Practice Update – October 2024

Lowe Lippmann Chartered Accountants

Avoid a tax time shock

Individual taxpayers can take the following steps right now to ensure the correct amount of tax is being put aside throughout the year:

let their employer know if they have a study or training support loan, such as a HECS or HELP debt;
check they are only claiming the tax-free threshold from one employer;
consider whether the Medicare Levy Surcharge may affect them this financial year (ie. whether they have the appropriate private health insurance);
check their income tier is correct for their private health insurance rebate; and
consider voluntarily entering PAYG instalments and pre-paying tax throughout the year to avoid a large tax bill at tax time for investment or business income.

If you would like to discuss or implement any of these steps and strategies in more detail, please feel free to contact our office.

Reminder of September Quarter Superannuation Guarantee (SG)

Employers are reminded that employee super contributions for the 1 July 2024 to 30 September 2024 quarter must be received by the relevant super funds by 28 October 2024 in order to avoid being liable to pay the SG charge.

myGovId changing its name to myID

The digital identity app 'myGovID' will soon be changing its name to 'myID'. While the name is changing, the login and security will not change.

Taxpayers who have already set up their myGovID and use it to access government online services will not need to do anything when the app changes to myID. They will still have:

the same details — there is no need to set up a new myID. Their login details (including email address) and identity strength remain the same;
continued use — once available their existing app should automatically update to myID or they can manually update it from the APP Store or Google Play; and
access to services — they can still use the app to securely access government online services.

The new name aims to reduce the confusion between myGovID and myGov.

ATO security safeguards for victims of fraud recently enhanced

Where a taxpayer has been the victim of identity, tax or super fraud, the ATO may apply security safeguards to their account to prevent further harm. This may require the impacted taxpayer to contact the ATO each time they need to access their information and cause inconvenience for the taxpayer as well as their tax agents.

The ATO has recently enhanced processes to improve ongoing access to ATO online services. Impacted taxpayers must contact the ATO for initial access and then set a Strong online access strength.

To set a Strong online access strength, taxpayers need to:

set up their myGovID to a Strong identity strength using their Australian passport;
connect their myGovID to their myGov account;
sign in to myGov with their myGovID; and
go to ATO online services.

Once set, taxpayers no longer need to contact the ATO every time they access their information.

Impacted taxpayers must continue to use their Strong myGovID whenever they access ATO online services, or account access will be restricted to maintain ongoing protection of client information.

As noted above, myGovID will soon be changing its name to myID.

Valuing fund assets for SMSFs

One of the many responsibilities SMSF trustees have every income year is valuing their fund's assets at market value.

The market value of an asset is the amount that a willing buyer and seller would agree to in an arm's-length transaction. These valuations will be used when preparing the fund's accounts, statements and SMSF annual return (SAR).

Asset valuations will be reviewed by an approved SMSF auditor as part of the annual audit prior to lodgment of the SAR. The auditor will check that assets have been valued correctly and assess and document whether the basis for the valuations is appropriate given the nature of the asset. The auditor is not responsible for valuing fund assets.

Taxpayers should ensure that they have their valuations done before going to the auditor.

It is the responsibility of the SMSF trustee to provide objective and supportable evidence to their auditor for the valuation of the fund's assets, including all relevant documents requested to prevent delays in auditing the fund. Failure to do so could result in a potential late lodgment of their annual return or a contravention if mistakes have been made.

SMSF trustees should start researching now to find what type of evidence they need to support the valuation as this can take time. For some asset types valuations must be undertaken by a qualified independent valuer.

ATO's notices of data-matching programs

The ATO will acquire officeholder data from ASIC and other bodies for the 2024 to 2027 income years, including name, address, date of birth, ABN, contact details, organisation details and officeholder details.

The ATO estimates that records relating to more than 11 million individuals will be obtained.

The ATO will acquire property management data from property management software companies for the 2019 to 2026 income years, including property owner identification details, property details, and property transaction details.

