Archive for the 'Tax' Category
This blog is in hiatus
Monday, March 31st, 2008You may have noticed I haven’t posted much here for a while.
Why?
I have taken a new position and talking about taxation issues on this blog could be deemed a conflict of interest. [Note I say could, not is, but it’s always better to err on the side of safety.] Hence for the term of my […]
Salary packaging with a HELP debt and/or no private health
Saturday, September 22nd, 2007Salary packaging is where your employer pays for some items—a car, a computer, even in some cases your mortgage repayments—out of your pre-taxed earnings.
Let’s look at an example. Tax rates are based on the 2007 tax year. They will change next year.
Suppose your annual salary is $44,000. On $44,000 you pay tax of $8,550, plus the […]
Adsense and Australian Tax: How do you pay it, what do you pay?
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007Suppose you live and work in Australia, blog part-time (or even full time) and earn money from Adsense. How does it work from a tax point of view?
If you live and work in Australia, and just get a few extra dollars from Adsense—which would be the case for most part-time bloggers—you are what the U.S. tax […]
Is it always best to ask for the most experienced tax preparer?
Thursday, July 5th, 2007In my last blog I talked about the best times to visit the tax agent, and by now you know all about how you may get tax preparer who has 30 years experience or is a total newcomer. You might think from what I said then that you should always go for the most experienced […]
When is the best time to visit your tax agent?
Sunday, July 1st, 2007You decide to get your tax done by a tax agent. Is there a best time to make an appointment?
The best time is obviously the time that suits you best. If you have a big return coming or you need the money, for example, it’s better that money gets into your pocket sooner rather than later. If you […]
Superannuation changes on 1 July. Get this year’s super affairs in order now
Monday, June 25th, 2007The government’s superannuation changes are big news at the moment, and you have until 30 June to put lots (and lots and lots) of money into your super fund for taxation benefits in future years.
Don’t leave it until the last day.
As you can imagine, the superannuation companies are very busy right now.
Not only do they […]
Superannuation co-contribution
Tuesday, June 5th, 2007Lucky you if you made an eligible contribution to super last year (2005-2006 tax year). That means you paid an additional amount into your super fund and met the criteria for the government co-contribution where they paid up $1.50 for every additional $1.00 to a maximum of $1,500.
If you did this before the end of […]
Can you claim your schooling-related expenses
Friday, May 18th, 2007The question as to whether you can claim self-education expenses as tax deductions comes up a lot. I have covered it before, but it’s worth covering again. It’s an issue that causes a lot of confusion.
Two common misconceptions are:
People who are studying to get a better job believe they can claim schooling when they can’t
People who […]
Tax training — what’s new this year
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007The big news is, of course, the superannuation changes.
Even though the bulk of these changes don’t come in this tax year (2006-07), we still need to know what the changes are and how they will influence our clients’ tax position.
More on the changes as we get further into the training.
Doing the advanced tax course. Is it fate, or carelessness?
Thursday, March 29th, 2007The letter came last week. It was time to sign up again for tax schooling.
I had planned to repeat the intermediate course, just to be sure I had grasped all the details correctly.
I really wanted to spend time making sure I had all the details sorted out properly before I took the advanced course. The […]