Correcting GST errors and making adjustments on your business activity statements

If you identify any error in identifying a goods and in a service tax for a previous period or on an already lodged business activity statement (BAS), there is always scope to make a correction.

The ATO has understood the necessities of these adjustments for businesses, which can easily come about because of change of circumstances or facts. These can include:

• Modifying  the price of taxable sale or purchase
• Cancellation of taxable sale or purchase
• GST-free export supplies that are not exported within the required time (and therefore become taxable)
• Changes in creditable purpose  and bad debits

If your business overstated its GST liability, then ATO imposes a four year time limit for making changes, which is considered down from when the error was made. For the mistakes on which not enough GST has been accounted for, then in that condition there is an added factor relating to business’s turnover. If the annual turnover for the business is less than $20 million, then in that scenario adjustment must be made within 18 months. If the annual turnover is more than $20 million then it must be paid within 12 months In General, it can be much easier to correct a GST error on a later activity statement rather than revising the earlier statement. But being able to make an adjustment can be important to avoid liability to any penalties or general interest charge.As adjustments relate to changed facts or circumstances, which will have an impact on the subsequent GST outcome of a transaction, the resulting change in need of an adjustment will generally have resulted in a business having either claimed too much GST, or not claimed enough.

Claiming too much GST

 How does business claim too much GST on a BAS? Whoever provides the information in order to include the BAS could have:

• Missed to include a sales invoice
• Coded a sale as GST free however it includes GST
• Error has been made in coding transactions
• A payment has been included in a purchase that is not claimable as a GST credit

Not calming enough GST

 There are some scenarios in which this might be the case include where a business:

• The error was made in coding the transactions
• Whoever filled out the BAS coded a GST sale as taxable but it was actually GST free

At Absolute Accounting Solutions we can elimimate all your errors in limited time and budget. So contact us at 1300 488 330 or visit www.absoluteaccountingsolutions.com.au

GST for Overseas businesses and Small business company tax rate cut

For your 2016 tax return, the small business company tax rate has been reduced from 30% to 28.5%. This lower rate likewise applies to small businesses that are corporate unit trusts and public trading trusts. If you complete your own company tax return, use the new rate of 28.5% when working out the ‘Tax on taxable or net income’ (T1) in the ‘Calculation statement’

The franking credit top stays unaltered at 30% (even if you are eligible for the reduced company tax rate of 28.5%)

You are a small business if you are a sole trader, partnership, company or trust that has an aggregated turnover less than $2 million.

From 1 October 2016 there is good news for overseas business clients as they are no longer subject to GST. Overseas businesses supplying Australian businesses don't need to register for GST if they:

• Only produce GST-free  supplies through an enterprise carried on outside Australia
• Have a business presence in Australia of less than 184 days in a 12-month period
• Have a GST turnover below the GST registration threshold of AUD $75,000 (because certain supplies will no longer be included in the GST turnover).

 So if you are in Epping and running a small business and looking for someone to discuss about GST and tax. Then look no further Absolute Accounting Solutions is there for you. We with the help of our expert team provide the best solution to all your queries.  Our dedicated team of specialists will take the stress out of your bookkeeping, accounting and taxation.

 At Absolute Accounting solutions we make accounting an absolute breeze.  So for more information Call us at 1300 488 330 or visit http://www.absoluteaccountingsolutions.com.au/

Australian residents are generally taxed on their worldwide income from all sources. Temporary residents of Australia and foreign residents are generally taxed only on their Australian-sourced income, such as money they earn working in Australia. To comprehend your tax situation you first need to work out if you are an Australian or foreign resident for tax purposes. This might be distinctive to your residency status for different purposes – for instance, you could be an Australian resident for tax purposes even if you're not an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

Coming to Australia

You might come to Australia to reside permanently, study or holiday.

If in any of the scenario you are earning the money here you have to pay the tax and need to lodge an Australian tax return. To work in Australia you need a work visa and a tax file number.

Working in Australia 

To work in Australia you need a visa that allows you to work here. You should also have a tax file number (TFN). You visa is allocated by Department of immigration and Border protection and your TFN is your personal reference number in our tax system. You can apply for a TFN online once you have your work visa and have arrived in Australia.

