Filing taxes is a lengthy process. With all the tax and accounting services available at your reach, you’d be able to gain an inclusive idea about what to get help for. Did you start a business and need to file a tax return? Or do you need advice for managing your funds? Whatever your cause may be, expert advice of RT taxation takes you in the right direction.

An RT taxation service comes with services ranging from tax returns to investment management. With the evolving market, one needs to understand their position. Moreover, RT taxation services make sure you manage your finances and the paperwork perfectly!

The services provided by R T Accounting and Taxation services are:

• Tax Returns
• Business Tax and Advisory
• Outsourced CFO Services
• Self-managed super funds
• Home and investment lending

1.Tax Returns:

Individuals generally file tax returns, business entities, and companies operating in the market. For the people of eastern suburbs of Sydney, R T Accounting and taxation services provide reconditioning to sole traders, trusts, multinational companies, partnerships to help them minimise the tax obligations that are to be included in the tax return files.

Besides that, R T accounting and taxation services provide expert advice on saving money and utilising them to create a tax return profile. The importance of client profile is very high at RT accounting and taxation services; hence a client is given full preference about filing the tax returns in a much convenient way.

How are tax return services provided to clients?

The tax return service, as mentioned earlier, is given based on what a client prefers. The services are:

• Personalised services: These services are provided about the personal requirement of the client. All the personal details that a client wants help with is duly provided in such a service.
• Expert advice: do you often struggle to make decisions on your own? Specialist advice is always there to help you get the best output of your decision, including allowing you to take one.
• One-on-one attention: These kinds of services are specialised to individuals who need one-on-one attention to specific details during the procedure of filing tax returns.

Therefore, having your tax returns completed by certified accountants will ensure that you get to be at the top of your game. With the expansion of the industry, the experts from RT accounting and taxation services will help you understand substantial deductions.

2. Business Tax and advisory: 

R T Accounting and Taxation has had many business clients and is an expert in their field of work. Handling many challenges for years has made them understand the steps needed to be taken in different situations.

Business and its strategies are often pretty tough to grasp. With the experts standing by your side, you won’t have much trouble making a solid decision. In other words, a solid decision is the foundation of a good business venture. From helping to understand the market you’re targeting to maximize profitability, R T accounting and taxation help establish businesses.

Some of the Business Tax and advisory services one can expect to get:

• Helping to create a structure for your business and increase the net profit
• Tailoring strategies for the company, such as tactics to expand the business, make notable investments etc.
• Helping to review business, figure out areas of potential growth, and build a detailed framework for the business structure.
• Identifying the potential business risks and the way to manage the loss.
• Managing cash outflow of the business venture and planning a drive to take it forward.
• Understanding the competitors and the targeted market.

3. CFO services:

How wonderful would it be if you get a bit of personalized advice for the external financial process that includes financial business and management? The outsourced CFO services by R T accounting and taxation is a popular service that adds significant value to one’s business venture. The services include transaction processes, management analysis, and reporting, and services related to the company secretariat.

Having all the service at your reach will ensure to achieve the best results business-wise. Therefore, Outsourced CFO services are great bearers of successful operation service experience, which is why you’d have to lay back and relax. At the same time, the work is being done for you.

The outsourced services are:

• Building the foundation of the company; management and setup
• Management and accounting
• Reporting
• Packaging of the payroll and remuneration
• Cash flow management
• Company maintenance services.

4. Self-managed super funds:

Super funds are preferred by almost all citizens of the eastern suburbs. While one gets access to the super fund in the later stage of their life after employment, maintaining it for an extended period may often come off as daunting. Self-managed super funds services by R T accounting and taxation ensure running up your super fund in an efficient way.

Furthermore, the company’s employers make sure that a specific amount is being added to the super fund every month. But what happens when you shift jobs? The hassle to shift your super funds is tedious. Hence, R T accounting and taxation services have a package that will help make your journey with your super fund much more convenient and accessible.

The package includes:

• Tax return services
• Year round support for maintaining, adding and shifting the super fund if necessary.
• Financial statements
• Maximum efficiency in minimum time by assisting with the online portal
• Secretarial services for the self-managed super funds’ trustee.

5. Home and investment lending:

Who doesn’t want a safety net for investment lending? R T accounting and taxation services provide service to ensure that you buy your first home having a healthy credit profile. Besides the plan to buy a home, many individuals seek to invest in different companies and share. Having a good portfolio in such circumstances is not only a requirement but a necessity.

R T accounting and taxation services customize loans and structure them in tax-smart navigation. These loan structures help one to understand the specific goals and create the correct route to make investments. The objectives and planning aid the understanding of cash flow and financial plans.

In addition, R T accounting and taxation understand the financial plans and tax situation that you may have. Keeping your goals in mind, the experts in home and investment lending will discuss, draft, and create the lending requirements you ought to put.

Conclusion

Need a good sleep from all the financial problems that you face every day? RT accounting and taxation service is the right way to go. Making sure to utilize every piece of advice and take steps accordingly would help one to achieve their financial aspirations!

Paying taxes is a significant responsibility. But the more complex duty comes on shoulders when you need to calculate the assets. And also the income sources that are liable. With the paperwork and details that go with it, you might get exhausted. But thanks to the online tax filing services, that works wonders to keep the calculation in check. As most families have to file a tax return every year and others, the preparations can be super daunting. Just having an Accounting and taxation services expert by your side who can make sure you leave off no page unturned can be an excellent option to start with.

Why do you need tax preparation services?

Saving money: Accounting and taxation services, as much as you’re filing it for records. It can even help you save some extra cash with expert advice. A tax preparer will make sure you leave no credit missed. Missed credits can make you hefty. Hence you have a great chance to save yourself from saving some extra cash when you leave no room for silly mistakes.

