Single Touch Payroll for Small Employers

Parliament passed legislation on 12 February to extend Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting to include all small employers (those with fewer than 20 employees) from 1 July 2019.

STP is pay day reporting by employers to the ATO as it happens. This reporting already started on 1 July 2018 for large employers (20 or more employees).

This is a big change and will generally be much easier to comply with if using some kind of accounting or payroll software.

The ATO Commissioner Chris Jordan has announced that the ATO wants to help with the transition and has outlined the following :

“The ATO will offer micro employers (1 to 4 employees) help to transition to STP and a number of alternative options – such as allowing those who rely on a registered tax or BAS agent to report quarterly for the first two years, rather than each time payroll is run.

• Small employers can start reporting any time from the 1 July start date to 30 September 2019. We will grant deferrals to any small employer who requests additional time to start STP reporting.

• There will be no penalties for mistakes, missed or late reports for the first year.

• We will provide exemptions from STP reporting for employers experiencing hardship, or in areas with intermittent or no internet connection.”

For more information please contact our office.

Vacancy Fee for foreign owners

Foreign owners of residential dwellings in Australia are required to pay an annual vacancy fee if their dwelling is not residentially occupied or rented out for more than 183 days (six months) in a year.

The vacancy fee return must be lodged by foreign owners of residential dwellings who:

• made a foreign investment application for residential property after 7.30pm AEST on 9 May 2017

• purchased under a New Dwelling Exemption Certificate that a developer applied for after 7:30pm AEST on 9 May 2017.

The vacancy fee may also apply where a foreign person failed to submit a foreign investment application but purchased a residential property before 9 May 2017.

Foreign owners of vacant land do not have to lodge a vacancy fee return until a dwelling has been constructed on the land.  Returns need to be lodged even when the dwelling has been occupied or made available for rent.

For the purpose of applying the vacancy fee rules, a vacancy year is each successive period of 12 months starting on the occupation day for the dwelling during which you have continuously held an interest in the dwelling.

Vacancy fee returns must be lodged within 30 days of the end of each vacancy year.

The vacancy fee will generally be the same amount as the foreign investment application fee paid at the time you submitted your foreign investment application.

WHOLESALER TURNAROUND

Wholesaler fell into significant financial problems and major losses due to external factors and poor internal management decisions. We identified some issues and contacted the owner, subsequently unravelling the extent of the problems. 
We worked closely with the owner and other advisers, working out a sustainable budget, restructuring the business including embarking on significant diversification activities. 

Outcome: Financial issues worked through, profitable business and has experienced significant continual growth ever since. Continue to work closely with the owner and management.

SERVICE INDUSTRY TURNAROUND

Client suffered heavy losses in the post GFC period, with market downturns throughout their industry. Worked closely to establish a sustainable business model, identified and removed unnecessary costs to retain workforce. This included a significant premises negotiation which culminated in a significantly improved, contemporary space at a lower cost per month. 

Outcome: Business returned to healthy profitability which was further enhanced as the industry in general rebounded. 

INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION

Client with international operations : Developed rolling Profit & Loss and cash flow forecasts across multiple business units. Implemented monthly reporting with suite of reports circulated to executive team. Developed consolidated Financials from accounting software in liaison with trusted associated programming firm.

Developed & compiled Adjusted earnings schedules for successful business sale with summarised financials across multiple years – identifying adjustable items is critical in ensuring the fair & equitable value of a business and a sale price which both parties were happy with. 

TURNAROUND / NEW TECHNOLOGY

Trade business client suffered significant losses over a couple of years due to top heavy management costs and downturn in work. Business scaled back due to financial position. Worked with client to establish a budget & get accounts in order. Recommended new cloud based Job Management and Invoicing system which synced to the existing accounting package, which we also moved online. Job Management system has resulted in huge efficiencies. Business on track with budget and over achieved with revenue. 

Outcome: Business back on track financially, and growing again. Now on a sustainable footing -  lean, efficient and profitable. 

MOVING BUSINESS PREMISES TO SELF MANAGED SUPER FUND - NO CGT

This is an opportunity we have used several times for clients.

Background – clients owned commercial premises and wished to transfer to their Self Managed Super Fund. Issue – capital gains tax on “disposal”.

We advised on Small Business Concessions and this resulted in NIL capital gains tax payable on the transfer. The premises were then held in the tax preferred superannuation environment.

There are also situations where there has been no Stamp Duty payable on the transfer.