Inflation Dips To 13-Month Low

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data confirms that the consumer price index (CPI) has dropped to a 13-month low of 5.6%. This is the smallest increase in just over a year and is down from the 6.8% reported in April 2023. It is also lower than the market expectation of…

Tax Avoidance Hot Issue For ATO

To suppress tax dodging behaviour, the government is pushing hard at several initiatives at the federal, state and territorial levels. Last year, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) reported that about a third of large corporations did not pay tax for the 2020-2021 financial year. Despite this substantial difference, the ATO…

Payment Delays Costing Small Businesses $1.1bn A Year

According to a recent report prepared by Accenture and Xero, Australian small businesses are faced with cash flow problems due to three key reasons of delayed payments, seasonal slowdowns, and rising expenses. Following a review of data from more than 200,000 businesses in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, these…

TPB Launches New Corporate Plan

The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has launched its new Corporate Plan for 2022-23. The plan is aimed at helping ensure that consumers of tax practitioner services enjoy excellent service. It also seeks to build more trust with the community in the tax profession and boost the integrity of the tax…

ATO Warns That Filing Early Increases Risk of Mistakes

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) wants taxpayers to be aware that filing their tax returns early may not be the best option. While you can begin filing returns as early as 1 July, you run the risk of making mistakes as not all required information will have been pre-filled at…

Accounting Professionals to Temper Salary Increment Expectations

The 2022-2023 Hays Salary Guide has shown that the accounting and finance sector is facing increased competition for skilled professionals. This is a problem many other industries are facing and has led to unemployment dropping to just 3.9% this year. It is expected to drop further to 3.5% in 2023,…

ATO Warns Taxpayers Against Double Dipping

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has confirmed that in 2021, about 8.4 million Australian taxpayers filed claims on almost $19.8 billion in work-related expenses. Assistant Commissioner, Tim Loh, noted that these were a lot of deductions and that the tax body wanted to ensure taxpayers got their claims right the…

Wage Increases and Worker Shortages Affects SMEs

According to a new Xero survey, the small business sector is burdened by record wage increases that are occurring at the same time the industry is also contending with reduced sales growth driven by inflation. Following huge increases in sales figures, sales growth has slowed down to 5.8%, with the…

ATO Ramps Up Debt Collection Effort

Businesses are being encouraged to do more in clearing their tax debt with the Australian Tax Office (ATO). Earlypay’s Daniel Riley noted that the ATO was back to making collections on tax debts owed by small businesses after having temporarily ceased their efforts during the worst of the pandemic. He…

ATO Issues Warning Over Unpaid Crypto Taxes

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) acting assistant commissioner, Sylvia Gallagher, confirmed that people as young as 18 years were getting involved in cryptocurrency trading and that the authority was paying attention. Cryptocurrency trade reportedly increased by 64% in 2021 as over half a million Australians engaged in trading digital coins. …