Tax planning: The key to jumpstarting to prepare for filing the tax returns is starting early on. Tax planning can help one to understand the finances well. Moreover, unique strategies can be implemented if a planning layout is made adapting to one’s circumstances. Tax planning includes trust and estate planning, fixed asset categorization, and tax credits and incentives.

How does tax planning work? 

The simple way tax planning can work in your favour is it covers all the necessary considerations. The considerations are one’s income, timing, and size of purchases. When planning for a tax return, it’d help consider the retirement plans and investment options up to par. Complementing these factors and creating a tax return would help to create the best outcome.

Understanding the tax filing plan and process:

However, it may be, and whatever it costs one to file. Tax filing plays a vital role in creating one’s profile. The financial growth reasonably depends on how one proceeds to file their return considering all the options available to them. A clean slate planning will help prevent the risks on the streamline. 

The tax filing plan can separate into three types:

1.purposive tax plan: This sort of planning comes with a definite objective,

2.permissive tax plan: This kind of tax planning falls under the jurisdiction of the specific region or law

3.Long-range or short-range tax plan: This type of tax planning is done at the beginning or end of the fiscal year.

The purpose of tax planning is vital and the process deems to analyze the finances from the tax angle. To ensure the highest efficiency. Since tax considerations include the timing of the income and purchases. Also, including the expenditures, the process is a bit detailed and helps an individual see where they stand. Tax planning is necessary for individuals and small and large-scale businesses to keep up with their targeted market.

Saving time with expert advice: if one can buy expert advice, it can help them buy some time. That is to say, you can save plenty of time by getting tax and account services even if you stay in the eastern suburbs. 

Peace of mind: When you leave the complicated work in the hands of an expert, the stress load is cut down, and you get to relax a bit. Tax returns, as said earlier, are a lengthy calculation and need a lot of work. An expert and solemnly help you deal with it and help you get peace of mind.

Tax Accounting services: the service inclines with the business entity. Businesses need to file a tax to keep records of their income, budget and expenditure. The internal revenue of the country determines the application of tax accounting of a company. The main aim of the tax accountant is to minimize the liability of the business.

Types of tax accounting services:

Bookkeeping: bookkeeping services are fundamental to their core. The very first step to preparing the tax return of a business entity is bookkeeping. Through bookkeeping, it is easy to keep the financial statement of the money inflow and outflow of the company’s entity and other transactions. The bookkeeping service is pretty cheap. Also, preferred by most small and large business companies.

Forensic accounting: It is often compared to auditing. The central focus of forensic accounting is finding out malicious fraud. Forensic accountants’ responsibilities are to have substantial knowledge about the laws that can help them analyze the violations caused by the concerned parties. This service is often used for identifying crimes that are affiliated with finances.

The financial controller: the head of the commercial department falls under the financial controller team. Their task is giving direction to people for dealing with employees, staff, and clients. They’re the prime workers for ensuring the proper enforcement of accounting work.

The necessity of accounting and taxation services for businesses:

Depending on the structure and formation of the business, whether it’s a small setup or a large, the most necessary step for a company to boom is making sure the paperwork is due in line. 

Tax and accounting services for any business build up the foundation a company needs. The financial system of a company can be seen and optimized through the lens of accounting services. The filled information can help the business grow and outgrow from the potential areas of the financial system. Service by an expert is precisely how one can prepare their tax files and make sure they have a chance at business growth.

Furthermore, tax and accounting services provide an analysis of the total income and expenditure unit. Starting from sales transactions to maintenance and its expenses. These services make sure that when a business entity comes for help, no detail is untouched. 

Since every detail is significant and missing out any can cost one to pay hefty. Accounting services are a safer, smarter, and viable option.

Conclusion:

So what are you waiting for? Getting your returns to work out from today and get to worry less about accounting and taxation services in eastern suburbs that can be handled at a much fair cost is definitely a good deal!

Have you ever wondered if you are making the most out of your annual tax return? You may find yourself wondering if you are entitled to claim a deduction for a number of insurance premiums or products. Of course, this is circumstance tested, however, there is a chance that you can. Continue reading and find which of the five insurances you may be able to claim on your next tax return. However, the following information has been generalised, and it does not consider your individual tax and business circumstances. It is always best you discuss this with your nominated taxation professional. They are experts in helping you receive the best tax return possible. 

In general, the Australian Taxation Office does allow tax deductions for insurance premiums. However, you need to provide evidence that your insurance cover does relate to your assessable income and your role. This also means that life insurance, trauma insurance, or critical care insurance are usually not able to be claimed as a tax deduction. Income protection insurance may be allowed as a tax deduction for premiums. In fact, the ATO has allowed such claims in certain circumstances. Even though the insurance policy does not itself “earn” income for the taxpayer.

Insurances that can be claimed as a tax deduction for your annual tax return

1. Home insurance

The Australian Taxation Office states that you cannot claim a deduction for occupancy expenses. Which includes rent, mortgage interest, council rates, and house insurance premiums. This rule also applies if your employer allows you to work from home. 

However, you can claim a portion of your home insurance if you are running a business from your home. The Australian Taxation Offices states that you can claim the occupancy expenses if your home is your principal workplace. And you have a dedicated work area. Depending on your circumstance, the part of your home that is your workplace can include: 

• Office for small businesses
• A tradesperson / craftsperson home workshop 
• Doctor or dentist or any medical practitioner who has their surgery or consulting room within their home. 

To claim your home insurance, you compare the floor area of your business working space to the rest of your house. Your tax deduction will be the proportion of your working area. 

2. Personal superannuation contributions

Your personal superannuation contributions from your after-tax income can be a tax deduction if you are under 75. You need to complete some special Australian Taxation Office forms (including the s290-170) before you lodge your tax return. In addition, you need acknowledgment from the trustee of the fund. Have a chat with your professional tax accountant or bookkeeper to see how this contribution deduction can apply to your circumstances. 

