From 1 July 2013:

• You need to increase the compulsory super payments you make on behalf of all your eligible employees (called 'super guarantee' or 'SG') to 9.25%. This is the first of several increases over the next seven years.
• Make super guarantee contributions for employees who are 70 years old or over.

Prepare an accurate depreciation schedule - Having a depreciation schedule prepared by a qualified quantity surveyor may help add a significant tax deduction for depreciation. The cost is also tax deductible and helps substantiate any capital allowance claim you may have.

Property data matching - The ATO is using new data matching techniques, including monitoring property transaction details to target property investors ensuring the correct amount of tax is paid.

With so many businesses now being run from home, the ATO is eager to ensure that those claiming tax deductions do so correctly.

Understanding the rules. A home-based business may use  the home as the principal place of business (such as a hairdresser), with clients coming to the home. Alternatively, the business can comprise of a home work area, such as a study or lounge which is set aside exclusively for business activities. If neither applies, a home based business can still claim some deductions if there is at least some business activity conducted at home.

Fixed assets - Review fixed assets useful life and determine if there are any benefits in scrapping or trading in assets.

Write off obsolete inventory - The year end stock-take should involve a review of all inventory. Obsolete stock may be scrapped or valued below cost subject to specific guidelines

The last month has seen the return of share market volatility after things were starting to look up, with the Australian share market’s first monthly loss in 10 months. While the price of assets is determined by their fundamentals in the long run, in the short term prices tend to be ruled by uncertainty and volatility.

With the 30 June end of the financial year fast approaching it is a good time to check that you are taking advantage of the tax-effective opportunities available before it is too late for this tax year.

Today the government announced substantial proposed changes to super which we summarise below and provide more detail in the factsheet attached.  Pleasingly, tax free withdrawals from pensions remain in place for over 60s.

Shares delivered further gains in February while gold and bond prices fell.  As share markets have been struggling through the financial and psychological aftermath of one of the biggest downturns in history since 2007 they remain vulnerable to ongoing corrections. 

Economic indicators suggest that the modest global recovery is continuing, with the US a shining light, China having bottomed in the September quarter, Europe still in recession and Australia’s position a bit brighter than it was a couple of months ago.  Consumer confidence as well as improved finance, business and property sectors have accompanied the strong share market.

As reported in this month’s March Market Update, markets have continued to improve their recovery from the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) that began in mid-2007 with the American ‘sub-prime crisis’ when debt-laden American households began to default on their home loans in significant numbers.

Since the invention of the electric light bulb and the advent of access to electricity at home it has become normal for Australians, and modern westerners more generally, to become sleep-deprived, at tremendous cost to our well-being.

So, how much sleep is enough?  For most of us most of the time, between 8 and 9.5 hours a night is needed, but an average of seven hours is now normal.