATO is the one receiving contributions from their employer. This may be an issue where a SMSF has multiple bank accounts within the Fund. If you are unsure of which bank account to process payments for an employee, please confirm with them prior to processing of the March 2024 quarterly superannuation payment. If you are an employee and are unsure of your SMSF bank account listed with the ATO please contact our office and we will be able to confirm the account to provide to your employer.

Our office will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

After almost 30 years of dedicated service, Mike will retire from CoggerGurry at the end of this month. As our longest standing employee, Mike has been a constant, familiar face for as long as any of us can remember. In the mid 1990’s Mike moved home to the family farm at Penshurst from Geelong with his wife Andrea. He would soon join Tony Gurry at McLarty Archer & Co, initially working closely with the late Ivo McLaughlan and quickly becoming a senior member of the team. His background in agriculture gave him the ability to understand the issues faced by his clients and allowed him to connect closely and form wonderful relationships. Over the years Mike has been a keen and willing mentor to many staff helping them to find their feet. His years of experience, support and collaboration will be sorely missed by the team.  We wish Mike all the very best for life after CoggerGurry and a wonderful retirement.