March on in to March!

ATO's focus on work-related expenses

This year, the ATO is paying close attention to what people are claiming as 'other' work-related expense deductions, so it's important when taxpayers claim these expenses that they have records to show:

• they spent the money themselves and were not reimbursed;

• the expense was directly related to earning their income; and

• they have a record to prove it.

If the expense is for work and private use, the taxpayer can only claim a deduction for the work-related portion.

Importantly, taxpayers are not automatically entitled to claim standard deductions, but need to be able to show how they worked out their claims.

CAS: ‘Other’ work related expenses are expenses incurred by employees in relation to their work that are not for travel, clothing or self-education, such as home office expenses.

New small business benchmarks are available

The ATO has updated its small business benchmarks with the latest data from the 2015/16 financial year.

CAS: That is, they use the benchmarks to pick their audit targets, so please contact us if you would like us to check whether your data is inside or outside the average benchmark range for your industry.

Guide to the new Small Business Super Clearing House

The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) joined the ATO's online services on 26 February 2018.

This is intended to streamline how businesses use the SBSCH, and will also include extra functionality, such as the ability to sort employee listings and payment by credit card.

CAS: The SBSCH is a free service that businesses with 19 or fewer employees (or which are SBEs) can use to comply with their super obligations

Uber driver not an 'employee'

In a recent case, an Uber driver's access to the Uber app had been terminated as a result of failing to maintain an adequate overall rating, and he applied to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) for an unfair dismissal claim against Uber.

However, the FWC held that he was an independent contractor and not an 'employee', and therefore his application for unfair dismissal was dismissed.

CAS: Although this was not a tax case, it is obviously of interest to anyone involved in the 'gig economy', and it may have flow-on implications for other employment issues, such as super guarantee.

Taxpayer can't explain where she got the money to pay her expenses

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal has upheld amended assessments issued by the ATO to a beauty technician, based on the high volume of money passing through the taxpayer's various accounts when compared with the modest income she had included in her tax returns.

For example, in the 2015 income year, the taxpayer had declared income of $61,842, but the ATO’s analysis of her bank accounts, records of international money transfers, and casino data suggested she had spent $107,328.

The Tribunal noted that, in cases like this, the ATO is effectively making an "informed guess" as to the taxpayer’s income, but, provided there is a rational basis for the estimate, the ATO’s assessment will stand, unless the taxpayer can:

• demonstrate the assessment was excessive; and

• establish what the correct (or more nearly correct) figure is.

In addition to upholding the amended assessments, the Tribunal was also satisfied that the ATO's 75% administrative penalty on top of the tax payable was properly imposed.

Please Note: Many of the comments in this publication are general in nature and anyone intending to apply the information to practical circumstances should contact the team @ Clear Accounting Solutions to independently verify your interpretation and the information’s applicability to your particular circumstances.