Stay up to date with what’s happened in the Australian economy and markets over the past month.
Escalating conflict in the middle east marked the end of February.
The month delivered mixed signals for the Australian economy.
The unemployment rate held steady, wage growth continued to edge higher, while household spending softened.
Inflation continues to be an issue. While the CPI remained steady, trimmed inflation increased slightly and the February 0.25% cash rate hike added pressure to mortgage holders.
Reporting season added its usual volatility to the share market and the ASX hit several record highs towards the end of the month, supported by solid corporate results, even as global markets remained cautious.
Click the video below to view our update.
Please get in touch if you’d like assistance with your personal financial situation.
Stay up to date with what’s happened in the Australian economy and markets over the past month.
Australia’s economy remained under pressure in October. Investors sharply pared back future rate-cut bets after inflation data came in higher than expected.
News of the higher-than-expected inflation numbers was followed by the biggest daily fall in the Australian share market in two months.
Wall Street ended the month subdued over suggestions of no further rate cuts expected this year but there was some optimism about US-China relations.
Click the video below to view our update.
Please get in touch if you’d like assistance with your personal financial situation.
For many small business owners, the company they’ve built is more than a livelihood, it’s a legacy. Building a successful business takes years of hard work and dedication and when you’re ready to retire or move on to the next chapter of your life, the path isn’t always clear. That’s where succession planning comes in.
Whether your children have chosen different careers or there’s no obvious successor in sight, succession planning can be one of the most emotionally and financially complex aspects of running a business.
Recent Australian research shows that most small businesses won’t be passed on to the next generation. In fact, nearly half of SME owners expect that when they retire it will result in the closure of the business or selling to someone outside the family.i
Only 39 per cent anticipate a family member taking over, and just one-third have a documented succession plan in place.
Without a clear plan, many business owners find themselves working well past the traditional retirement age. The reasons vary from lack of interest from family, uncertainty about valuation or simply not knowing where to start and the consequences can be significant.
Who will take over your business?
Succession planning isn’t just about protecting financial outcomes; it’s also about preserving relationships. When expectations are unclear or decisions are made under pressure, family dynamics can suffer. Open conversations, guided by a shared vision and professional advice, can help avoid misunderstandings and make sure that everyone feels heard. Even if the next generation isn’t stepping in, a thoughtful plan can honour your legacy and reduce stress for those around you.
A plan also helps the business operate without disruption during change, which is vital for employees, customers, and stakeholders alike.
Start early for a smoother exit
The key to a successful business exit is planning early.
A well-considered succession plan allows you to decide how and when you leave your business, rather than being forced to react to circumstances.
A federal government succession planning template is a helpful starting point, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle.
Planning ahead also helps avoid complications with the Australian Taxation Office. Transferring control or assets within a family business can trigger tax consequences, especially if the structure isn’t reviewed in advance.
A strong succession plan should cover:
whether you’ll retain any ownership or involvement post-transition
how the successor will fund the purchase (if applicable)
contingencies for unplanned events like illness or sudden death
tax implications of asset transfers, CGT, GST, and restructuring
a current business valuation and regular reviews
legal documentation and buy-sell agreements
If your business involves trusts, shareholder loans, or complex structures, it’s particularly important to seek professional advice. The ATO is actively reviewing transactions involving family wealth transfers, internal restructures, and use of concessions so clarity and compliance are key. Transactions of interest include assets being moved around within a private group; family member interests being restructured; accessing of concessions, exemptions and rollovers; settlement of shareholder/associate loans (Division 7A loans); and transfer of wealth through trusts.ii
Get good advice
Succession planning isn’t just about paperwork. Whether you’re preparing your business for sale, transferring ownership to a family member, or simply exploring your options, professional advice can make all the difference.
We can help you to:
choose the right tax structure
understand the implications of buy-sell agreements
If you’d like to start the conversation or review your existing plan, please contact our office. The earlier you begin, the more choices you’ll have and the more confident you’ll feel about your next chapter of your business.
At its latest meeting, the Reserve Bank Board announced it was lowering the cash rate from 3.85 per cent to 3.60 per cent.
Please click here to view the Statement by the Monetary Policy Board: Monetary Policy Decision.
With the official rate change, we’re watching closely what the banks do with their rates, as some of Australia’s biggest lenders may make changes to their rates.
You will be notified directly by your bank if and when they change their interest rate.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss recent rate movements or if you would like to review your finance options.
Stay up to date with what’s happened in the Australian economy and markets over the past month.
Interest rates and tariffs continue to influence markets globally.
After the RBA’s surprise move to leave rates on hold at its July meeting, soft inflation data has paved the way for a future rate cut.
The ASX 200 climbed to a fresh record high during the month of July. Wall Street also recorded all-time highs as tariffs begin to be locked in and AI investment takes off.
