New Increased Super Contribution Caps As the end of financial year gets closer, some investors are thinking about the most effective ways to boost their super balance, particularly with an increase in the caps on contributions from 1 July. The concessional contributions cap, which is the maximum in before-tax contributions you can add to your super each year without paying extra tax, is increasing to $30,000 from $27,500 in the new financial year.i The cap increases in line with average we...

Making Sure Your Deductions Don't Get Personal It can be easy to overlook your personal use of business assets when it comes to completing your business and self managed super fund tax returns but be warned, the ATO is taking an interest in this area. The ATO’s Small Business Random Enquiry Program found around 16 per cent of small businesses were either carelessly or deliberately overclaiming expenses in their tax returns. If business assets are used for a mix of business and pr...

Pre-Election Australian Federal Budget 2022-23 The Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has handed down Australia’s pre-election Federal Budget for 2022-23, his 4th Budget.  The Budget pushes cash hand-outs into the wallets of Australians through temporary measures such as one-off payments and petrol excise cuts. With many measures tailing off in July-September 2022, it is clearly geared as an Election Budget, with the nation waiting for the Election date to be called.  Here is our br...

Counting Down to 30 June It has been a year of change like no other and that extends to tax and superannuation. As the end of the financial year approaches, now is a good time to check some new and not so new ways to reduce tax and boost your savings. So gather up any paperwork you need to prepare your personal tax return. This may include bank and superannuation statements, records related to share or property investments, receipts for charitable donations and work-related expenses. Wi...

Investing in recovery In his third and possibly last Budget before the next federal election, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is counting on a new wave of spending to ensure Australia's economic recovery maintains its momentum. As expected, the focus is on jobs and major new spending on support for aged care, women and first-home buyers with some superannuation sweeteners for good measure. With the emphasis on spending, balancing the Budget has been put on the back burner until employme...