3. Car insurance

If you are using your vehicle to perform your job as an employee (such as travelling between job sites and workplaces) or in running your business, or to earn income (like ride-sharing services) then you may be eligible to claim your car insurance. It is required to apportion your car expenses so you do not claim expenses that are from personal use. There are two methods to work this out: 

Cents per kilometre

You can claim up to 5,000 business kilometres per car using the latest ATO rate (please talk to your professional tax accountant for the latest rate for the current tax year). You need to be able to provide evidence of how you worked out your kilometres. With this method, the rate is calculated to an average of car operating costs (including insurance). Also, you cannot claim a deduction for a portion of your insurance premiums. 

Logbook method

Using this method, your claim is based on the business use percentage of your car. To work this percentage out, you must keep a valid logbook capturing the odometer readings for a minimum of 12 weeks. To calculate the deductible amount, the business use percentage is then multiplied by your cars running costs including the insurance premiums.

4. Income protection insurance

You can generally claim a deduction for income protection insurance if it is taken out as a separate policy from your superannuation. And you can claim the cost of the premium you pay for the income protection insurance against the loss of your income. You will need to include the payment you receive under a policy on your tax return. 

Unfortunately, if your income protection is part of another insurance product (for example, life, trauma or critical care insurance), you will only be able to claim the percentage that is attributed to the income protection. In addition, if your income protection premiums are paid via your superannuation or are deducted from your superannuation contribution then you will not be able to claim a deduction. 

5. Home insurance on investment properties

You can claim expense relating to your investment property. This is only valid for periods that it is rented or available for rent. If you’re only renting out part of your property, you can only claim part of your building, contents and public liability insurance based on the floor area calculation. The amount of insurance you can claim will be in line with the proportion of rented out space. 

6. Travel insurance

Travel insurance costs are generally for private use, and therefore not tax-deductible. 

In conclusion

Tax time can be stressful and cause a lot of confusion for everyone needing to lodge a tax return. When thinking about insurance premiums, it can be overwhelming to navigate what can be claimed as a tax deduction – especially when there are so many different circumstances that need to be adhered to. Especially for those who work from home or use their own personal vehicle for work purposes. As a result, taxpayers are making simple mistakes when they are claiming tax deductions for insurance expenses. Our Australian income tax system is based on self-assessment. This means that you are accountable for being accurate, and all amounts that you are claiming must be backed up with the correct evidence and bookkeeping.

This evidence is required when you are audited. Records can include receipts for equipment or asset purchases and sales, expense claims and repairs; payment summaries; sufficiently detailed bank statements; contracts; and tenant rental records. Also includes car logbooks. If you’re unsure about which insurance premiums you can make a tax deduction, then give us a call at our Eastern Suburbs tax accountant practice. We work effortlessly to understand and simplify all the tax rules for you and explain what your business can be eligible for. RT Accounting and Taxation Service can help you focus on your business while you leave the boring tax stuff to us. We want you to have the confidence to run your business while our tax experts work on ensuring you are up-to-date with your tax requirements. 

Employee satisfaction is the key to the sustainability of a business. If your employees are satisfied, they’ll provide you with the best output. And there’s no better way to keep your employees satisfied than providing them regular payment. For this reason, a robust payroll outsourcing service is vital for the growth of any small business.

Generally, small businesses don’t have adequate manpower to manage everything. Most businesses have one in-house accountant in charge of managing the finances. As a result, payroll is always a struggle. And to make your life easier, outsourcing your payroll is always a good idea. 

So, you might ask, what is a payroll outsourcing service? Basically, it’s a way to outsource your payroll and employee payments to another company. In this article, we’re going to discuss everything you need to know about outsourcing your payroll!

What is Outsourcing Payroll Service:

Generally, the payroll system refers to the method of providing the employees with their payments. It helps to monitor specific details such as the employees’ working hours, their bonuses and benefits, taxes for the company and the individual employee, and certain other factors.

Payroll management is a complex process and requires a fair bit of effort to keep everything running. Any mistake in payroll can cause a lot of trouble; such as employee dissatisfaction and legal trouble during taxation. 

In order to manage everything properly, you can hire a specialized agency to manage your payroll for you. They manage all the necessary resources to make sure your employees are paid on time. They’re getting all the necessary support from your business. Everything is managed on time. This process is known as outsourcing payroll service. There are many companies that specialize in payroll management. To receive their services, you have to sign a contract with them. Although there’s a bit of an investment involved, the long-term benefits make the service worth the money.

Benefits of Outsourcing Payroll Service:

Now that we’ve discussed what is outsourcing payroll service, here are the benefits of outsourcing payroll service for a small business:

Saves Time:

Payroll management is a somewhat complicated process. And it requires a lot of time and effort to keep it running. Suppose you’re a small business and plan to use your manpower for payroll management. In that case, your inadequate manpower will struggle with managing everything. The entire process will take much longer than a company that specializes in payroll management.

When you’re outsourcing your payroll service, your accountants have time in their hands to focus on other aspects of your business, thus increasing your productivity to a great extent as well. 

Saves Money:

You might wonder how getting a payroll service saves money when it’s an investment in the first place. To begin with, when you’re investing in a payroll service, it’s going to cost significantly less than hiring a massive team of accountants for your business.

Furthermore, since your payroll is managed by a group of experts, the chances of errors are very slim. As a result, you won’t have to pay for penalties or fines imposed by the taxation service. Also, you might be able to apply for levies and tax cuts due to your payroll management. 

For this reason, outsourcing your payroll is more cost-effective than getting it done in-house.

Keeps Your Information Secured:

Your payroll information is very sensitive. As a result, it needs to be protected at every moment. Most reputed payroll service providers have a very robust mechanism in place to protect your information. These include encryption and password protection for your information. 

However, it’s essential that you’re getting your payroll done by a reputed payroll provider and ensuring they have a robust security system to protect your information.

