NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2011

It's a girl
Congratulations to Nicky Burns on the birth of her third child. The newest member of the team is called Lana and she is a real cutie when she smiles! For those of you who have not met her yet, Nicky is a University of Qld Dean's Honour Roll graduate accountant who is currently on maternity leave. Nicky plans to return to work in the new year.

Where are we headed?
The economy is always subject to cycles. Particularly on the Sunshine Coast, long term residents all know of the famine or feast ups and downs of living and working on the Sunshine Coast. But not for three generations have we seen anything like the magnitude of the present cycle and the ramifications it is currently having world wide.
Will it get better? Certainly. When? That is the hard part.

Right now the Australian economy has been slowing, and at least locally, many of us have seen the value of our properties drop. Most recently the RBA held the interest rate steady, reflecting a reduction in the level of underlying inflation, where they had previously predicted it would stop falling and gradually begin to rise.

Many parts of our economy are booming but not all of the activity is generating work in all regions so workers are forced to follow the work. Our regional economy is said to thrive on Tourism and Construction. While these are both in the doldrums here, many of the skills acquired by locals are highly sought after. Some of the wages paid is spent back at home but there is little immediate local work for the army of tradespeople who are forced to travel to where the work is either by commuting or moving permanently.

In Tax News
Did you know that the cost of uniforms may now be counted towards the Education Tax Refund (ETR) in 2011-12 individual tax returns? Previously, the only expenses that were eligible for the ETR were for computer, stationery and textbook costs (see Items that are eligible education expenses). At the end of this financial year you will also be able to claim your uniform expenses, so start keeping receipts for all your school uniform purchases from 1 July 2011 onwards if you are eligible to claim the ETR. Uniforms are the only previously-ineligible expenses that have now been made eligible, though. See Expenses that are not eligible for an indicative list of expenses that you are still unable to claim, such as subject levies, excursion costs, sports equipment, membership fees, tutoring costs.

There is more news with the ETR, too. Recently, the ATO clarified that according to the legislation there is no requirement to only claim that part of your eligible expenses that was used for educational purposes. This means that if the expense is used even partly for educational purposes, then so long as the expense is ETR-eligible you may claim the entire cost.

Don't forget that in order to qualify to use the ETR you must be eligible to receive Family Tax Benefit A, although some exemptions apply where FTB A was stopped under certain conditions.
More information

• Directors may be liable for their company's Superannuation Guarantee amounts, as well as their PAYG amounts under current legislation;
• If these PAYG and super debts are unreported and unpaid for 3 months after the lodgement due date, directors become automatically personally liable for that debt and the ATO can then proceed to recover that debt from the director(s);

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Until our next contact
Good Health & Good Luck