The financial year is almost over, but there are still effective strategies you may be able to put in place. The aim is to make sure you pay no more tax than you have to for the 2020-21 year and maximise any refunds you may be entitled to. This is still the case, if not more so, in the on-going COVID-19 environment.

It is possible to receive amounts that are not expected by the ATO to be included as income in your tax return. However some of these amounts may be used in other calculations, and may therefore need to be included elsewhere in your tax return.

Government agencies regularly access data contained in the ABN registration, and where this is not up-to-date the taxpayer may be missing out on stimulus measures, grants, and other government support.

The JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme was passed into law in midNovember 2020. JobMaker was part of the 2020-21 Federal Budget, and will operate until 6 October 2021

The last Federal Budget carried with it a number of tax changes that were designed to assist the Australian economy recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We all understand that budgets are an exercise in predicting the future. Given what has happened in 2020, gazing into the crystal ball and extracting something reliable is fraught with difficulty.

Legislation has been put in place to extend the JobKeeper scheme beyond its original sunset date, although the rates of payment and certain other details have been altered. The scheme is now to run until March next year, with one version lasting until 3 January and another version in place from then until 28 March.

The JobKeeper payment, which was originally due to end after 27 September, will now continue to be available to eligible businesses (including the self-employed) until 28 March 2021. However, there are some changes to consider.

This financial year is almost over, but there are still effective strategies you may be able to employ to make sure you pay the right amount of tax for the 2019-20 year and maximise any refund entitlement.

There are many questions being asked lately about claiming expenses when forced to work from home over the COVID-19 period, plus a lot of concern about any consequent capital gains issues when later selling a property from which people have been coerced to work from during this time.

A legislative package has been pushed through Parliament which contains a number of bills that implement the government’s economic response to the spread of the coronavirus.