Gavin Ma & Co Accountants

Gavin Ma & Co Accountants Welcome to Gavin Ma & Co Accountants - Certified Practising Accountants

04/06/2026

The cents per kilometre rate for work-related car expense deductions is 91 cents per kilometre for the 2026–27 income year.

24/04/2026

Home office rent and expense not deductible – ATO wins appeal

The ATO has successfully appealed to the Full Federal Court against a decision allowing a taxpayer who was required to work partly from home because of Covid restrictions deductions for a portion of his rent and car expenses:

Rent - the Court concluded that the essential character of the rent was an outgoing paid to "secure and maintain residential premises as a home".

Car expenses - the Court said the taxpayer ceased income producing activities when he stopped performing work at home and commenced different income producing activities upon starting work at the Southbank Studios. Similarly, the return journey was travelling home after income producing activities had ceased. Accordingly, the taxpayer was not performing either his digital role or his live role, or any aspect of his employment, while driving. (FCT v Hall [2026] FCAFC 43, Full Fed Ct, Thawley, McElwaine and Wheatley JJ.)

24/04/2026

Treasury has released the draft legislation and explanatory materials to introduce the $1,000 instant tax deduction for Australian tax residents who earn income from work, starting 1 July 2026 for consultation.

18/03/2026

The Treasurer has advised that the governments of Australia and Canada will prioritise the modernisation of the two countries DTA to support investment, including for Australia's super and pension funds.

12/03/2026

SBSCH users must download their records before 30 June

05/03/2026

Tax Ombudsman reviews GIC

The Tax Ombudsman conducted a review into the ATO’s decision making in relation to the GIC on tax debts. CPA’s submission on this is here.

The TO’s review found the ATO’s inconsistent decision-making, vague guidance and poor communication were leading to confusion and unfair outcomes for taxpayers.

The TO made four recommendations including the ATO agree an up-front interest-free payment plan for eligible taxpayers.

05/03/2026

ATO private wealth priorities for 2026

Private Wealth Deputy Commissioner Louise Clarke has discussed recent developments in the private wealth space and priorities for 2026.

Main points include:

The ATO is expected to publish a practical compliance guideline on back-to-back rollovers.
Continued focus on compliance with Division 7A, including complying loan agreements, making minimum yearly repayments and the correct benchmark interest rate. Focus will be expanded into arrangements aimed at circumventing Division 7A.
Focus will also continue for Family trust elections and compliance with the 45-day holding rule.

05/03/2026

Payday superannuation regulations published

The government has published the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Regulations 2026, which support the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Act 2025 by introducing mechanisms to reduce administrative penalties and streamline superannuation contribution processing. The release establishes a framework that incentivises employer compliance while ensuring faster processing of superannuation contributions for Australian workers.

The government also announced it will introduce technical amendments to ensure individuals do not exceed their concessional contributions cap in 2026-27 from their SG contributions as a result of the transition from the quarterly superannuation guarantee system to the new Payday Super system.

26/02/2026

MTAS Tax Time 2027 (TT27) changes

The following changes will be deployed for TT27:

Label changes to the trust tax return to improve data quality (slides 11 and 12 of the attachment):

New labels to capture the details of the specified individual for FTEs and IEEs

Notice of Assessment beneficiary reference for trustee assessments
Unpaid Present Entitlement labels

Rateable reduction labels for franked distributions and capital gains
Share of net financial benefit from capital gain

Expanded non-resident beneficiary labels (interest, unfranked dividends, royalties and the total tax withheld).

Proposed ATO data validations:
Type of trust, trustee name, FTE status and FTE specified individual details checked against previous return

FTE specified individual details missing despite existing FTE record
Current year losses deducted checked against losses carried forward on previous return

Managed Investment Trust status checked against trust type
Share of income must equal trust estate income where there is a net income

Removal of systems limitations enabling online lodgment for trusts with more than 200 beneficiaries.

Development and deployment of:
pre-fill services and nudge messaging for non-individual taxpayers
an online simplified trust tax return via Online Services for Business.

26/02/2026

Taxpayer fails to substantiate work-related deductions

The ART affirmed assessments disallowing work-related deductions where the taxpayer failed to provide accurate, reliable and contemporaneous records to substantiate his claims, concluding:

work-related car expenses - although there was the necessary nexus to Mr A's income-earning activities, logbooks did not comply with legislative requirements under Div 28 of the ITAA 1997. They contained errors as well as inconsistencies with objective records such as service records

work-related travel expenses - there was no evidence of which expenses had been reimbursed by Mr A's employer
other work-related expenses - utility expenses were unsubstantiated and there was insufficient evidence to apportion mobile phone and internet expenses between work and private use.


The ART also rejected a claim for Iranian language classes. (Afshari and FCT [2026] ARTA 159, ART, Smith GM, 8 February 2026.)

Address

269 Centre Road
Bentleigh, VIC
3204

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm

Telephone

+61375573138

Website

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