Knowledge Shop Blog

May 2026 Round Up | Federal Budget measures, Division 7A and family trusts

Knowledge Shop Editor — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 01:09:46 GMT

On 12 May 2026 the Treasurer handed down the 2026-27 Federal Budget, which contains a number of significant measures that will change the tax landscape for a wide range of taxpayers. The Government has announced changes to the CGT discount, negative gearing, the taxation of trusts, the instant asset write-off, personal income tax, the FBT exemption for electric vehicles, the foreign resident CGT regime and more.

April 2026 Round Up | The proposed standard $1,000 deduction and fuel crisis relief

Knowledge Shop Editor — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:33:15 GMT

The Government has released an exposure draft Bill for the previously announced $1,000 standard deduction for work-related expenses, which is expected to apply from 1 July 2026 (if passed in its current form). However, there are flow-on impacts to other areas of the tax system, including FBT exemptions and the tax depreciation rules.

March 2026 Round Up | 31 March FBT Deadline & Div 296 developments: Are You Prepared?

Knowledge Shop Editor — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 03:53:49 GMT

As the 2026 FBT year comes to end, the ATO is focusing on employers that provide vehicles to employees. In particular, from 1 April 2025, PHEVs are no longer treated as zero or low emissions vehicles and therefore no longer qualify for the FBT exemption. For employers that provide plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), it is important to remember there is a new shortcut method available for calculating electricity costs set out in PCG 2024/2.

February 2026 Round Up | Small Business CGT concessions and running a business from home

Knowledge Shop Editor — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 03:18:26 GMT

This month the ATO has published details of its current small business focus areas, including things like poor compliance, cash income and payments, the property and construction industry, and private use of business assets.

January 2026 Round Up | Final ATO guidelines for PSI entities, key cases and Div 296 update

Knowledge Shop Editor — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 11:28:48 GMT

This month, we take a look at the ATO’s finalised practical compliance guidance on applying the general anti-avoidance rules in Part IVA to companies and trusts that pass the personal services income tests and the ATO’s compliance approach for the new Payday Super measures for the 2027 income year.

The recent Applebee decision looks at some common working from home deductions, especially post-COVID-19.

November 2025 Round Up | ATO's Strict New Approach To Holiday Homes

Knowledge Shop Editor — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 01:38:55 GMT

The ATO has issued a draft tax ruling and some practical compliance guidelines dealing with rental property income and deductions for individuals. As well as refreshing and modernising some existing guidance, the new materials suggest that the ATO is seeking to apply a specific integrity rule to prevent certain deductions from being claimed in connection with holiday homes, even if they are used to produce income. This will come as a surprise to many practitioners and their clients.

October 2025 Round Up | Major changes to the new Div 296 tax & Payday Super is closer to becoming a reality

Knowledge Shop Editor — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 03:20:36 GMT

This month brought significant developments on proposed superannuation changes.

September 2025 Round Up | ATO 2025-26 focus areas and a warning on the deadline for claiming GST credits

Knowledge Shop Editor — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 12:09:35 GMT

The ATO has announced its 2025-26 areas of focus for privately owned and wealthy groups. The ATO continues to focus on trusts and has raised a specific concern when it comes to applying the 45-day holding rule for franking credits in newly incorporated bucket companies.

August 2025 Round Up | Don’t Let Backdated Trust Resolutions Cost You

Knowledge Shop Editor — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 04:30:56 GMT

This month, the ATO reminds tax practitioners about some situations when they need to apportion interest deductions for rental properties. The ATO is also reminding taxpayers to be careful with the main residence exemption and ensure that CGT events are disclosed correctly in the tax return, even if an exemption is available.

July 2025 Round Up | GST on Cross-Border Transactions & CFC Disclosure Risks

Knowledge Shop Editor — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 23:42:27 GMT

In this month’s Tax Round-Up, we cover two key ATO focus areas.