Studying in Australia

If you are enrolled to study in Australia in a course that last for six months or more, you are generally considered as an Australian resident for tax purposes which implies that you have to pay tax on your earnings at the same rate as other resident and you are also entitled to the benefits of the Australian tax system.

 Moving to Australia permanently

If you moved to Australia and intend to reside here permanently, you are an Australian resident for tax purpose which includes that you have to declare your income which you have earned from anywhere in the world in you r tax return and you can also claim the benefits of the Australian tax system.

Paying tax and lodging a tax return

After the end of the Australian income year (30 June), you lodge an annual tax return to tell us how much income you received and tax you paid. We then send you a notice of assessment and your tax refund if you're entitled to one.

For more information contact Absolute Accounting Solution 1300 488 330 and we can help you in lodging a tax return and paying a tax.

Lodging Your Tax Return

For most of us lodgment of our income tax return is not the most favorite pass time, but as a wage earner we all have to take a little time out to organise ourselves to declare all of the income that we have earned over the financial year (you may need to lodge a return even if your income is below the tax free threshhold of $18200 and you paid income tax) less the expenses that can be deductable. 

            When do I have to lodge my return?

Tax returns need to be completed between the 1st of July and the 31st of October. Extentions are available for taxpayers if they are on an Australian Tax Office list belonging to a Registered Tax Agent, like Absolute Accounting Solutions.

            What do I declare as income?

Income is all of the money that you earned with an employer, payments from centrelink, the interest your bank accounts earned, rent earned from and investment property - this includes the shared economy (for example - Air BnB), dividends on shares that you may have. This list is not exhaustive but gives you a good start.

         What are my deductable claims?

Deductions can be specific, and highly dependent on your individual circumstances. Receipts will need to be kept and you can only claim what you are entitled to, if you need help call us on 1300 488 330.

Tax return fees are tax deductable and start from $120.00

Absolute Accounting Solutions, also offer a range of services to help small business owners with tax, bookkeeping/accounting services and virtual assistants.

 For more information regarding your tax returns call us on: 1300 488 330

The Sharing Economy and Tax

There are various sharing economy websites and applications working in Australia. The general populations who give merchandise or services through any of them have to consider how GST and wage charge applies to their income.

What is the Sharing Economy?

The Sharing economy connects users and suppliers through a facilitator who usually operates an app or website.

Generally Sharing Economy includes?

• Leasing a room or an entire house or unit for a short timeframe premise
• Giving taxi travel Services (called 'ride-sourcing') for a charge
• Giving individual Services, for example, such as creative or professional services like graphic design, creating websites, or odd jobs like deliveries and furniture assembly
• Leasing an auto parking spot.

The Sharing economy and tax

 If you are involved in the sharing economy, you need to consider the following things:

• If you are carrying on an enterprise whether you need an ABN or you need to register for GST and lodge activity statements
• If the price of the goods and services you are providing includes GST
• If and when you are supposed to provide tax invoices for your sales
• Whether you are Supposed to declare your income in your income tax return or not
• How your sharing economy activities effect your GST  and tax obligations

Providing taxi travel services: If you are a part of organisation providing ride-sourcing services then according to law you need an ABN and you need to be registered for GST and you need to account for GST on the full amount of every fare regardless of how much you earn.

Leasing out a room or all of your house: If you are renting out a room or a whole house then GST wouldn’t be the part of that as GST doesn’t apply to residential rents,so you are not liable for GST on the rent you charge and you cannot claim any GST credits for associated costs.

Renting goods and services: If you are already registered for GST, and you are earning extra money providing services through a sharing economy app or website, you need to account for GST on that extra money through your existing ABN and GST registration.

Leasing an auto parking spot: If you rent out a car parking space it can mean that you are running an enterprise. You will need to get an ABN and register for GST if either:

• You earn, or are likely to earn, $75,000 or more per year renting out the car parking space(s)
• You have an existing enterprise for which you are registered for GST
• Your turnover is, or is likely to be, $75,000 or more a year for all of the goods and services you provide while carrying on a number of enterprises.

For further information about Sharing Economy and how to avoid tax debt you need to contact 1300 488 330

If you are going to outsource bookkeeping for your organisation, when would it be a good idea for you to be that right? That all relies on upon your business and the season of year help. Following tips will help you to decide the best time to do the switch.

