We're back! And the reason being is that we have only 4 more days left (apparently) of Parliament sitting days, until the election. Exciting, nervous, lots of things in between, but it does have a tax implication too. What this means is that the $25,000 immediate asset write-off that was announced on 29th January will face an uphill battle to become legislation before parliament breaks. While Labor have supported this, I am unsure how much of a priority it will be. It is very much a watch this space and something we will continue to advise you as updates come to hand.

Tax Residency Reform

The incumbent Australia tax residency law, that has been unchanged since 1930 is being reviewed with the aim to modernise and simplify it. There have been several cases recently that have highlighted the absurdity of the old rules, and we can expect updates at some point in the future.

Updated Superannuation Rates

The ATO has published the key superannuation rates and thresholds for the 2019/20 year. Some of these rates and thresholds have been indexed in accordance with the average weekly ordinary time earnings figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The key superannuation rates and thresholds include the following: • concessional contributions cap — the concessional contributions cap is $25,000 for the 2019/20 year • non-concessional contributions cap — the non-concessional contributions cap is $100,000 for the 2019/20 year • CGT cap amount — the CGT cap amount for non-concessional contributions for 2019/20 is $1.515m • Division 293 tax — the Div 293 tax threshold amount for 2019/20 is $250,000 • superannuation guarantee — the maximum super contribution base for 2019/20 is $55,270 per quarter • superannuation co-contribution — the maximum superannuation co-contribution entitlement for the 2019/20 year remains at $500. The lower-income threshold increases to $38,564 and the higher-income threshold increases to $53,564 for the 2019/20 year • superannuation benefit caps — the low-rate cap amount for 2019/20 is $210,000. The untaxed plan cap amount for 2019/20 is $1.515m • general transfer balance cap — the general transfer balance cap for 2019/20 is $1.6m • defined benefit income cap — the defined benefit income cap for 2019/20 is $100,000 • employment termination payments (ETP) — the ETP cap amount for life benefit termination payments and death benefit termination payments for 2019/20 is $210,000, and • tax-free part of genuine redundancy payments and early retirement scheme payments — for genuine redundancy and early retirement scheme payments for 2019/20, the base limit is $10,638 and for each complete year of service is $5,320.

We hope you have found this beneficial, and as always, if you have any queries, or feedback, please do not hesitate to reach out to the team at [email protected]