Click the video below to view our update.
Please get in touch if you’d like assistance with your personal financial situation.
With a new financial year underway, now’s the time for small business employers to check they’re across the latest changes to super obligations – from Superannuation Guarantee (SG) increases to updated balance contribution caps.
Here’s a brief roundup of the super changes you need to be aware of from 1 July 2025.
SG rate rises to 12% – what it means for you
A key change small business employers need to be aware of is the increase in the SG rate to 12 per cent.
This means you need to contribute a minimum of 12 per cent of your employees’ ordinary time earnings to their chosen super account. (Obviously, if your eligible employees have a higher percentage listed in an award or employment agreement, you need to pay this higher amount).i
You should ensure all super and payroll calculations reflect the increased rate.
Employees making voluntary contributions or salary-sacrificing should be encouraged to review their super arrangements to avoid exceeding their annual contributions caps.
Make sure no employee is missed
Now is a good time to check you are paying SG for all eligible employees. Before 1 July 2022 you didn’t have to pay SG for workers earning less than $450 a month. But you now have to pay super, regardless of how much they earn.
Generally, all employees must be paid super, despite their employment status. This includes full-time, part-time and casual workers, temporary residents such as backpackers, company directors and family members.
If an employee is under 18 years, SG must still be paid when they work more than 30 hours in a week.
Reduced SG base for high-income employees
The higher SG rate also affects the indexed maximum super contribution base used to determine the maximum quarterly limit for a high-income employee’s earnings base.
From 1 July 2025, the quarterly maximum super contribution base is $62,500, which means the maximum SG payment amount per quarter is $7,500. The new limit is a decrease from the 2024-25 quarterly limit of $65,070.
As an employer, you are not required to pay SG on the part of your employee’s earnings above this quarterly limit, so review your payroll settings to ensure they reflect the reduced cap.
Annual contributions caps remain stable
While knowing these super changes is important, it’s also essential to know what is not changing on 1 July 2025.
The annual concessional contributions cap remains at $30,000, while the non-concessional contributions cap stays at $120,000. This means the three-year bring-forward cap also remains at $360,000 (The bring-forward rule allows those who are eligible to pay up to three years of after-tax super contributions in one year).ii
While you’re not responsible for tracking employees’ contribution caps, it’s important to understand them because they may affect staff making voluntary contributions or salary sacrifice arrangements.
Suggest that employees track all contributions entering their account and consider adjusting their super arrangements if they are nearing their annual cap.
Balance caps increase
The other key changes to be aware of is the increase in the general transfer balance cap (TBC) from $1.9 million to $2 million from 1 July 2025. The TBC is the limit on the total amount of super that can be transferred to the retirement phase.
The total super balance cap (TSB), which includes all of an employee’s super and retirement phase accounts, is also increasing to $2 million. This cap is used to determine eligibility for non-concessional contribution and bring-forward arrangement amounts, carry-forward concessional contributions, spouse tax offsets and government co-contributions.
The cap increases do not directly affect employers, but they may influence an employee’s decision on making additional super contributions or moving into retirement.
If you would like more information about the new super obligations for 2025-26, contact our office today.
There are always lots of tax-related tasks to complete every EOFY, but as we move into the upcoming financial year, it is also worth getting to grips with new tax changes the Government’s election promises will usher in on 1 July, which we’ve outlined below.
New 2025-2026 tax changes
During the election campaign, the Labor government announced a number of tax changes.
These include the introduction of a standard $1,000 deduction for work-related expenses for taxpayers with labour income, a 20 per cent reduction in HECS-HELPS debts, and an extension of the $20,000 instant asset write-off until 30 June 2026.
Legislation has already been passed to cut the tax rate for individuals and is effective from 1 July 2026. The rate for income between $18,201 and $45,000 will be reduced from 16 per cent to 15 per cent, with a further reduction to 14 per cent in the following financial year.i
The government has also made it clear it intends to proceed with its draft legislation (Division 296) reducing the tax concessions for super accounts with a balance exceeding $3 million. This legislation will double the tax rate on earnings related to the portion of the balance over $3 million from 15 per cent to 30 per cent.
Now, let’s look at a few ways you can get prepared in the lead up to 30 June.
Start your tax preparations now
The ATO has announced its tax time hitlist, so it’s also important to check your current tax arrangements are not going to leave you vulnerable to an audit or significant penalties. The main focus for the ATO this year is work-related expense claims, investment properties and holiday home claims, and sharing economy income and cryptocurrency.i
With the ATO taking a much tougher stance on both tax reporting and payments, make sure you lodge and pay on time, or you could face penalties and interest charges. From 1 July 2025, interest paid to the ATO will no longer be tax-deductible.
Tips for businesses
Review and update all of your financial records and identify expenses that could be deductible.