Tip #1 – Commencing Of the Year

One of the easiest times to change over to outsourced bookkeeping services is toward the start of the year. That is on the grounds that you're bookkeeping group can work with your IPA to ensure that everything has a right starting equalisation.

Tip #2 - At the End of Month

Most organisations don't have the advantage of exchanging toward the start of the year. In the event that that is the situation, you might need to work out a transformation arrange so that your new online accountant can assume control once an entire month has wrapped up. Doing as such implies that they'll be strolling into crisply accommodated ledgers (accepting your books are present), and a fresh set of financial statements.

Tip #3 - At the End of a Two Week Notice

If you have an in-house bookkeeper that just gave his or her notification, you'll need to change over to outsourced bookkeeping as fast as could be expected under the circumstances so they can prepare with the active bookkeeper. That way, once the two weeks’ notice has passed, your new bookkeeping group will know where to get the pieces.

Tip #4 - When you’re paying Too Much

Once in a while it doesn't make a difference when you switch. If that you are paying a lot for an in-house solution or you're encountering a ton of errors, and as a result, getting a ton generally charges and punishments from sellers and the administration, the best time to change to outsourced bookkeeping is at this moment.

Benefits of Outsourcing Payroll               

Have you been thinking about outsourcing Payroll? Sometimes it can be a hard decision to make. In this articles we have outlined a few of the benefits of outsourcing Payroll. Hopefully it will help you make the decision.

The most important reasons why most of the companies are using payroll outsourcing are:

1. 1.Free Up Your Time: Payroll processing preparing by hand is a time consuming process . Outsourcing finance can free up staff time to pursue more essential worth included and income producing activities.
2. 2.Reduces Costs: The direct costs of processing payroll can be significantly reduced by working with payroll provider. Researches have shown that a small business with 10 employees will typically spend $2,600 per year in direct labor costs associated with payroll.
3.  Alleviate Pain
   Manual payroll is a headache in the best case and a nightmare in the worst case. Business owners who outsource payroll eliminate a tiresome source of personal pain.
4. Maintain a strategic distance from Technology Headaches: A steady question for small entrepreneurs is whether they have the most recent version of their payroll software and the latest tax tables introduced on their PC. Utilising the wrong tax tables can bring about hardened punishments. Outsourcing payroll removes those headaches and keeps payroll running smoothly.
5. Leverage Outside Payroll Expertise: Most business owners and controllers don't have time to keep up with constantly changing regulations, withholding rates, and government forms. By outsourcing payroll, a small business can take advantage of expertise that was previously available only to big companies.
6. Avoid Payroll Knowledge walking Out the Door: If your bookkeeper or controller gets a new job, they will walk out the door with their knowledge of the payroll process and how you do it. Using an outside service eliminates that business risk

If you want to discuss it further or have queries about it, please give us a call at 1300 488 330 and our professional will be happy to have a chat to you about it.

Tactics for Tax planning for an individual.

The current financial year is nearly about to end, and with a political election to be held in a month’s time eventually the recently introduced government budget measures will, of course, have no opportunity to work until sometime in the next financial year, if at all.

But meanwhile, you may still find numerous methods you might be able to put in perform to make sure you spend not just one penny more tax than is essential for the 2015-16 year.

Tip! The finest taxation planning techniques are implemented in July, not June.  That's, as soon as possible in any financial year, not right close to the end of it. And it's also wise to understand that appropriate tax planning is more than just finding bigger and better deductions — the best tips are those that set your tax affairs in better order for not just the current financial year but also for future income years.

Not all of the subsequent suggestions will fit your situations, but as a list of possibilities they might enable you to get thinking along the appropriate track, and also have you asking us the appropriate questions.  Obviously, seek advice from this workplace if you want more information.

Investment property

Several expenses stemming from having a rental property or home are claimable, so it may be beneficial to provide ahead any costs prior to June 30 and claim them in the existing financial year. If you already know that the investment property needs some maintenance or needs attention regarding, say, pest control, see if you can incur these expenses prior to an end of a year.

Prepay investment loan interest

In a similar way, see if you are able to work out together with your finance provider to produce upfront interest repayments for several investments, for example, a margin mortgage on stock shares.

