Stand out from the crowd

Get a website

Having a website, or an app, may not seem particularly innovative in this day and age but recent research shows that 50% of Australian small businesses still don’t have a website. Those that don’t are losing business with 62% of potential customers saying they will stop considering a business if they can’t find information online.

So, if your business still doesn’t have a web presence, now is the time to fix that and take advantage of the tax breaks available.

The most significant of those is the $20,000 instant asset write-off that allows businesses with a turnover up to $10 million to immediately write off the cost of capital assets costing up to $20,000 per item. The government recently announced that this tax break would be extended through to 30 June 2019 and it potentially allows your business to immediately write off against profit the costs of building a website expenditure such as:

• the software that allows the website to operate, typically including interactive functions, e-commerce tools, membership or “sign-in” functions.
• Dedicated hardware (server, CPU and other physical assets).
• Wages or contractor fees paid to IT professionals to help design and build the website.

Costs dedicated to maintaining the website, and expenses associated with uploading content, for example price lists, stock lists, text or pictures, are generally treated as operating costs incurred in the ordinary course of business. These types of costs are usually deductible in the same year that they are incurred. The hosting of a website would also typically be treated this way as this is part of the regular ongoing cost of operating the business.

Get your plant and equipment up to date

The same tax break can also be used to immediately write-off the cost of purchasing the latest tools, plant and equipment for use in your business. Provided the cost of each item is less than $20,000 you can get a tax break for items like drain cleaners, pipe threaders, hydro jets and pressure sensors, to name just a few.

H&R Block’s advice is for general use. Always seek tailored information to suit your circumstances.