Sweeney Accounting

26/05/2026

Paying too much tax? Just form a company and make use of the 25% company tax rate, right?

Maybe not!

Incorporating your business comes with some complexity. Some things to consider include:

*Personal Services Income (income generated mainly from your personal skills or efforts) attracts particular tax treatment

*Division 7A of Part III of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 prevents business owners from taking money or assets from their private company for personal use tax-free

*Fringe Benefits Tax can apply to non-salary benefits to company directors

*There are ASIC fees and ongoing compliance to establish and maintain a company registration

If you think your business structure needs reviewing, please contact us.

[email protected]
(08) 7081 6361

13/05/2026

Well, we were promised some far-reaching tax changes in this year’s budget, and the government didn’t disappoint, with possibly the most significant impact on the tax system since the introduction of the GST.

Key points to highlight:

Tax Changes for Workers

• A new $250 annual tax offset will come into effect from the 2027-2028 year and a $1,000 instant deduction for work related expenses will be introduced from next financial year.

Capital Gains and Negative Gearing

• From 1 July 2027, negative gearing for residential property will be limited to new builds. Current properties will not be impacted by these changes.

• The 50% Capital Gains Tax Discount (where currently only half the gain made on an asset you have held for more than 12 months is taxable), will be replaced from 1 July 2027 by an indexation method (where the effect of inflation is removed from the gain with the balance being taxable). Investors in new residential properties will be able to choose between the 50% discount and indexation methods.

• Capital Gains will also have a minimum tax rate of 30% applied from 1 July 2027.

Small Business

• The $20,000 instant asset write-off for businesses with turnover less than $10 million will be made permanent.

Trusts

• From 1 July 2028, a 30% minimum tax rate on discretionary trusts will be introduced.

• As these changes may trigger the need to restructure into companies or other types of trusts, temporary rollover relief will be available from 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2030.

These changes still need to pass parliament, so we’ll wait for confirmation and further detail on the transition arrangements but if you have any questions in the meantime, please contact us.

[email protected]
(08) 7081 6361

04/05/2026

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) app has a range of features to support taxpayers, including a new call verification feature that can help to stop scam calls. If you receive a call claiming to be from the ATO, you can log into the app to receive a live notification if the call is genuine.

As tax time often comes with an increase in scam calls, messages and emails, this call verification functionality can help to protect against some scammers.

If you do receive a communication claiming to be from the ATO that you’re unsure about, it can help to remember that the ATO will never send a link asking you to log in or provide personal information.

If you’re not sure if you have a tax debt payable, you can log into ATO online services or contact the ATO. If you are a client of ours, we can also check your ATO accounts.

There is more information about the ATO app call verification feature on the Australian Taxation Office website here:
https://www.ato.gov.au/media-centre/ato-launches-new-app-feature-to-stop-scam-calls

27/04/2026

Starting a process improvement journey can be daunting, as completely overhauling systems and processes can be a gargantuan task.

However, a full scale system and process change is often not required to get immediate benefits. Streamlining an existing process to remove/reduce handoffs, or using an existing system to its full potential can yield great results and involve less time and effort.

If your finance systems and processes are holding you back, get in touch.

[email protected]
(08) 7081 6361

17/04/2026

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has released information on a range of temporary measures designed to help businesses and individuals affected by rising fuel costs.

These measures include:
• Reduction of the fuel excise by 32 cents for 3 months
• Reduction in the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero for 3 months and deferral of the next scheduled increase by 6 months
• Access to the ATO fuel response payment plan for affected businesses.

The ATO fuel response payment plan includes no upfront payment, a 3 year payment plan period, and remission of the general interest charge (GIC) accrued between application and the third monthly instalment. It is available to apply for until 30 June 2026.

To access the ATO fuel response payment plan, you must be an ABN holder and meet conditions including that you are unable to pay a new or existing tax debt due to the high fuel prices (separate from a general downturn in business or ordinary cashflow issues).

If your business does not qualify for the ATO fuel response payment plan, there are other pre-existing options that can help you to manage your tax obligations.

There is further information available on the Australian Taxation Office website: https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/financial-difficulties-and-disasters/tax-support-for-individuals-businesses-not-for-profits-and-tax-professionals/ato-fuel-response

Please contact us if you think your business may be eligible for the fuel response payment plan and you would like assistance with the application.

[email protected]
(08) 7081 6361

09/04/2026

Thanks to North West Business Alliance for this opportunity to engage with a likeminded group of small business owners!

29/03/2026

With Easter and Anzac day coming up, April is a busy month for public holidays! Whether your business is open on a public holiday or not, here are a few things to remember:

• Public Holidays vary across Australia. If a public holiday like Anzac Day falls on a weekend, some states and territories provide an extra day off. Easter Saturday and Sunday are also public holidays in some states and territories.

• Employees have the right to not work on a public holiday so rosters may need to be adjusted to take this into consideration.

• If an employee doesn’t work on a public holiday, they should be paid for the hours they would usually work on that day (except for casuals).

• If an employee does work on a public holiday, additional entitlements such as penalty rates may apply.

The award or agreement relating to your employees can provide further information on public holiday entitlements.

You can also contact us on the below details if you have any questions or see the Public Holidays section of The Fairwork Ombudsman site.

[email protected]
(08) 7081 6361

Easter is somehow just around the corner, which means lots of egg and bunny shaped chocolate, a long weekend… and public holidays!

Public holidays can be different depending on the state or territory you work in. To help with that, here’s a handy table 🐰

(p.s. you have the right to be away from work on a public holiday, AND to refuse an unreasonable request to work on one 😉)

20/03/2026

Holiday home owners who occasionally use the property for their personal use should be aware of Draft Taxation Ruling TR/2025/D1 which clarifies the ATO position on the claiming of a tax deduction for property expenses. The ATO is relying on a “leisure facilities” definition to deny deductions for holiday homes which are only partly used to produce income.

A holiday home will be considered a leisure facility where private use of the property is prioritised over income generation – such as family use of the property during holidays (Christmas/Easter/School Holidays) or peak potential income periods. In this case (a specific example in the ruling), the ATO advises that the rent from the holiday home must be included on your tax return, but no deduction will be allowed for expenses relating to the ownership of the house (including such things as mortgage interest, council rates, maintenance costs outside rental periods and land tax).

To ensure your holiday home expenses remain tax deductible, property owners should ensure they:

• Keep good records of any personal use which will allow for apportionment of costs between rental and private use
• Advertise the property with realistic market rates and show that all attempts are made to maximise rental income
• Ensure that the property is available for rent during peak and holiday periods
• Confirm that rental income production always takes precedence over private use.

12/03/2026

Xero have just released employee self-onboarding in Xero Payroll! 🎉 This is good news for employers as it will reduce the administration involved in gathering the personal, tax and super information needed to set up a new employee.

This is a brand new release, if you use it please let us know how it goes as well as any improvements that could be made and we can feed the information back to Xero.

You can read more about the self-onboarding feature here:
https://central.xero.com/s/article/Employee-self-onboarding

03/03/2026

We love getting out and about to visit clients and generally it's over a coffee.

At a recent planning session with a client at Crave Specialty Coffee Croydon, we noticed this sign on the wall – which pretty much summed up the conversation. If you know where you are going, you know when you are on the right track.

If you would like to catch up (over a coffee or not!) and discuss your strategic plans and budgets, please contact us.

[email protected]
(08) 7081 6361