K&W Spring 2022 Newsletter

Welcome to our Spring newsletter. September means it’s football finals season and hopefully the beginning of warmer weather despite the recent late winter chill.

In August, the focus was on US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the annual Jackson Hole business gathering on August 26, and he was blunt. To hose down talk of interest rate cuts in 2023, he said the Fed was focused on bringing US inflation down to 2% (from 8.5% now), even at the risk of recession. He said this will “take some time”, will likely require a “sustained period of below trend economic growth”, and households should expect “some pain” in the months ahead. The S&P500 share index promptly fell 3.4% and bond yields rose. Economists expect the US central bank will continue lifting rates each month for the remainder of 2022.

In Australia, economic conditions are less gloomy. Australia’s trade surplus was a record $136.4 billion in 2022-23. Unemployment fell to 3.4% in July while wages growth rose to an annual rate of 2.6% in the year to June, the strongest in 8 years but well below inflation. The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index rose slightly in September to a still depressed 85.0 points while the NAB business confidence index jumped to +6.9 points in July, well above the long-term average of +5.4 points. Half-way through the June half-year reporting season, CommSec reports ASX200 company profits increased 56% in aggregate while dividends are 6% lower on a year earlier.

The Aussie dollar fell more than one cent over the month to close around US68.5c. Aussie shares bucked the global trend, finishing steady over the month.

Now for exciting internal King and Whittle news.. we proudly announce that Jennifer Rapson (one of our much loved client services manager) welcomed into the world her new little boy, Myles on 19 August, 2022. A beautiful baby brother for Franklin. Both mother and Baby are thriving! Jennifer will be taking some maternity leave for a few months and we look forward to her return.

We welcome and acknowledge the appointment of a new Junior Accountant Liam who has fitted seamlessly into the King and Whittle fold.

We also warmly welcome back the return of a much respected staff member- after a year away, Senior Accountant Gianni. So happy to have you back!

Register your business .au domain now!

".au namespace" domain extensions or "second level name" is available for businesses to register their .au domain name as a priority until 21 September 2022. This allows businesses to register additional domains to sit along side their existing .com.au or net.au domains.

The reasons to register a .au domain are:

• Preventing competitors from registering names similar to yours
• Allowing businesses to register shorter, more memorable online names
• Provides a wider choice of available names in the Australian domain
• Provides names that are easier to type and display on mobile devices

For example, the owner of joespizza.com.a can apply for priority to register joespizza.au.

If there are no applications for a .au direct name from an eligible registrant during the priority allocation period, that name will become available to the public on a first come first served basis on 4 October 2022.

There will be a fee for lodging an application, and this price will vary between registrars. You must ensure that you are eligible to hold the .au domain which forms the basis of your application. 

You will also need a priority token for your application to be accepted.

For more information on this process, please visit the website or contact your existing domain registrar to apply.

Tax Alert September 2022

Consultation on working from home deductions

Taxpayers could face the prospect of new rules when it comes to claiming working from home deductions after the ATO announced it was undertaking a targeted consultation.

Now the temporary shortcut method for working from home deductions has ended (available 1 March 2020 to 30 June 2022), the ATO is currently refreshing its approach to the traditional fixed rate method of calculating work from home deductions.

The regulator is consulting tax practitioner representatives and expects discussions to be completed in October 2022, with any new rules for the current financial year to be announced after this.
 

Offsetting of tax debts resumes

After taking a lenient approach during the pandemic, the tax man has begun chasing outstanding tax debts by sending taxpayers letters reminding them about existing debts placed on hold.

During the 2022-23 financial year, the ATO will recommence offsetting tax refunds or credits to pay off a taxpayer’s existing tax debts.

In some cases, tax credits will also be used to pay off debts owed to other government agencies such as Centrelink.
 

JobMaker Hiring Credit open

The seventh claim period for JobMaker Hiring Credit payments is now open and will end on 31 October 2022.

The scheme allows businesses to claim the credit for up to a year for each eligible employee hired between 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021.

Eligible employers can nominate additional eligible employees through their STP-enabled software and claim using ATO Online Services or their accountant.
 

ATO app for sole traders

The ATO is encouraging sole traders to download and use the ATO app for a more personalised experience when viewing their tax lodgments and payment due dates.

The app also allows sole traders to check the progress of their tax return, view their income tax and activity statement accounts, access transactions and payment plan details and make payments in ATO online.

Useful tools and calculators such as myDeductions and the Tax Withheld Calculator are also available, together with a Business Performance Check Tool allowing you to compare your business performance with others in your industry.
 

Thresholds for 2022-23 car claims

The maximum value for calculating depreciation on the business use of a car first used or leased during 2022–23 has increased to $64,741.

The car limit is indexed annually in line with CPI movements and represents the threshold limit on the cost you can use to work out depreciation on a passenger vehicle.

If you purchase a vehicle priced over the car limit, your maximum claimable GST credit is $5,885 in 2022-23.

From 1 July 2022, the luxury car tax (LCT) threshold has also increased. The new threshold for fuel efficient vehicles is $84,916 (up from $79,659) and for all other vehicles it increases to $71,849 (up from $69,152).
 

Crypto not taxed as foreign currency

The government has announced crypto currencies will continue to be excluded from foreign currency arrangements for tax purposes. Capital gains tax (CGT) will continue to apply to crypto assets held as investments.

The announcement will be backdated to 1 July 2021 to ensure a consistent tax requirement for crypto asset holders.
 

New rate for claiming car expenses

Taxpayers electing to use the cents per kilometre method when calculating work related car expenses in their income tax deductions have a new kilometre rate to use.

From 1 July 2022, a 78 cents per kilometre rate applies. This rate will remain in place in subsequent income years until varied by legislation.
 

Director ID reminder

The deadline is approaching for directors to apply for their director ID – a unique 15-digit identifier.

From 1 November 2021 directors of all businesses, including directors of self-managed super fund (SMSF) corporate trustees, need a director ID. Anyone who was a director before that date has until 30 November 2022 to apply.

Directors appointed between 1 November 2021 and 4 April 2022 had to apply within 28 days of their appointment. From 5 April 2022, intending directors must apply before they are appointed.