Fuel tax credit rate

Changes made to the Fuel Tax Credit system (FTC) on 1 July have to potential to significantly impact FTC entitlements for many SMEs.

Businesses that have a fleet of more than one vehicle will need to familiarise themselves with the changes to avoid paying too much tax.

The biggest change is that fuel used in off-road activities, such as forklifts will become entitled to the full credit rate.  Before 1 July such vehicles only qualified for a half credit rate.

The other major change involves the taxation of gaseous fuels (LNG, LPG and CNG).  These fuels that are supplied for use in non-transport activities were previously not subjected to tax.  The carbon tax now applies to these fuels.  They will now only receive a partial exemption from tax on gaseous fuels.

Users of non-transport gaseous fuels may be able to recover some of the carbon tax placed on the fuel if their business is classified within an industry or use that is exempt from the clean energy measures.

The following table summarises the impact of the changes for the fuel tax credit update.

Financial planning for the festive season

In order to avoid the post festive credit card blues, planning and creating a budget well in advance will mean less debt stress in the New Year.

A few key things to remember:

1. Try making it an all-cash Christmas. It is surprising what a difference a few $20 or $50 notes tucked away here and there can make when it comes to buying Christmas presents.
2. Look through credit card statements to see how much is left to repay. While keeping this in mind, create a spending budget which also includes the potential interest, in order to be better prepared for the repayments.
3. Implement a few tried and tested money saving tips such as doing a secret Santa with a cap on the amount spent, and asking those coming to the Christmas party to bring in a plate of food.

It will also help to squeeze in a few extra repayments to the credit card bill, mortgage or loan before Christmas, so that there will be less to pay off in the New Year, even if the Christmas budget goes off track.

Attract customers with Christmas marketing tips

1. Offer an exact delivery date. This may appear difficult, but with some planning and organisation businesses can guarantee customers an all important delivery date- key to securing pre-Christmas sales.
2. Word emails well: According to the survey, the words “Christmas/New Year” and “sale” had the highest email opening rate, followed by “% off” and “Christmas/New Years”.
3. Consider gift idea campaigns. Not everyone will have the time leading up to Christmas to choose from a full catalogue. It may be a good idea to package and suggest a few key items that will allow customers to cross people off their Christmas wish list.

Implementing a few key strategies can work wonders in increasing Christmas sales and generating business interest in the all important festive season.

Federal Government passes Fair Work Amendment Bill

The Federal Government has finally passed the Fair Work Amendment bill, which includes both minor and major changes to industrial relations law.

Some of the key changes:

– Unfair Dismissal. The big issue for small businesses is that the new legislation has extended the unfair dismissal application to 21 days.

– Fair Work now has more power to strike down applications for award rate changes that have no reasonable prospects for success.

– There are some major changes to the role of unions, with Fair Work ruling that bargaining notices have to be more specific and that union officials can no longer be a bargaining representative for employees that do not belong to that union.

-There are also a few key changes to enterprise agreements, with clauses that allow employees to ‘opt out’ now prohibited. As well the act now bans anyone from making an enterprise agreement with just one employee.

Business Fraud

Last year business fraud over $100,000 hit the courts more than 61 times, totalling more than $131 million.

There are a few ways to minimise the potential of business fraud happening.

–       Start at the recruitment phase. Look for employment gaps in the potential employees history, do an internet search to see whether someone left under improper circumstances.

–       Notice different or anti-social behaviour of employees. Also look for circumstances changing, such as their partner losing their job or an illness in the family. These things happen to everyone, but it can cause a lot of stress and anxiety and may cause them to find risky solutions to their problems.

–       Check on the accounting systems in place. Avoid having all the business asset eggs in one basket. Separate responsibilities for those who record and those who have power to confirm any changes.

– Regularly review bank reconciliations to check for a growing discrepancy between accounting records and actual cash and be aware of who can authorise payments and change accounting records.

Preparing for the second half of the financial year

Businesses should start reviewing whether their accounting systems are keeping track of all revenue and expenses, together with any private use of business assets.

Planning ahead can save significant tax penalties, which start at 25 per cent of the unpaid tax to as high as 75 per cent.

There are a few key areas business owners should focus on.

–       Go through each employee and check whether contractors are actually employees, as the ATO has flagged this as an issue they will be cracking down on.

–       Look at whether any new business equipment needs to be bought in order to take advantage of the new $6,500 instant write off.

–       Review quarterly PAYG instalments. If profit is down considerably from last year businesses may wish to reduce their instalments.

–       Businesses may also wish to review personal loan agreements and trust deeds to make sure they comply with the law and that company distributions to owners are properly treated for tax purposes.

Facebook announces search engine

Facebook is urging businesses to increase their proficiency of the social networking site as it announces a new search engine, the Graph Search, which allows users to search their friends, pages and connections for data.

In order to take full advantage of this new update, businesses should make sure their Facebook page is up to date, has active content and contains useful information.

The move is being touted as one that could shake up Google’s ownership of the web search space- potentially completely changing the landscape for business advertising.

As well as being able to search friends and pages connected to them, users can also search through the entire Facebook ecosystem, gathering information from all pages and profiles to bring the results.

Australian economy moved slowly into 2013

The latest pair of indicators show that the economy moved slowly into the new year, with building approvals falling by 2 per cent for the third month in a row. The weakness of the building and other sectors showed itself in a slowing of job ads , which fell by one per cent on the internet and in newspapers. Although a standalone marginal figure, it was the tenth fall in a row, marking the lowest point of jobs advertised in three years. These economic figures point to a general consensus among some leading economists that the job unemployment rate will rise to 5.5 per cent from 5.4 per cent.

This is a still a relatively low unemployment figure but along with the high Australian dollar points to the economy making a slow start to 2013.

Submissions for 2013 tax reforms

The Tax Institute has put forward a number of suggestions to the Federal Government in its 2013 budget submission paper. Among the suggestions are reforms in state tax, calls for a new small business entity and tax deductions for childcare.

One of the key proposals is to make childcare costs fully tax deductible, as opposed to the current 30% rebate. The proposed scheme would encourage mothers to return to the workplace.

The Tax Institute also put forward an idea for a new class of small businesses, which would take the best structures of all small businesses, such as a company, or trust, and create a new classification known as a ‘small business entity’.

There were also suggestions to address “the low level and inflexibility of contributions caps” in regards to Superannuation, especially as media reports continue to suggest the Government will be targeting super funds for revenue.

Paid parental leave obligations

As of 1 July 2011, businesses which fail to fulfill the Federal Government’s new ‘paid parental leave’ obligations will receive penalties imposed by the Fair Work Ombudsmen.

Businesses should update their payroll systems to make sure they are fulfilling all relevant obligations. These include:

• Withholding tax from Parental Leave Pay under the usual PAYG withholding arrangements.
• Include Parental Leave Pay in the total amounts on their employee
  
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