What's New for Tax Law and Policy

What’s New on Ring-A-Refund

Working as a contractor

Contractors have different tax and super obligations to employees.

As a contractor, you’re running your own business. You need an ABN, and you need to pay tax and super. You’re not entitled to paid leave if you get sick or injured. You may have to pay the cost to fix anything you damage in the course of your work. You may also have to pay the costs incurred by someone else if you cause an accident on someone else’s property.

You can be an individual (sole trader), or working in your own company, partnership, or trust. You might even call yourself an independent contractor, sub-contractor or a ‘subbie’.

It’s essential to find out what your tax and superannuation obligations will be as a contractor. Knowing these obligations from the start can save you time, money and stress later on.

Next steps:

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Gifts & Fundraising

Claiming Tax Deductions

If you have donated to an NFP you may be able to claim a tax deduction.

The following information will help you determine: if you can claim, how much you can claim, when you can claim, what records you will need to keep and what other income tax matters apply.

Find out about:

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International tax for individuals

Australian residents are generally taxed on their worldwide income from all sources. Temporary residents of Australia and foreign residents are generally taxed only on their Australian-sourced income, such as money they earn working in Australia.

To understand your tax situation you first need to work out if you are an Australian or foreign resident for tax purposes. This may be different to your residency status for other purposes – for example, you could be an Australian resident for tax purposes even if you’re not an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

Next step:

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Business Activity Statements (BAS)

If you are a business registered for GST you need to lodge a business activity statement (BAS).

Your BAS will help you report and pay your:

  • goods and services tax (GST)
  • pay as you go (PAYG) instalments
  • PAYG withholding tax
  • other taxes.

When you register for an Australian business number (ABN) and GST we will automatically send you a BAS when it is time to lodge.

Your BAS is broken up into sections, called ‘labels’, and you need to fill out different labels depending on how you choose to report and pay.

Find out about:

 

Starting your own business

 

Common issues encountered with Log Book claims:

  • A log book has not been kept, or has not been kept correctly. You must have a log book to use the log book method, even if your business use was 100%, or your business use was a fixed pattern.
  • Your usage of the vehicle has changed significantly since the log book was kept. As a general rule, a change in the business or private usage of the vehicle that results in the distance the car travels per week changing by more than 10% is considered a significant change.
  • The number of cars you used for work changed, or you used multiple vehicles for work and did not keep concurrent log books. 
  • The opening and closing odometer readings for the period during the financial year the car was used for work have not been kept. 
  • The use of the car, both private and for work, during the 12 week log book period is not representative of the use of the car throughout the year. A log book may have to be kept for longer than 12 weeks if there is no regular pattern of use of the car.

 

Would you like to be more organised for your tax appointment this financial year? Here’s a checklist to help you out.

Download (PDF, 20KB)

If your employer doesn’t offer salary sacrifice or you want more flexibility, you can now claim a tax deduction on your personal super.

Download (PDF, 1.23MB)

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