SUPERANNUATION GUARANTEE PERCENTAGE INCREASE – LAST CALL
Employers are reminded that the Superannuation Guarantee Percentage is increasing from 10.5% to 11.0% from the 1st of July 2023.
Most payroll software will automatically apply the increase from that date. However, employers should double check to ensure that they continue to meet their obligations into the new financial year.
Additionally, employers should be reviewing employee salary sacrifice arrangements to ensure that they are revised where necessary to take account of the Superannuation Guarantee Percentage increase. Eg to ensure that superannuation contribution caps are not exceeded.
If you need assistance to implement the Superannuation Guarantee Percentage increase or to understand the impact on your business, please get in touch.
WORKING FROM HOME (WFH) TAX DEDUCTIONS
Back in February we wrote about the ATO’s new ‘fixed rate’ method for claiming working from home tax deductions that applies from the 2022/23 year.
The details of the new ‘fixed rate’ method are contained in Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2023/1. In short, the ATO will allow a deduction of $0.67 per hour which covers:
- electricity & gas usage;
- mobile & home telephone usage;
- home & mobile internet/data usage; and
- stationery & computer consumables (printer ink, paper, etc).
The ATO have also updated their website content to explain the new approach to working from home deductions.
An important element of the new ‘fixed rate’ method is the requirement to keep a record of all hours worked from home that are being claimed. For example, timesheets, rosters, diaries or other similar documents.
Given the introduction of the new requirements from February 2023, there is a one-off modification to the record keeping requirements for the 2022/23 year as follows:
- a representative record of the total number of hours worked from home during the period from 1 July 2022 to 28 February 2023. Eg a record of the hours worked from home for a period that you can be taken as representative of the whole 8 month period; and
- a record of the total number of actual hours worked from home for the period 1 March 2023 to 30 June 2023.
We anticipate that the ATO will be watching closely to ensure that the new ‘fixed rate’ method for claiming work related expenses is claimed correctly in 2022/23 income tax returns.
If you have any questions, or need assistance to calculate your working from home tax deductions, please get in touch.
TAX LAWS AMENDMENT (2022 MEASURES NO 4) BILL 2022
On the 21st of June Tax Laws Amendment (2022 Measures No 4) Bill 2022 was finally passed by the Senate. The Bill now awaits the ‘rubber stamp’ of Royal Assent.
This Bill contains a number of measures, the most noteworthy of which are the enactment of the Technology Investment Boost and the Skills & Training Boost that were announced in the 2022-23 Federal Budget.
These measures will provide businesses with a bonus 20% tax deduction for eligible expenditure on technology adoption and training.
The measures will apply to expenditure incurred from 29 March 2022 to:
- 30 June 2024 for the skills & training boost; and
- 30 June 2023 for the technology investment boost.
Whilst the measures apply to expenditure incurred in the 2022 financial year, the first claims will be made through the 2022-23 income tax return.
With the Bill now passed into law, businesses should be reviewing their eligible expenditure to ensure that the bonus tax deductions are claimed when preparing their 2022/23 income tax returns.
If you need assistance to assess your eligibility to claim the skills & training boost and/or the technology investment boost, please get in touch.
ANNUAL WAGE REVIEW
Back in May, the Fair Work Commission announced the outcome of the Annual Wage Review.
The outcome was an increase in the National Minimum Wage to $882.80 per week ($23.23 per hour) and a 5.75% increase to minimum award wages.
The increases apply from the first full pay period on or after the 1st of July 2023.
The Fair Work Commission will be publishing updated pay guides to reflect the increases very soon.
Employers are encouraged to review the new pay guides and to make changes to their pay rates where necessary in order to ensure that they continue to pay employees compliantly.
If you need assistance to access the pay guides or to apply them to your business, please get in touch.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
With cost of living pressures continuing to bite, interest rates increasing and speculation about a recession abounding, it is easy to be pessimistic about the future.
For those who are currently feeling a little pessimistic, we have two good quotes to reflect upon.
The first is from the British statesman, Winston Churchill who said “For myself I am an optimist – it does not seem to be much use to be anything else.”
The second is from the author and scholar, Noam Chomsky who said “Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.”
It is only natural to feel pessimistic when the outlook is bleak. However, we must ask ourselves what purpose does that pessimism serve? And moreover, would an optimistic attitude serve us better?
Sky Accountants Ballarat
Phone: 03 5332 8855
Office Address: 902 Howitt Street, Wendouree, Victoria 3355, Australia
Postal Address: PO Box 2234, Bakery Hill, Victoria 3354
Sky Accountants Gisborne & Macedon Ranges
Phone: 03 5428 1400
Office Address: 45 Hamilton Street, Gisborne, Victoria 3437, Australia
Postal Address: PO Box 270 Gisborne Victoria 3437