If you or your employer paid concessional (before tax) contributions to a complying superannuation fund you may be eligible for the low income superannuation contribution (LISC). The LISC is a government payment designed to help offset the tax paid by superfunds for low income individuals. The LISC is 15% of the concessional contributions paid into your super fund during the financial year. The maximum payment that you can receive is $500. Are you eligible? To be eligib...

Proposed Taxation Changes 2013-14 The new Coalition Government has proposed various taxation changes for their first term. A large number of these are repeals of legislation that the Labor government only recently introduced. Some of the important proposed changes are as follows: Small Business Entities (SBE): Remove the increased immediate deduction for assets costing less than $6,500 Remove the accelerated depreciation deduction for the first $5,000 of the ...

Unclaimed Money
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (“ASIC”) hold the federal records for all unclaimed monies.
Unclaimed money can originate from: Banks and other Authorized Deposit-taking Institutions; Life Insurance companies and Benefit Fund Friendly Societies; First Home Saver Accounts; Companies with unclaimed money such as resulting from the liquidation of a company.
Money is transferred to the ASIC un...

There are a number of ATO scam emails currently circulating. These emails claim to come from the ATO and generally offer a tax refund. The emails go to great lengths to convince recipients that they are genuine and often contain a replica of the ATO’s logo. They usually link to a bogus ATO website asking for personal and credit card details. The ATO have confirmed they will never ask for personal or credit card details in an email. Key indicators of the scams include: ...

    If you're a low-to-middle income earner, the government may help boost your super savings through the super co-contribution. The ATO uses the information on your tax return and the contribution information received from your super fund to work out whether you’re eligible. If you are, the ATO will calculate the co-contribution amount and deposit it into your super account. The 2014 financial year has a matching rate of 50% to a maximum of $500; m...