Keep Your Employees Notified:

Certain payroll services have a backlog system. You can use it to keep your employees notified about their salaries, bonuses, taxes, etc. Basically, your employees can log in to the portal to see all the details of their payments. 

This is a great way to keep your employees satisfied since they already know how much money they’re getting and all the details available. So, make sure your outsourced payroll provider has this feature.

Precautions Before Outsourcing your Payroll Service:

Before you outsource your payroll service, you need to keep a few things are kept in check. Otherwise, outsourcing will only do more harm than good. These include:

Licenses and Accreditation:

A company needs to have proper accreditation and licenses to be considered a payroll service. So, before you get an outsourced payroll service, make sure it’s accredited, and all the licenses are valid. Taking services from an unlicensed company not only risks your information and create a loophole for mistakes, but you will also have to deal with a plethora of legal troubles. So make sure you’re getting your services from an accredited company.

Paying for Too Much:

While this isn’t a problem per se, most payroll service providers will try to coax you into signing up for multiple packages. These packages have certain features that you don’t need. As a result, you end up paying too much for services you don’t need. Considering that you’re a small business, this additional cost does more harm than good.

For this reason, we recommend that when you’re outsourcing your payroll service, you aren’t paying for too much or getting services that aren’t beneficial for you. 

Conclusion:

Payroll is an integral part of your business. It keeps your business steady and employees satisfied. However, it’s normal for small businesses to struggle with payroll, and outsourcing is a fantastic solution.

If you were wondering what is payroll outsourcing services, we’ve answered everything you need to know about it. We hope you find this article helpful!

Claiming tax deductions without receipts is a risky move. As the ATO has gotten more efficient data matching software to track any movements. And so it is harder for the ATO to enforce stricter guidelines. However, in some cases, it is ATO to claim tax deductions without receipts. Let us delve a little deeper into the subject of what can you claim on tax without receipts and try to avoid the ATO’s troubles.

Tax deductions are the primary way in which you can improve your tax position. After all, the role of a tax deduction is to reduce your taxable income. The lower taxable income you have, the lower tax you will pay at the end of the Financial Year. Along with that, deductions add a degree of fairness to the whole tax system; if you have spent money out of your own pocket which had a correlation with how you earn a living. Then it seems fair that you should get something back for that.

To make it clear, the ATO prefers that you hold a receipt for every expense that you have purchased. And want to claim as a deduction on your tax return. But we are all human and sometimes we tend to forget things, including keeping a tidy track of receipts we have purchased throughout the year. So, what happens if you do not have the receipt? What if you lost it? What if it is so faded that you possibly cannot read it?

It is still possible to claim these expenses, even without a receipt!!

There are serious restrictions on claiming a tax deduction without a receipt, however, it is still possible to do so.

Firstly, the expense must be an allowable deduction. What does this mean? This means that you should be able to confidently answer yes to the following three questions:

• Is this expense directly related to and required for you make a living?
• You have paid for this expense out of your own pocket?
• You were not reimbursed or paid back this expense by your employer or client?

If you can say yes to the above three questions, and you paid for the expenses using your credit card or debit card which shows the transactions for the item or items you have purchased, then the ATO can sometimes accept the deduction. As always, you should try to not get yourself into that situation, because we have seen cases where on audit, the ATO has not allowed this to suffice and the client had to pay extra money to the ATO.

What tends to happen in some cases is that a taxpayer has purchased some personal items and some work-related items in the same transaction, which makes audit a difficult task for the ATO if going by the bank statement purely. There needs to be a way to distinguish between the work expenses and the personal expenses, so it is often wise to pay for work related items and personal items separately in two different transactions.

Common Items That You Might Be Able to Claim Without A Receipt

1. Membership Fees or Union Fees

If these costs have been deducted from your employer, to begin with, these will be reflected on their Single Touch Payroll report when they send it to the ATO at the end of the year. This will be available on your MyGov account, or available to us on our prefill report when we lodge your tax return.

2. Fuel with a logbook

If you keep a proper logbook for a minimum of 12 consecutive weeks, then it is possible to use the work-related kilometers you have traveled along with the fuel capacity of your car and the average fuel rate throughout the year to include a fuel deduction in your tax return. We can happily work this out for you.

3. Fuel without a logbook

The easiest deduction to record without receipts. The ATO will allow a claim of 68 cents per kilometer, up to a maximum of 5,000km. However, this must be reasonable with however many kilometers you have traveled for work-related purposes – not including kilometers traveled between home and work.

4. Computer Items

Generally, you are not going to pay for computer items with cash. This will be paid on a credit or debit card, so when you purchase the laptop, make a note on your bank statement at the time of purchase as it will be easier to locate and then use as evidence as proof of purchase. It will also help if you take a picture of the packaging of the computer as that will have the price.

5. Stationery

Again, as we move into a cashless society, the use of bank statements as proof of purchase is going to increase, so it would be wise to note the date and time of purchase against the transaction in the bank statement, as well as taking a photo of the items.

Excuses the ATO Will Not Accept as Proof for Deductions

It is important to note that there are some forms of evidence that the ATO will never accept when you try and claim a tax deduction without a corresponding receipt. These include:

• Paying for something using cash. This is not a reason for not having a receipt as far as the ATO is concerned. The ATO will straight away disallow your deductions. For sole traders, paying your employees or contractors in cash is ILLEGAL regardless.
• Having an item with the price tag still on it, but no proof of purchase. In this case, the ATO does not know WHO purchased the item, so it could be your brothers’ item which you are borrowing/using, which you did not actually pay for. This will not suffice to the ATO, so it is important to keep proof of purchase.
• A catalogue or advertisement with the price of the item listed, but no physical evidence as proof of purchase. Once again, the ATO requires the purchase as anyone could have bought that item.

How Much Can I Claim Without Receipts?

The ATO generally says that if you have no receipts at all, but you did purchase work related items, then you can claim them up to a maximum value of $300. However, even if you claimed less than $300 you should be ready to explain what it was, how you paid for it and how it is related to you earning an income.

