Staff Updates
We are very pleased to welcome Roshini Suraweera to our team of accountants. Roshini is a qualified member of CPA Australia and is available to contact by email at roshini@veritassolutions.com.au from Monday to Friday.
Ken Wild will be on leave for seven weeks from Tuesday 29th May 2018 and returning to the office on Monday 16th July 2018. Any enquiries including administration or financial advice during that period will be looked after by our qualified and capable staff. This includes Veritas business owner and Certified Financial Planner Jodie Dickson and supporting staff Allison Reid (Associate Adviser) and Tracey O’Brien (Client Services Manager).
Single Touch Payroll
STP is the next step in simplifying your payroll reporting.
The ATO stipulated that mandatory STP reporting commence for businesses with 20 or more employees on 1 July 2018.
All businesses with 19 or less employees can decide to report via STP from 1 July, 2018. However ATO proposed that it will be mandatory for employers with 19 or less employees to commence reporting from 1 July 2019 subject to legislation being passed in parliament.
STP will lead to transparency in payroll reporting and level the ground to ensure that all employees are meeting their employer taxation obligations. Auto reporting, Activity statement compliance efficiencies and validated new hire data are some exciting advantages of STP.
Main changes for employers and the payroll process due to STP reporting are;
- You’ll be reporting payroll and super information to the ATO every pay run. This is no longer an end of year process.
- Employer may not need to provide employees with payment summaries at the end of a financial year and employees can access that information through myGov account.
- There will be some changes to how superannuation is reported to the ATO, but no change to the way superannuation is paid.
Furthermore, your payroll cycle and payment due dates for PAYG withholding and superannuation contributions will not change. Employers can continue to pay employees weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
You need to count the number of employees on your payroll on 1 April 2018 and if you have 20 or more, you will need to update your software when it is ready and start Single Touch Payroll reporting from 1 July 2018. Software providers such as MYOB, XERO and ELMO Cloud are working directly with the ATO to ensure that their clients are ready to go when it becomes mandatory on 1st July 2018.
SMSF minimum pension reminder 2018
A quick reminder for our SMSF trustees about the importance of withdrawing the minimum pension amount from your superannuation fund before Saturday 30th June 2018. You can find each member’s minimum pension withdrawal amounts for 2018 in the covering letter we included with your 2017 financial statements. If you have any questions to do with your minimum pension requirements please call our office to discuss with one of our accountants.
Working Holiday Makers
Any employer can hire a working holiday maker, especially if they need labour for a short period of time. Most people believe that working holiday makers are all fruit pickers or farm labourers, but the majority of them work in pubs, clubs and in retail.
In order to employ a working holiday maker in Australia, you must register with the ATO as a Working Holiday Maker Employer before you make your first payment to them. Penalties apply if you fail to register.
You will need to identify the person as a working holiday maker by checking their visa. They will hold either a Working Holiday visa (417) or a Work and Holiday visa (462), which you must verify online using the Visa Entitlement Verification Online service.
Working holiday makers can’t claim the tax-free threshold and they must provide you with their tax file number. If they don’t provide you with a TFN you must withhold tax at the highest rate. You must withhold tax at 15% from the first dollar they earn up to $37,000 regardless of their residency status. Other tax rates apply beyond that amount. Working holiday makers are also entitled to superannuation if they earn above the usual thresholds.
If you would like further information, please contact our office.
Are foreign residents eligible for a CGT discount on Australian Property?
Up until the 8th May 2012, foreign residents were eligible to a 50% CGT discount on the sale of an Australian property. If the property was purchased after 8th May 2012, the discount is not available to foreign and temporary resident individuals (including beneficiaries of trusts and partners in a partnership).
If the property was purchased prior to 8th May 2012, but the CGT event didn’t occur until after this date, the CGT discount is apportioned to the percentage of time the property was owned prior to the 8th May 2012; or if you had a period of Australian residency after that date. Any CGT events that occur prior to 8th May 2012 are not affected.
The 2017 budget also introduced the following changes to the main residency exemption whereby it denies foreign and temporary tax residents access to the CGT main residence exemption from 7:30pm (AEST) on 9th May 2017. This change has been grandfathered until 30th June 2019, and if the CGT event occurs after this date, the individual is able to pro rata the main residence exemption.
Invoice Payments
When paying invoices via EFT please be sure to use the invoice number as a reference description. Also please check the account number and BSB matches the details on our invoice.
Scam Alert!
A new email is doing the rounds, pretending to be from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). An example is below. This is not a legitimate request from the ATO. If you receive an email like this, do not click on the links, do not provide any personal details and delete it immediately.
