From 1 July 2013, individual tax returns with an expected tax refund that are lodged using the electronic lodgement service (ELS) will be required to nominate an Australian bank account to receive the refund. The details required include Account name, BSB, and Account number. Joint bank accounts and trust accounts are also acceptable. (Refer link: http://www.ato.gov.au/General/Enquiry-hot-topics/In-detail/Tax-professionals/EFT-refund/).
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As advised in our Client Alert No 9, the Federal Government introduced legislation from 1 July 2012 to means test an individual’s entitlement to the private health insurance rebate. For the 2013-14 income year, the means testing applies as follows – Singles – Medicare Levy Surcharge Income of more than $88,000 Couples/family – Combined Medicare
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As outlined in Client Alert no 6 – TFN Withholding for closely held Trusts, the government introduced legislation which requires “closely held trusts” to withhold tax from distributions to beneficiaries where the beneficiary has not provided its tax file number (TFN) to the trust and the trust has not reported the TFN to the Australian
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Download the Tax Bulletin – Federal Budget Summary 2013

As we approach 30 June 2013, trustees will need to start thinking about the distribution of trust income for the year ending 30 June 2013. Trustee resolution and timing For beneficiaries to be presently entitled to trust income, trustees must ensure that a valid resolution is made by 30 June 2013 (or an earlier time
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The ATO has advised medium and large businesses to start preparing for changes to their super obligations now to ensure they are ready for the changes on time. The following reforms will impact businesses from 1 July 2013 onwards: Employers must increase the compulsory super payments they make on behalf of their eligible employees from
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On Friday 5 April 2013 the Government announced reforms to the superannuation system. Key reforms announced include: Cap on the tax exemption for earnings on assets supporting a super income stream – from 1 July 2014 earnings in super on assets supporting income streams will only be tax free up to $100,000 a year for each
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Recent changes to the Commonwealth legislation have led to a significant increase in the maximum penalty that the Australian Taxation Office can impose on returns or statements that are lodged late or remain overdue. It is also likely that there will be further increases to the penalties on a regular basis in the future. How
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In mid 2011 the ATO issued a draft taxation ruling which represented the Commissioner’s preliminary view about the way in which the relevant taxation provisions applied upon the commencement and cessation of a pension or, as it is referred to in the draft ruling, a superannuation income stream. Whilst there are aspects of the draft
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In 2009 the Government commissioned an independent review of the governance, efficiency, structure and operation of the superannuation system (the Cooper Review). When the final report was received by the Government in June 2010, it contained a number of recommendations applicable to self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs). A number of these recommendations have been recently given
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