Most taxpayers can claim deductions for approximately Twelve months ahead. But be sure you review how you and your loan provider have allotted funds guaranteed upon your property properly, as a tax deduction is generally only permitted against the finance expenses sustained with regards to earning assessable earnings from investments.

Deductions might not be available on money you redraw from this loan put to other reasons.

Bring ahead costs

Try to bring forward any other deductions (just like the charges mentioned previously) into the 2015-16 year.

Once you know that next financial 12 months you will end up generating significantly less (for example going on maternity leave, going part-time etc), deductible costs that may be brought ahead into the existing financial year will give you much more financial advantage.

An exception for some fortunate individuals will arise if you expect you'll earn more next financial year. In that situation, it might be to your benefit to obstruct any tax-deductible repayments until the subsequent financial year, when the financial advantage of deductions can be higher. Your individual circumstances will determine whether these measures are acceptable and we can help with this.

Make use of the CGT guidelines to your benefit

For those who have created clear and crystallised any capital profit from your investment funds this financial year (which is included with your assessable earnings), consider selling any investments that are presently sitting on a loss of revenue prior to year-end. Doing this means the capital gains you created in your productive investments could be offset against the capital losses from the less successful ones, lowering your overall taxable earnings.

An identical strategy may be implemented for those who have to carry forward capital losses and desire to understand some gains at year end.

Remember that for CGT reasons a funds gain typically happens on the date you sign a contract, not when you settle on a property purchased. When you're making huge funds gain toward the end of an income year, such as selling a good investment property, realising which financial year the gain is going to be attributed to is a great tax planning advantage.

Certainly, with all the previously mentioned, tread very carefully and don’t let mere tax generate your investment judgments – check with this office staff to determine whether your approach will suit your circumstances.

Final reminders

No-one understands your matters much better than yourself, so you'll identify if any of these tax tips relates to your circumstances.

Every individual is required to lodge their return before October 31, but tax agents are generally given more time to lodge, which can be a handy extension to a payment deadline. Of course, if you’re sure you are going to get a refund it’s no use delaying, so in these cases, it is worth getting all of your information to this office as soon as you can after July 1.

To discuss it further, give us a call at 1300 488 330 and talk to our experts at Absolute Accounting Solutions!!

Non-payers can cause significant cash flow issues for any small business. Having said that, non-payer is also an inevitable liability for most small organizations. Several small business operators really feel baffled and bewildered when dealing with problems of non-payment or particularly if a non-payer is a recurring offender or if the sum of money owed is considerable.

How do you cope with non-payers in your organization?

Absolute Accounting Solutions recommendations:

1. Partial payment up front for products or services. A customer can’t take their groceries home without paying. When you supply products or services with an invoice period, you essentially become a creditor. You’re doing your client a favour by giving them something before they remunerate you. A minimum deposit is fair and it also minimizes risk of non-payment.

2. Avoid doing business with large companies who don’t care about you or respect you in interactions and negotiations. Basically, you can't effortlessly bargain with a business on completely different foot-hold. Size sometimes equals leverage, and it’s in your best interests to conduct business with like-sized companies — except if the big company offers something that you can’t get anywhere else.

3. Do not do too much business with a single company. Always have a back-up or Plan B in case projects ever go wrong. Of course, when you are first starting out, it can be difficult to avoid exclusive dealings. But it’s worth having something — or someone — else up your sleeve at all times.

4. Understanding contracts. A quote or service agreement document are both examples of contracts. Unless you’re a business of considerable size having a complex contract drawn up by a solicitor usually represents an unnecessary expense. An engagement letter, on the other hand, is always a good idea. An engagement letter outlines what is expected of each party over the course of a project.

5. Don't send generic, template statements. They can be frustrating, and are very easily disregarded by intentional non-payers. We have found that an invoicing time period of 14 days is ideal. We also recommend that you wait around right up until 45 days following the due date before chasing after payment. Follow up the letter or e-mail with a phone call once the client has had enough time to receive the message. Ask the client when they think that they will be able to pay the invoice. Record the day/date. If the client does not pay within the promised time-frame, remind them that they communicated this date as the cut-off. Ask them to confirm another date of payment. Repeat as necessary.

