Tax time 2020

And like that we have reached the end of financial year. Check out the following resources from the ATO to help you tackle tax time.

ATO podcast Tax inVoice – Work-related expenses part 2, gifts & donations - ato.gov.au/podcast

Instant asset write-off

The instant asset write-off was expanded in March to support businesses through COVID-19. From 12 March 2020 until 31 December 2020, the instant asset write-off:

• Threshold for each asset increased to $150,000 (up from $30,000)
• Eligibility has been expanded to cover businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $500 million (up from $50 million).

For more information view ato.gov.au/instantassetwriteoff

Help your employees get started

We have just released a suite of products to help people who are just starting their tax and super journey. If you’ve got employees who might need to lodge a tax return for the first time, please share these key pieces of info with them. The attached poster is ideal to put up in your break room/kitchen, or around the office to help get those newbies started on the right foot! Website: ato.gov.au/newtotax

Accessing your income statement

For most Australians, income statements have replaced payment summaries. This means that instead of receiving a payment summary from their employer, most people’s income statements will be finalised electronically, and the information provided directly to the ATO. To access it you’ll need a myGov account linked to the ATO.

Media release - Set yourself up for a smoother tax time

Substantiating your claims

If you are unable to substantiate claims made in your tax returns or activity statements because your records have been lost or destroyed, we can accept the claim without substantiation if it is not reasonably possible to obtain the original documents.

Media release – Have natural disasters impacted you this tax time?

STP changes your EOFY processes

If you’re one of the over 700,000 small employers now reporting through STP you’ll need to make a finalisation declaration through your STP-enabled software by 31 July 2020 or by 14 July if you have 20 or more employees. You don’t need to provide payment summaries to your employees for information reported and finalised through STP.

Visit ato.gov.au/STPfinalisation for more information.

SG Amnesty – Get past unpaid super sorted!

We are now over the halfway point of the SG amnesty period which cannot be extended by law. Apply now for this one-off opportunity to correct past unpaid super to avoid administration charges or penalties – even if you can’t pay in full. Applications close 7 September 2020.

Visit ato.gov.au/SGamnesty for more information.