It is easy and important to keep receipts throughout the year, so you never miss out on your entitlements come tax time. A simple way of keeping track of your receipts is to file any work-related expense receipts in a folder and hand it to us to go through at tax time. That way, we can help you deduce what is an allowable deduction and what is not, along with making sure you maximise your refund and are given the deductions you are entitled to.

If you are in any doubt as to a receipt keeping method, please get in touch with the tax experts at R T Accounting & Taxation Services, and we will do our best to help you maximise your refund.

Superannuation funds are an integral part of most Australian’s retirement plans. Superannuation is a guaranteed amount of money you get once you reach retirement, which is paid by your employers. For many Australians, superannuation is the only form of retirement plan available, so they want to have full control over their super funds. And that’s where the concept of self-managed super funds SMSF audit Checklist.

In a self-managed super fund, you, along with other trustees, can manage everything about your superannuation. From retirement age to rate and minimum investment, everything can be decided by you and the small group of people in the same fund as you. 

However, since this is more technical than traditional superannuation providers, you need to follow a stringent set of rules. The Seld-managed super funds’ audit or SMSF audit is used to determine whether your super funds are in compliance with the standard rules and regulations. 

In order to make your SMSF audit as smooth as it gets, we’ve made an SMSF audit checklist to help you out. In this article, we’ve mentioned a few things you must do before your SMSF audit for an amazing experience. Let’s begin!

SMSF Audit Checklist:

Make Sure the Trust Deed is Done Properly:

Generally, there are two types of self-managed super funds. Either you’re in a corporate plan where the company is your trustee. The recipients are directors to the fund, or you’re in an individual trustee based superannuation where you’re the trustees. There’s no company involved in the process.

Whatever your superannuation plan might be, you have to make sure it’s updated. If there are any changes to the list of trustees, or any changes have been made to the plan from the previous fiscal year, you have to update it before the audit. Otherwise, you’ll have to deal with a fair bit of legal hassle.

Furthermore, you’d also need an individual representation letter from each trustee with their signatures. This is taken to ensure all the trustees are on the same page. So, make sure you have all the trustees on the same page before the audit. For this reason, this is the first part of your SMSF audit checklist.

The Declared Retirement Age is Coherent:

One of the most significant advantages of a self-managed super fund is that you can declare your retirement age. Since you’re in charge of your superannuation funds along with a small number of trustees, you are in full control of the decisions you’ll take. 

However, all the trustees must comply with the decisions for them to take effect. And since one of the most critical decisions is at what age the funds will be accessible, it’s important that everyone’s on the same page about the age. For this reason, it’s important to submit signed declarations of retirement age from all the trustees. 

Prepare Financial Documents:

Your superannuation funds are provided by your employer. Your employer will pay a part of your income in your superannuation fund. For this reason, you need to provide a document for your income.

You have to provide a document showing how much money you’ve made in that fiscal year and how much of it has been transferred to your superannuation funds. Income from work, investments, and properties are all taken into account, so you and your trustees need to provide all these documents.

Submit Documents for your assets:

What assets you own is integral to how much money you’d get from your superannuation funds. Also, there are certain benefits that you can get from your super based on your assets. Such as tax returns when buying your first house.

However, you need to make sure your assets are valued correctly. Your assets need to be valued at the current market price and accurately. This is important that both you and all the other trustees provide the documents. This is an essential part of your SMSF audit checklist, and you need to comply with it.

Furthermore, hiding assets from taxation and audit authorities is a federal offense, and you’ll have to pay the penalty in case of violations. 

Make Sure the In-House Assets Aren’t Overbearing:

In-house assets include loans, credits, or investments based on your superannuation fund or other assets. If your in-house assets are too much, you will have to deal with a fair bit of trouble from the audit authorities.

For this reason, we recommend that your in-house assets aren’t more than 5% of your total assets. Make sure this is crossed off your SMSF audit checklist before making further plans. 

Check the Contributors Restrictions:

Your superannuation is a guarantee for your future. However, planning for your future should not restrict your present. For this reason, there’s a limit to how much money you can pay in addition to your super every year. 

Make sure the amount of money you’re paying as your super is within the contribution cap. Factors such as your age, income, and health are taken into account before determining your limit. So, make sure you’re complying with these before making a payment. 

Submit your tax return:

Suppose you’re eligible for a tax return. In that case, you have to submit the tax returns before the audit and present a copy to the auditors. Generally, people are eligible for tax returns if there’s any surplus or deductions to their payable taxes, or there are certain technicalities in your income.

If you or any of the other trustees in your self-managed super fund are eligible for a tax return, you have to send a copy of it to your auditor for transparency.

Conclusion:

Superannuation is a way to safeguard your future. Thus, if you’re aware of how superannuation works and other technicalities of taxation, going for self-managed super funds is the way to go. However, it’s also as technical as it gets, especially during audits. Any discrepancies during the audit can get you into trouble. For this reason, we’ve made an SMSF audit checklist, go through the article and make sure everything is in place for a seamless audit experience.

Healthcare expenses can have a toll on us. Although healthcare in Australia is subsidized, and you can get treatment for cheap, certain costs aren’t subsidized or supported by insurance claims. In order to make life easier for you, you can claim these medical expenses as tax deductions. 

However, tax deductions in Australia are relatively technical. There is a lot of paperwork involved. Even the slightest mistake can lead to our deductions being rejected and a lot of legal trouble. To make matters easier for you, we’re going to discuss when can you claim medical expenses on your tax return and how to claim them. Let’s begin!

Tax Return on Medical Expenses:

A tax return must be submitted for certain Australians and Australian residents if they’re eligible for any deductions or surplus. You need to submit adequate documents along with your tax return to receive these deductions in time.

In the case of medical expenses, tax deductions are available in three categories. These include disability aids, aged care, and attendant care. 