The ATO estimates that records relating to approximately 2.3 million individuals will be obtained each financial year.

The ATO will acquire lifestyle assets data from insurance providers for the 2024 to 2026 income years.

Insurance policy data will be collected for the following classes of assets, where the asset value is equal to or exceeds the nominated thresholds.

Asset class	Minimum asset value threshold
Caravans, motorhomes	$65,000
Motor vehicles	$65,000
Thoroughbred horses	$65,000
Fine art	$100,000 per item
Marine vessels	$100,000
Aircraft	$150,000

The data items include client identification details (names, addresses, contact details, dates of birth and ABN) and policy details (including total value insured, description and purchase price of the property insured).

The ATO estimates that the total number of policy records obtained will be approximately 650,000 to 800,000 each financial year, and that approximately 250,000 to 350,000 matched records will relate to individuals.

Please do not hesitate to contact your Lowe Lippmann Relationship Partner if you wish to discuss any of these matters further.

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Tax Alert - High Court decision and ATO statement on Bendel’s Case

July 7, 2026

High Court decision and ATO statement on Bendel’s Case The High Court recently handed down its decision in Bendel’s Case, confirming that an unpaid present entitlement (or UPE) between a discretionary trust and a beneficiary company does not fall within the extended definition of a “loan” for Division 7A purposes. The Australian Taxation Office released a Decision Impact Statement in response to the High Court findings, concluding the High Court's reasoning makes it clear that where a beneficiary company is entitled to a share of trust income that remains unpaid (a UPE) and the company takes no positive actions to call for payment of the entitlement, this will not fall within the expanded definition of a "loan" for Division 7A purposes. This is in contradiction to the ATO’s historical position that treated UPEs as "loans".

Practice Update – July 2026

July 5, 2026

Government's tax reform package The Government has recently legislated several of the tax reform measures announced in the 2026 Federal Budget (and in later media releases). These include, among other things: Replacing the CGT discount with cost base indexation and a 30% minimum tax on gains accruing from 1 July 2027 (including gains on pre-CGT assets); Increasing the small business turnover threshold for the 50% active asset reduction from $2 million to $10 million; Limiting negative gearing for residential property to new residential dwellings from 1 July 2027 (subject to transitional rules); and Introducing the Working Australians Tax Offset from 1 July 2027, and the $1,000 instant tax deduction for work-related expenses from 1 July 2026. After a round of consultation, the Government has also announced further proposed measures, broadly including (among others): A new targeted CGT discount for investors in innovative start-ups; Barring SMSFs from utilising future limited recourse borrowing arrangements ( LRBAs ) to acquire residential property; and Exempting income of discretionary testamentary trusts from the minimum tax proposed for trusts. We recently released a Tax Alert considering the legislation restricting SMSFFs using residential property LRBAs – to read click here . For full details of each of the 2026 Federal Budget announcements, please see our Federal Budget Tax Alert – to read click here .

Tax Alert - Legislation restricting SMSFs using residential property LRBAs has now passed Parliament

June 28, 2026

Legislation restricting SMSFs using residential property LRBAs has now passed Parliament The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No 1) Bill 2026 ( the Reform No 1 Bill ) was passed by Parliament on Thursday 25 June 2026. Schedule 5 of the Reform No 1 Bill amends section 67A of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 to restrict future limited recourse borrowing arrangements ( LRBAs ) on real property to investments in “business real property” (as defined in section 66 of the SIS Act). Residential property of any kind is excluded from the definition of “business real property” in section 66 of the SIS Act. We note this also excludes newly constructed residential property, which is a distinction at odds with recent exemptions being given to new-builds with other Budget Night tax changes relating to negative gearing and restricting the CGT 50% discount. Super funds are not generally allowed to borrow for investments, but there has been a concession allowing a self-managed super fund ( SMSF ) to borrow money to buy single assets like property, if their loans were set up in line with particular requirements, known as LRBAs. This change means an SMSF will not be able to borrow to buy residential property after the start date of these changes.