INTHEBLACK August 2024 - Flipbook - Page 40
P O D C AS T
WITH INTEREST PODCAST
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The With Interest podcast features economic updates and developments
for the business world. Here are some highlights from a recent episode.
to the podcast
TAX TIME 2024: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Tax time is well underway and to help you navigate this year’s tax season,
Rob Thomson, assistant commissioner with the Australian Taxation Office
(ATO), offers insights into the ATO’s key focus areas.
WORK-RELATED EXPENSES
PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE REBATE
“Work-related deductions continue to
be the largest contributor to the individual
tax gap, which is the difference between
what we estimate is the total amount
of tax that should be paid and what is
actually paid.
“We really want to focus on creating
good habits and investing in education,
specifically around things like Nexus,
apportioning between work and private
use and substantiation.”
“If your clients have private health insurance,
then they may have access to the private
health insurance rebate, and whether they
receive the rebate and the amount they
receive depends on their income or their
combined income where they have a spouse.
“There are income tiers, so as their income
increases, then actually the rebate amount
reduces, and if they claim the rebate as
a reduction on their premiums, it might be worth
checking that they’re getting the right rebate.
“So, if their combined income has increased,
that may shift them into the next income tier.
If they haven’t advised their private health
insurer, then they’ll be getting too much of
the rebate. When this happens, we recover
the excess in their tax return, which can lead
to either a reduced refund or actually a tax bill.”
WORKING FROM
HOME DEDUCTIONS
“My biggest advice is to keep all your
records, so this includes a record of
the hours you’ve worked from home,
for example, like a time sheet or your
diary, evidence of your running expenses
like your phone and your electricity,
and finally, receipts supporting the
documents for depreciating assets like
your technology, your IT equipment and
your office furniture.
“There are two different ways you
can work out your working from home
deduction – there’s the fixed rate
method and the actual cost method.
Having records means that you and your
clients can choose whichever method
they want to use, and whichever gives
them the best outcome given their
individual circumstances.”
40 INTHEBLACK August 2024
ROB THOMSON,
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION
OFFICE
CURRENT APPROACH
TO DEBT COLLECTION
“All taxpayers have an obligation to lodge
and pay the right amount of tax, and most
taxpayers do this. However, the collectible
debt has increased over the last four years,
from A$26 billion in December 2019 to
around A$50 billion by December 2023.
“This is a 98 per cent increase in the
trend that we need to turn around. We shifted
our approach to addressing debt and payment
behaviour and as your client’s trusted advisers,
I think we need agents to continue to help shift
this positive payment culture.”
LISTEN
to the full
podcast episode