You may want to make some deductible purchases prior to EOFY to help reduce your taxable income for the financial year. The small business instant asset write-off limit for 2024-25 is $20,000.ii
Also check your debtors, inventory and fixed assets, and ensure you write-off any debts that are not recoverable. Review any capital gains and losses and consider offsetting the gains with capital losses.
Check all required super contributions for employees have been made, plus any additional contributions for business owners. Ensure these contributions are received by the funds specified cut-off date to qualify for any tax deduction.iii
To-do list for personal tax
Getting your personal tax information prepared is also important, particularly given the ATO’s focus on personal deduction claims.
If you have regular deductible expenses (such as interest on investment loans and annual payments), consider prepaying them before 30 June so you can claim a deduction this financial year.
If you are likely to have personal capital gains tax obligations from the sale of assets, consider whether you should try to offset them against capital losses.
Time for some super contributions
Consider making extra personal super contributions before the financial year ends if you can.
Before making any contributions, check the total amount of both your concessional (before-tax) and non-concessional (after-tax) contributions across all your super accounts to ensure you do not exceed the annual cap limits.iv
Other super contributions to consider include personal tax-deductible contributions, contributions on behalf of your spouse and eligible contributions that could earn you a co-contribution from the government.v
If you would like to discuss EOFY preparations for either your personal tax or business, please call our office today.
The Australian Tax Office will be cracking down on work-related expenses in personal tax returns this year after recently revealing some of the claims that have been submitted in the past.
The ATO is also reminding businesses of this year’s limit for the popular instant asset write-off and its ongoing focus on GST fraud.
Here’s a roundup of the latest tax news.
‘Wild’ deduction claims
The tax office caused some raised eyebrows with its revelations about ‘wild’ work-related expense claims made by some taxpayers, including a mechanic claiming an air fryer, TV, gaming console and microwave.i
Other claims deemed to be personal rather than work-related included a truck driver claiming swimwear so he could go for a swim when stopped for a break, and a fashion industry manager claiming over $10,000 in luxury-branded clothing that was purchased to wear to work functions.
This time the ATO says it intends to focus on common taxpayer errors, such as work-related expenses, working from home deductions, and income from multiple sources (including side hustles like ride sourcing services or selling services via an app).
Instant asset write-off limit
The ATO is reminding taxpayers who purchased business assets during the financial year that the instant asset write-off limit in 2024-25 is $20,000.ii
The instant write-off (which allows you to immediately deduct the business part of the cost of eligible assets) is available to businesses with an aggregate annual turnover of less than $10 million who use the simplified depreciation rules.iii
The full cost of eligible depreciating assets (both new and second-hand) costing less than $20,000 on a per asset basis, may qualify for the deduction.
Focus on business GST fraud continues
A Melbourne man has been sentenced to 2 years and 11 months’ imprisonment after obtaining over $390,000 in fraudulent GST refunds and attempting to obtain a further $330,000.
The sentence reflects the continued ATO focus on stamping out GST fraud, with the acting deputy commissioner Kath Anderson noting there were “no ifs, ands or buts here – if you don’t run a business, you don’t need an ABN and you cannot claim GST refunds”.
The ATO-led Serious Financial Crime Taskforce remains on the lookout for potentially fraudulent GST activities, with information sharing identifying businesses using complex financial arrangements (such as false invoicing, misaligned GST accounting methods and claims for fake purchases) to obtain larger GST refunds.
New small business benchmarks released
Small business owners keen to take the ‘pulse’ of their business can now use updated financial benchmarks covering 100 different industries produced by the ATO.
Updated annually, the benchmarks are designed to help business owners compare their performance against other businesses in the same industry.
Owners can use the information to identify if their performance is within the normal range for their industry, which mean it is less likely to attract ATO attention.iv
Paperless SMSF reporting
The ATO has emailed trustees of SMSFs still completing and lodging paper activity statements encouraging them to move to paperless reporting for improved security and convenience.
The regulator says benefits of paperless reporting include an additional two weeks on the fund’s lodgment deadline, reduced errors, faster refunds and easier recordkeeping.
In line with the push for greater digital SMSF reporting, the ATO recently noted non-lodgment of SMSF annual returns remains a concern and this can result in trustee penalties and removal of a fund’s compliance status.v
Estimates of illegal early access in SMSFs is also worrying the regulator, with prohibited loans from funds increasing.
Help with compromised TFNs
With identity theft continuing to increase, the ATO has updated its information for taxpayers who find their tax file number (TFN) has been compromised.
TFNs can be comprised through a number of different channels like email or phishing scams, or through data breaches at legitimate organisations as well as ID theft by criminals.
Anyone who believes their TFN has been compromised or used illegally should contact the ATO immediately on 1800 467 033.
