As we put down the credit cards after the plethora of end of financial year sales events, we kick off what we all hope will be a prosperous new financial year. Despite the many uncertainties in global markets and governments, we wanted to take the opportunity to remind you of some important points as we move into the New Year:

Foreign resident capital gains tax withholdings rules apply NOW
Don’t let the name deceive you, as we’ve highlighted in our recent correspondences these new measures do not just apply to “foreign residents” and will apply to a broad range of property transactions over $2M. Online forms are now available on the ATO website for the following:

• Clearance certificate application form
• Variation application form
• Purchaser payment notification

You can find these forms and other useful information from the ATO by clicking here.

Tax Incentives for early stage investors
From today innovative new business start-ups will have easier access to capital, while investors will have access to generous tax offsets for early stage investments. After the bill received Royal Assent on 5 May, the first of July will have certainly been circled on the calendar for many. The Australian Government has a raft of information available here

Extended deadline for SuperStream compliance for small businesses
On the 22nd of June, Deputy Commissioner James O’Halloran announced that small businesses (less than 19 employees) that are not yet SuperStream ready now have until 28 October 2016 to be compliant.

Extended deadline for LRBA arrangements
On 6 April 2016, the ATO issued PCG 2016/5 which outlined the safe harbour terms upon which a trustee of a SMSF could choose to structure their Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement (LRBA) with related parties in order to show that it is consistent with an arm’s length dealing. The ATO has extended the original deadline of 30 June 2016 to 31 January 2017.

Real property transfer reporting
A reminder that the ATO are always willing to help! From today, all state and territory collection agencies will be collecting and reporting information to the ATO about all transfers of freehold and leasehold interests in real property located in all states and territories.

New checklist for Research & Development Tax Incentive
The ATO have recently updated their information, including helpful checklists on assessing whether your activities may be eligible for the R & D Tax Incentive. This can be a very generous tax measure assisting many businesses fund the research & development activities undertaken generating new and innovative activities.

Click here for a good source of information available from the ATO.

Should you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact our office on 07 3394 2311.
Regards, The Hoffman Kelly Team