6. Be honest with a client about the impact of non-payment. As a small business, reliable payment for products or services delivered is very important for retaining cash flow. Point out to your client that their business is valuable to you but that you might not be able to work with them again or any more if you do not receive payment.

7. Factor non-payment into your rate — hopefully, this will come to no more than 2% of your total gross sales. Over the course of a financial year, most small businesses have to write off some projects as debts. You’re planning needs to take this into account.

Normally if a client has paid a few times, you will not have trouble with them paying in the future. However, this is not always the case. Be consistent with chasing your debtors, no matter who they are. Yes, it takes time — but this is another reason to factor non-payment into your rates.

At some point, we all hope that our businesses will expand to include a client base that allows us the position of picking and choosing only supportive, attentive clients.

Developing the skills of assertiveness, negotiation, and tenacity are important when dealing with non-payment in your small business. But learning when to let go is just as crucial.

Contact us if you want to discuss this further or for any others Accounting Solutions!! Talk to our Experts!!

As soon as we have filed your latest activity statement, you might realise that something has been left out or else you have forgot to include a particular item. The Australian tax system is based on “self-assessment”, meaning the ATO usually takes your word, under our guidance, and bases its assessment around the information it's been provided. But this isn't to say that the ATO might not look into the information it's been provided if, for instance, its data matching activity flags an issue. If the inadvertent error slides past the keeper, you will find alternatives to make it right.

Making changes

It is not all that unusual for businesses to need to make an alteration to a business activity statement (BAS) that has already been lodged — often there may be an unclaimed credit which simply slipped your mind, or you remember that you received some other type of income.

For instance, a quite normal situation arises when a business owner has already claimed fuel tax credits in line with the intention to make use of the fuel in in certain manner, but consequently uses it in another way. An error could be either on the credit or debit side. Again using fuel tax credits for example, a credit error means you claimed less fuel tax credits than you were entitled to — for example, you used a lower rate than you had been entitled to.

A debit error indicates you claimed more tax credits than you had been entitled to. This will occur if you:

• Made clerical errors, for example, double counting some fuel purchases

• Over calculated your eligible quantity of fuel

• Used a higher fuel tax credit rate than you were entitled to

• Claimed fuel tax credits for all fuel you acquired, not just the fuel meant for use in an eligible activity.

If you did not make an adjustment in the BAS period in which you become aware an adjustment was required, it becomes an error. In the event you made multiple errors in a BAS period, you have to treat each error individually when determining if it can be corrected and the way to correct it. Apart from these specific circumstances, there's also those straight-out mistakes that we all make every so often, or you might have forgotten to tell us something about your tax affairs at our appointment.

How we can help

We can use your current activity statement to improve many previous GST and fuel tax credit errors, to make claims for previous periods or to vary a PAYG instalment. 4 year time limit applies to claiming refunds and credits, and this “period of review” commences from the day you were required to lodge the activity statement.

If you can’t make such corrections on your current activity statement, we may have to revise the original BAS for you. Note that the process for correcting mistakes and making claims for previous periods can depend on the specific tax or type of credit involved, so you may need to check with us.

If you need to correct information you provided on a BAS and are not eligible to correct it on a later statement, you may need us to complete a revised activity statement. The important thing is to make sure that as soon as you realise that the information you have reported to the ATO is incorrect or incomplete, that you ask us to take actions to correct it.

And the way we can do this is to revise a BAS or apply to make an amendment (in fact the ATO generally treats a revised activity statement as an application to amend an assessment).

If the ATO accepts your revised amount in full and also the amendment is made within the period of review, the revised statement will be taken to be a notice of amended assessment. The date of after effect of the amended assessment is the day it is adjusted in your running balance account. However if the ATO does not accept the revised amounts entirely, it'll issue a notice of amended assessment.

In case your revision increases the tax you owe or reduces your credit, the ATO will generally treat your revised activity statement as a voluntary disclosure of unpaid tax or over-claimed credits. What this means is you’re likely to receive concessional treatment for any penalties and interest charges which may apply. (You will still have to pay any outstanding tax or overpaid credits, and we might have to request for a reduction in interest charges for you.)

Call us for all your Accounting needs!! Let us take care of the rest!!