Latest news - Forvis Mazars

NSW Land Owners – Act now to avoid penalties

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NSW Landholders have two weeks to address any possible land tax exposures they may have in order to avoid penalties.

Now is the time to make sure you are paying your employees correctly

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2019 was full of high-profile cases where big and small businesses had failed to pay their employees correctly. Although the phrase wage theft was bandied around with abandon, in our experience it is very rare for employers to deliberately underpay their employees. However, what these high-profile cases demonstrate is that understanding Industrial Awards and applying them to complex working hours arrangements is not easy and mistakes can easily be made.

ATO debts may affect your credit rating

Businesses with tax debts need to be aware that the ATO will now be able to disclose the details of their tax debts to credit ratings agencies, which could potentially affect the ability of the business to obtain finance or refinance existing debt.

What you need to know when migrating to Australia

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This information is designed to provide an overview of some of the issues that should be considered when transferring wealth into Australia or migrating from overseas including; Tax Residency, Withholding Tax, Tax File Number and more.

Main residence exemption for foreign residents: A big tax change for Australians who move overseas

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Significant changes to the Capital Gains Tax Main Residence exemption affecting foreign tax residents (including Australian citizen ex-pats) passed Parliament in December 2019. As a result, Australians who move overseas and decide to keep their home in Australia may have to pay Capital Gains Tax if they sell whilst they are a foreign resident. Taxable gains will be calculated based on the original cost of the property and across the whole period of ownership, even if the owner had lived in the property for a number of years previously.

Take action NOW to prevent NSW Land Tax Surcharge and Purchaser Duty Surcharge

All NSW Residential Land owning Discretionary Trusts and other entities need to take action by 31 December 2019.
A discretionary trust which owns ‘residential land’ in New South Wales either directly or via an ownership interest in a company or unit trust may trigger land tax and purchaser duty surcharges. Varying discretionary trust deeds by 31 December 2019 may enable trustees to escape the tax and duty surcharges otherwise applying back to 2016.

Small business CGT concessions: when do I qualify?

The small business CGT concessions are a great way for small business owners to transfer wealth into super. There are two essential requirements you must first meet in order to access any of the concessions.

Deadline of 1 January looming for businesses to introduce whistleblower policy

All public companies, large proprietary companies and corporate trustees of APRA regulated superannuation entities must have a whistleblower policy from 1 January 2020.

Concessional Loans for Agribusiness affected by drought

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The Australian Government has announced a Drought Assistance package with the aim of strengthening primary production sectors and supporting rural communities.

If ASX listed companies like Woolworths have underpaid their staff – are you sure you haven’t too?

Underpayment of wages revelations are coming thick and fast from the most unlikely sources - the big employers. Woolworths, Wesfarmers, Qantas, Commonwealth Bank, Super Retail Group and Michael Hill Jewellers to name a few.
How can this be happening in the technologically savvy world of 2019? There is no one reason why underpayments occur. In our experience the below are the main risk areas for employers, regardless of business size.