Types of Tax Deductions on Medical Expenses:

Disabled Care:

For disabled people, tax deductions are available on any product that’s catered for your disability. These include things such as a walking stick, aid dogs, hearing aids, and other similar equipment and tools. 

TheIn order to lodge a tax return on your health-related deductions, you have to be suffering from your condition for a minimum of six months or more. Furthermore, you have to fulfil specific criteria to be eligible for these refunds. For example, if your situation prevents you from working in certain fields, or if the problem is persistent in every condition. 

For example, suppose you have a vision impairment that can’t be corrected by glasses. In that case, you’re eligible for tax deductions on any equipment you buy for your aid. These include medication, glasses, guide animals, etc. 

However, you’ll only receive deductions on equipment based that help your disability. Regular household appliances and equipment won’t be taken into consideration for tax deductions.

Attendant Care:

If you have an attendant to help you with your day-to-day life due to your disabilities, you can get a deduction based on your attendant’s costs. Attendant cares refer to home nursing and maintenance, regular medication, and domestic services that you can’t perform due to your disabilities.

However, these services are only available for blind or bedridden people due to any disease or disability and don’t have anyone to help with routine household tasks.

Aged and Elderly Care:

For elderlies who require medical attention, they can get a registered aged care provider. The cost of the care provider and other costs can be eligible for a tax deduction as well. You can apply for deductions for costs such as care providers fees, additional service and accommodation costs, additional service charges, etc.

However, suppose you have a personal care subsidy or receive services under a grant or bond. In that case, you won’t be eligible for any tax deductions on your fees.

In order to be eligible for tax deductions, your aged care provider has to be registered and approved by relevant authorities. Furthermore, you have to be eligible for aged care under the Aged Care Act of 1997.

How Much of Your Medical Expenses can You Claim as Tax Deductions?

Although you can claim deductions for a specific part of your income, you might not be eligible for the entirety of your medical costs. Certain factors such as your family income, your investments and savings, superannuation, etc. are taken into consideration before you’re eligible for tax returns. 

You’d generally receive a higher if your adjusted taxable income (ATI) is less than 90,000 per year. In case of expenses higher than 90,000, check the tables for details:

For Whom Can You Apply for Deductions?

While you can apply for tax deductions for your own medical expenses in your tax return, there are certain situations when you can also ask for tax deductions for certain people in case you’re paying for their treatments. The list of people you can apply for deductions for are:

• Yourself
• Your spouse (married or separated)
• All of your children and/or stepchildren under the age of 21
• Any children under the age of 21 that’s under your custody whose ATI is less than 1,786AUD
• The student under the age of 25 who’s under your custody and has an ATI of less than 1,786 AUD
• Any care receiver under your supervision under the T6 listing in your tax record.

When can you claim medical expenses on your tax return?

Now, let’s answer the all-important question, when can you claim medical expenses on your tax return? Generally, you can claim medical expenses once the tax period is over. Once the fiscal year ends in Australia, you can apply for a tax return. 

When you’re applying for a tax return, you can simply add your medical expenses along with it. However, you have to be eligible according to the rules and regulations of the current taxation laws.

Conclusion:

Since tax returns are already complicated, and medical expenses are a recent addition to it, it’s understandable that you might find it challenging to pay tax returns for medical expenses. In order to make you understand the technicalities of taxes and help you understand when can you claim medical expenses on your tax return in eastern suburbs, we’ve discussed everything you need to know. We hope you find this helpful!

Paying taxes on time is an essential part of our civic responsibilities. The amount of money we pay as taxes comes back to us in benefits and welfare activities. For this reason, it’s important for every eligible citizen to pay taxes. However, to make sure taxes aren’t too hard for you, you can get certain tax deductions. So, you must know what tax deductions are available in Australia.

Tax deductions are certain cashback you get while paying taxes. There are some fields of work that are subsidized by the government. If you work in those fields, you will get a certain amount of your taxes paid back to you. 

In this article, we will discuss what tax deductions are available in Australia and how to avail them. Let’s begin!

What Tax Deductions are Available in Australia?

The tax deductions you’re eligible for in Australia include:

Non-Resident Taxes:

Suppose you’re a foreigner residing in Australia. In that case, you have to pay taxes at an amount higher than the amount for an average citizen. You have to file a tax return for any amount of money you make in Australia as a non-resident. 

However, once you receive your residence, you can ask for tax deductions. You have to provide proof of your payments. You’d get a certain amount of deductions based on your previous expenses and tax returns.

Home Office:

The once-in-a-lifetime pandemic has forced us to things that we weren’t used to before. These include shifting all our regular office affairs to our home and conducting all our necessary office work from home. 

Making your home office can be a daunting task. There are many expenses involved from furniture to electronics and technology, which might be hard for small businesses to bear. To make matters more comfortable for you, the Australian government is providing tax deductions on any home office-related expenses.

However, this expense is a bit technical. You’re only eligible for deductions on things that you can only use for home expenses. For example, furniture like tables and office chairs and the cost has to be within 300AUD. Regular household expenses such as the internet, rent, mortgages, etc. aren’t considered eligible for tax deductions.

Travel:

If your work requires you to travel a lot, you can get tax deductions on your travel expenses. However, this deduction is only available for long-distance travels you make for your work. Personal trips, trips to and from regular workplace to home aren’t considered eligible for any sort of deductions.

However, you need to provide actual proof of your expenses. These include tickets, travel plans, travel logs, etc. You might also need to show evidence that the trip was for work with documents from your workplace.

Education and Training:

Sharpening up your skills is a must for excelling in your field of work. The best way to master your skills in the field of work is through training. You can gain many kinds of training for work, and receive tax deductions for it.

However, suppose your training is funded by your workplace or is exclusive to your workplace, and it’s employees. In that case, you won’t receive any tax deductions on it. If you receive your training based on any scholarship or grant, you might not receive a tax deduction either.

