Sick Leave for (Some) Casual Staff
Unexpectedly, on Monday the 14th of March 2022 the Victorian State Government announced a 2 year trial of paid sick leave for (some) casual employees and the self-employed. Essentially, eligible workers will receive 5 days (38 hours) of paid sick and carers leave in a 12 month period, funded by the taxpayer.
Largely unpublished , is that self-employed people can also be eligible, and we’d like to highlight they they can be eligible under this program.
ATO Crackdown on Trusts
If you are involved in a discretionary trust (commonly known as a family trust), then you need to know that the ATO are on the warpath. Where your trust is used to shift income to family members on lower tax brackets – you might be in for a nasty surprise soon.
The ATO is seeking to essentially tax trust distributions given to family members that do not actually receive that money, at the top tax rate.
Hiring Employees Checklist
Don’t start off on the wrong foot when hiring employees. Getting it wrong costs money and can cause some very unpleasant outcomes in the future.
Our advice. Do your research and get advice. A couple of hundred dollars now can save you tens of thousands later.
Bank Account Scams
Be wary of any change to bank accounts via email, and unless you are happy paying an invoice twice you should always confirm a bank account change via a known phone number (and not the phone number stated on the email, because if the email is dodgy, you can bet the phone number in the dodgy email is also dodgy).
Is It Time To Update Your Superannuation Deed?
Your Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) must obey the laws of the land as well as the rules within its own deed. If the two conflict, the most restrictive applies which can prevent you from taking advantage of tax rules (among other things).
Director ID Numbers – Why, When, and How
Every company Director will be required to obtain a Director ID number with registrations opening from 1 November 2021. Existing Directors will have 13 months to get their Director ID – and while that is a fair way away, we would recommend not putting it off because the penalties for not getting it are steep.