Where has the year gone? We’re still working hard to get through the backlog of work from Tax Time. Thank you to all of our wonderful clients who have been so patient in waiting for their returns. We know we have been taking longer than normal to turn work around and everyone has been sweet angels about the delay so thank you! The volume of work and phone queries that’s come in this year is much higher than previous years so we really do appreciate your patience!
🎄🎅🏻 Christmas/New Year Closure Dates 🎅🏻🎄
Our office will be closed for the Christmas New Year period from midday 20 December and will re-open on Monday 06 January at 08:30am.
If you haven’t lodged your return yet and are hoping to get this done before Xmas we recommend booking in or submitting sooner rather than later. We will be unable to guarantee lodgment on any individual returns submitted in the week leading up to our office closure.
Messages from the ATO
Have you received a government support payment?
Learn which government support payments aren’t taxable here.
Read more
Thinking about hiring extra staff for the silly season?
Some handy tips to help you stay on top of your tax and super obligations here.
Read more
New GST food and health product classification resources
Work out if your products are taxable or GST-free here.
Read more
Tax and Restrictions on Contributions
Making superannuation contributions is a good way to boost your retirement savings and save tax. It’s a minefield trying to understand the types of contributions and the limits and processes to claim contributions as a tax deduction.
Concessional Contributions
These are amounts you make to a super fund whereby a tax deduction claim is made, either your employer or personally.
Amounts claimed by employer
Your employer must contribute 11.5% of your ordinary earnings to your superannuation account. These amounts are known as superannuation guarantee (SG).
Sometimes it’s best to organise your employer to make additional contributions to your superannuation account on your behalf. These are referred to as salary sacrificed contributions and will appear in your income statement as reportable employer superannuation contributions (RESC).
Personal contributions
Another way to contribute making a contribution directly from your personal bank account. These are referred to as personal contributions. Then it’s up to you to choose if you want to claim all or any of these amounts as a tax deduction.
Non-Concessional Contributions
Non-concessional contributions are made up of amounts you don’t claim as a tax deduction, otherwise known as post-taxed contributions. Keep in mind that investment earnings in your fund is taxed at 15%. Otherwise, if these amounts remained in your personal account, investment income would be tax at your marginal tax rate.
Contribution Limits
Be wary as there are limits which you can contribute as either concessionally or non-concessionally.
The concessional contribution limits consisting of superannuation guarantee, salary sacrificed, and personal contributions claimed is $30,000.
Amounts contributed over this will generally be treated as non-concessional contributions. Restrictions apply to those over 67 years of age making tax deductible contributions so please seek professional advice before making a contribution.
The maximum amount you can contribute as a non-concessional contribution is $120,000. You can also bring forward 3-years of contributions of up to $360,000. Age limits apply for those over age 75.
Restrictions also apply to members with total superannuation balances greater than general transfer balance cap of $1.9 million. Please consider this particularly when bring forwarding of contributions as restrictions apply from $1.7 million.
Making contributions provide a great tax incentive to boost retirement savings. However, there are penalties for exceeding the limits so please seek professional advice to see if boosting your super is right for you.
Talk To You Soon!
That’s it from us this month!
If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to reach out.