Clothing and Uniform:

If you’re wondering what tax deductions are available in Australia, the most prominent tax reduction you can apply for is tax deductions for work-related clothing, and it’s maintenance. 

If you have to buy specialized clothes for your area of work, or for your safety, you can apply for tax deductions on these clothes. These include uniforms of your workplace, protective gear such as gear and boots, costumes, etc.

However, suppose you have to buy generic clothing that can be worn outside your field of work. In that case, you won’t be eligible for deductions. For example, a simple suit won’t be available for deductions. Still, a suit with a company logo will be eligible for deductions. 

Not only for just purchasing your clothes, but you’d also receive deductions for the maintenance of your clothes. Maintenance such as regular washing and repairing. If you need to wash your clothes from the laundry, you have to show documents such as laundry receipts as proof. If you wash these clothes at home, you need to keep track of how many washes you need and the money spent is washing.

When it comes to protective equipment, you’re eligible for tax deductions on any protective gear you buy for your work. However, if the equipment is provided or partially funded by your workplace, you won’t get any deductions.

Charities and Donations:

As a part of their social responsibility, companies generally provide donations and organise fundraisers to help different social causes. You can be eligible for deductions based on your contributions as well.

So, what tax deductions are available in Australia based on donations? Generally, if you have to pay any amount of tax on your donations, the tax will be returned to you. However, you won’t get back any money you pay as donations directly. 

Investments:

The income you receive from investments is eligible for deductions as well. Investment income generally refers to an interest, grants, dividends, etc. from properties, partnerships or businesses you own.

The income you gain from investments is generally taxed beforehand. So, you won’t have to specifically pay taxes for these investments again.

Conclusion:

Tax deductions are a great way to reduce the burden of overwhelming taxes on your shoulders. They make taxes more affordable and save you from the burden of excess taxes. However, you have to know about deductions before taxes to make the best use of them.

The most important factor when it comes to tax deduction is knowing what tax deductions are available in Australia. In this article, we’ve discussed some of the significant tax deductions to help you in tax time. We hope you find this article helpful!

Running a small business isn’t easy. There’s a lot of work involved that often goes overlooked by people outside the world of business. Managing everything is a mammoth task, and there’s a lot of room for error. Also, the uncertainty of the finances doesn’t help much either. That’s why your business needs an accountant more than anything. So, you might ask, what do accountants do for small businesses?

Accountants can be crucial for any small business in any part of the world. They do more than just calculate your money and manage your finances. For this reason, having full-time accountants or receiving outsourced service from professionals is a good idea.

In this article, we will discuss why you need an accountant for your business and its benefits. Let’s begin!

What Do Accounts Do For Small Businesses?

To begin with, the main task of an accountant is to manage your finances. They calculate how much money your business has invested this year and what was the amount earned. They’ll give you details about your profit-loss, payroll expenses, etc., for a fiscal year. 

However, the role of accountants for your business has a lot more to it. These include:

Helping You Launch Your Business:

Starting a business requires a lot more than just an idea. You have to make sure you’ve invested enough to survive the first few tumultuous years to start making a steady profit from your business.

Furthermore, you need to reach out to investors to ensure your business gets adequate funding to launch on its two feet. And that’s where an accountant helps the most.

An accountant can forecast your business’s future plans based on your investment and goals and help you suggest a route for the long run. Also, they can predict your business’s future and suggest how much money you can invest. Furthermore, if you’re reaching out to any professional accounting services, they can help you seek investors from their networks. So, reaching out to an accountant before starting a business is always a good idea!

Managing Your Cash Flow:

One of the main reasons small businesses fail is that they can’t manage cash flow properly. They often run out of money at the wrong time, which leads to them not being able to pay employees or invest in the business. 

However, when you have an expert accountant at the helm of your business, they can look into the condition of your business and predict when you might run out of money or when is the right time for investment. 

Help in Taxation:

Managing taxes is an essential part of running a small business. Not paying taxes in time can cause a fair bit of trouble for businesses, leading to fines and penalties. A good reputation is also integral to small businesses’ growth, so paying taxes in time is great for your reputation.

If you have an accountant at work, he can help you massively during taxation. Everything gets much easier when you have an accountant at work from managing the documents, gathering payroll information, applying for deductions and subsidies.

Also, an experienced accountant has years of experience in taxation. He knows the relevant laws and regulations related to taxes and can help you make your decisions better. When it comes to applying for deductions, your accountant knows better than anyone. As a result, you can apply for many deductions to reduce your payable tax amount by a margin.

Managing Payroll:

If you’re wondering what do accountants do for small businesses, managing payroll is one of the critical factors. Payroll is an integral part of your business. Regular payment keeps your employees happy and helps you keep your finances in check.

When you have an accountant managing your business’s payroll, they help keep things in check. They’ll make all the necessary documentation and calculations based on your employees’ salaries, working hours, deductions, bonuses, etc. 

Also, submitting accurate payroll information is crucial when paying taxes. And having an accountant in charge of taxes is the way to go!

Debt Management:

There are two ways to debt in your business. Some debt can be a blessing, while some forms of debt are curses in the long run. So, what do accountants do in terms of debt? They help you understand which one is good for you.

Accountants make sure that the debt you’re getting for your business is good in the long run. They ensure that the repayment plans aren’t a burden for your business, and the interest for the debt won’t be too much for your business. Thus, ensuring the debt you have on your business is good for you in the long run!

Help With Budgeting:

Budgeting is a crucial part of any business. You need to have a comprehensive budget to make sure everything is working for your business. How much money you need to run the different parts of your business, how much money you can save at the end of the year is essential.

A professional accountant knows the in-and-out of budgeting better than anyone else. They’ll help you make a budget that’s comprehensive in the long run. This will help you decide your future endeavours better and help you get the best out of your available resources. 

Conclusion:

Running and growing a small business is a mammoth task. There’s so much room for error that even the slightest of mistakes can take your business on a massive downward spiral. Thus, you need to find the right people to keep your business running. 

An accountant is an expert in financial management. His knowledge goes beyond just conventional business rules. Thus, describing what do accountants do for small businesses is a challenging task. But, there are certain factors where your accountant can take your business to the next level. In this article, we’ve discussed some of these benefits. We hope you find this article useful!

Your dream property purchase may be within reach if you can save more on your taxes. Don’t know how to save on your taxes? Keep on reading for some tips to help you in tax savings. 

When you’re self-employed in Sydney, your income may differ from month to month. Not only are you trying to build a business, but you’re also juggling your marketing, cash flow, product and service fulfillment, and taking control of your tax filings. Saving for a home when you’re self-employed can become a real challenge. And if the saving part isn’t hard enough – trying to get a home loan when you’re self-employed is also difficult if you cannot show lenders that you have a history of saving.

When you are self-employed, you may be able to claim income tax deductions for expenses that are related to your business. Every little tax-saving and deduction will accumulate towards a deposit for your new home. There are a wide variety of expenses that can be claimed; however, it is always best you take guidance from your tax accountant/tax professional or bookkeeper. Your tax accountant can help you navigate what claims you can and cannot make. 

A lot of small business owners are letting their tax deductions fall through the cracks. We have outlined some tips that can help you boost your savings through tax deductions. And how to utilise your taxes to benefit you when you run your own business and are self-employed. 

1. Separate your tax savings account

Once you are self-employed, it is important that you separate your tax savings account from your main business and personal account. You should have an account for your tax savings, one for business transactions, and one for your personal use. When you have different accounts, it helps you and your tax accountant have a simpler view of your expenses. If you decide to keep one account for your personal, business, and savings, your savings may get lost in your business and personal expenses. With every tax savings payment, allocate about 20 percent into your tax savings account. At the end of the financial year, you can view your accumulation of savings – purely from tax deductions. 

2. Claim your operating expenses including home office deduction 

Your operating expenses are classified as revenue expenses because they assist you in generating income. These can be claimed year on year. Operating expenses include salaries and wages, allowances and bonuses, payroll expenses, legal fees, accounting fees, marketing. And also advertising costs, inventory costs, business insurances, phone and internet, and travel expenses. In addition, funds that your business allocates towards research and development can also fall under the operating expenses category. 

With the disruption of COVID-19, employees and business owners were forced out of offices and into the home office. The home office is a deduction that people have been scared of taking. And yet it provides major tax savings for the self-employed.  If you do have a home office for your business, then you need to be claiming this as an operating expense.

A home office is an area of your home that is used exclusively. And regularly for business purposes – which means it cannot be used as anything else. This also means that your dining room or living room couch cannot be classified as your home office. Regularly means it needs to be used on an ongoing basis. This means using it only once a year won’t make the “regular” criteria. It’s all about consistency. In addition, you can claim the depreciation of certain office equipment. And in some cases, you may be able to claim occupancy expenses such as rent, mortgage interest, rates, and land taxes. 

There are three ways of calculating home office expenses depending on your circumstances. The methods are the:

• Shortcut method
• Fixed-rate method
• Actual cost method

To make the most of your operating expenses and home office expenses deductions, have a chat with your tax accountant professional. They are experts in deductions and can ensure that you are claiming the right expenses. 

3. Turn charitable donations into expenses

In reality, most charities are not approved by the Australian Tax Office as a tax-deductible charity. If you do want to make a deduction on your donation, then you need to find a charity. That is an organisation endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR). And must be a genuine gift – you cannot receive any benefit from the donation. This means that purchases from a charity that involve raffle tickets, items, or food cannot be claimed as tax-deductible gifts.

In addition, this does not mean that you cannot claim a tax deduction from your business for the donation. It just means that you need to structure the deduction correctly. Your tax accountant can help you claim this – provided that you run your business through a family trust with a family trust deed. In this instance, you can claim deductions to any registered charity in Australia, regardless of if they are approved by the Australian Taxation Office or not. 

Feeling confused about how to claim a deduction from your donations? Chat to your accounting professional or bookkeeper, and they can help you navigate how to turn charitable donations into a business expense. 

4. Prepay your expenses and taxes!

Businesses that have a turnover of less than AU$10 million can claim an immediate deduction for prepaid expenses for up to 12 months in advance. When you prepay, you bring forward your deductions and can reduce your tax liability for the current financial year.  

In addition, you can prepay your taxes in advance, and this can save you from paying them when your business may not be doing as well. You can also receive discounts by paying in advance. 

You can also prepay your business loans and any other business expense that can be paid in advance including subscriptions, seminars, telephone, and IT services. Many services also offer discounts when paying in advance. 

5. Tools and equipment

If you need equipment to perform your job, then you can claim deductions on the purchases any time or over a period of time. This includes a computer, power tools or machinery, IT hardware, etc. 

You can claim up to $1000 in your annual tax return for tools and equipment that are required for you to perform your job. You can also claim depreciation on tools and equipment that are priced more than $1000 (including an instant write off on asset purchases up to an amount of $20,000)

Large acquisitions including IT servers, cars, and expensive equipment is claimed via a depreciation of capital value. You can claim 15 percent in the first year and 30 percent each year after the first year. 

These claims are all applicable even if you haven’t paid but have been invoiced before 30 June. Understating your business taxes, and claiming as much as you can help you put money aside for a Sydney home purchase. If you are unsure how to navigate the taxation system and need help with filing your taxes, then give us a call at our Eastern Suburbs tax accountant practice. We work effortlessly to understand and simplify all the tax information and assess what your business can claim. RT Taxation can help you focus on your business while you leave the boring tax stuff to us. We want you to have the confidence to run your business while our tax experts work on ensuring you are up-to-date with your tax requirements.