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Aged care planning and the 'sandwich' generation Too many things to do ... pulled in many directions ... and never enough time Setting the scene Jean is in her early 60’s working hard in a busy professional career and has retirement on her mind. But that’s not all that was on her mind ... Jean’s husband is about the same age and thinking of retirement as well. They have two young adult children who have just started their working lives and both are still cozied up in the family home with no departure date in sight. In her “spare time” Jean does most of the jobs around the house and generally keeps her household together. Jean’s Mum is in her mid-80s and lives in her own home across town. Sadly, Jean’s Dad suddenly passed away a few years back. Jean visits her Mum regularly and she is starting to get concerned about how her Mum is managing alone at home. Jean has a brother and a sister who aren’t living close by and therefore don’t visit their Mum anywhere near as often as Jean does, instead relying on news from Jean about how Mum is going. Sound familiar? This scenario plays out in many households across Australia. Welcome to the “sandwich (or “caught in the middle”) generation” ... where your “daily balancing act” is to look after your own children and your parents ... oh and don’t forget about looking after yourself along the way. The job is often highly time-consuming, emotionally straining and stressful. What typically happens As much as Jean has tried to talk to her Mum about getting some “extra” help, the discussion often starts and ends with words spoken such as “I don’t want to talk about it”, “I’m fine”, “it’s not me yet”, “you’re so busy and I didn’t want to bother you” to name a few. Have you heard this before? Exasperated, Jean (literally) struggles on. And often the struggle continues until there is some form of crisis. Then things have to happen ... and seemingly fast. It’s best to talk ... but that’s often not easy How does Jean get everyone on board to sit down and have a meaningful conversation? There are many articles written about asking parents what they need or want both now and into the future. Sometimes these strategies work ... and sometimes they go nowhere. Getting everyone around the dinner table who needs to be there and talking about things often produces great outcomes. Putting a written plan together about what’s important and who does what and when is a big contributing success factor. But, many Australians don’t want to do this ... and even fewer actually do it (until a crisis occurs of course). Logistically, actually doing something like this often proves difficult. If Jean could only do one thing right now ... what would it be? Do this ... Jean’s Mum had always been in-charge of her family finances – from when she was married until now. She kept great records of everything (and that means “everything” without throwing “anything” away). However, in recent times, Jean had noticed things weren’t being kept as organised by her Mum – she would often see documents sitting on the dinner table and around the house and found boxes (and boxes ... and boxes) of all types of paperwork stored in cupboards and drawers. Of all the conversations that families can and should have, finances are never the easiest. So, Jean went out and purchased (for only a few dollars) an A4 plastic hardcover folder with plastic inserts and gave it to her Mum. She suggested that Mum keep all her latest statements, such as cash and term deposit accounts, superannuation and age pension, shareholdings, house and content insurance, rates, telephone and electricity bills; even copies of her latest legal documents such as her Will, Enduring Power of Attorney, etc in the folder. If one of these statements arrives – Mum simply had to take out the previous statement and replace it with the new statement. Mum could store or file the old statement wherever she wanted to. Mum then simply had to put the folder in a place where she knew to find it and let Jean know where that was as well ... just in case. Periodically, when Jean visited her Mum, she would ask where the folder was and how was it going. She would then have a look through it “over a cuppa” to make sure things were being kept and stored properly and update it with her Mum if needed. No deep and meaningful discussions about money and finances ... Jean just knew where the folder was if she needed to find it and it was a great starting point for her if she ever needed to step in and stand up to run her Mum’s financial affairs. There would never be any time-consuming, and stressful, “search” through Mum’s home for these important documents. The folder also served as a useful “conversation starter” about how things were going for her Mum and what she might want now, or need in the future. And this conversation led to the next conversation and the next conversation ... in a relaxed and casual environment. How Family Aged Care Advocates fit in That’s where Family Aged Care Advocates can step in, with guidance and support to help families identify the relevant options to help you make informed decisions to get the best care outcomes for the people you love and care for most. FACA are independent aged care specialists only interested in the right outcomes for Jean and her Mum, and your family. Sidenote Among the many jobs that Jean had in her busy life as a professional career woman, wife, Mum, peace-keeper and carer, she was also the “chief finance officer and record keeper” at her own home. She must have missed the family meeting for that job nomination as well. Jean was so impressed with the idea for her Mum that she also implemented the same “folder” system in her own household and told her husband and children where to find the folder if she wasn’t around (just in case for whatever reason).

One of the biggest complaints from salespeople in a tight economy is the time it takes to achieve a sale. So, what can you do to speed up the sales process? Sell the solution, not the product Branding is wonderful but unless your brand is as mighty as Coca-Cola, it’s unlikely people will purchase what you have based on brand alone. It’s more important than ever to have clarity about why your product or service is valuable to your audience and why they should be buying it from you. The point is to understand what the most meaningful message is for your customer and that is unlikely to be a product feature list. Sell the savings Does your product offer your customer any efficiency gain or benefit beyond value over time? Can you justify it with real examples such as testimonials and worked examples? If it does, you need to ensure that you articulate this message. If there is a benefit, ensure you highlight it and emphasise the result. Try and stay away from long-range forecasts. If it is going to take a few years to see the real value then this is not a compelling selling point in the current market. You are only as strong as the weakest link in your sales process If your first point of contact is the weakest link in your sales chain, then you need to fix it. Help your team identify and capitalise on opportunities by giving them the training and structure they need. Value-added discounts Discounting is a common strategy to increase sales but it comes at the cost of your margin. If you are going to discount, do it strategically. For example, when David Jones wanted to build the number of customers holding a David Jones AMEX, they offered a limited-time 30% discount storewide to everyone who either held or applied for the card on the spot. And, staff were trained to encourage the adoption of the AMEX at the checkout. Yes, it was a big discount, but it created an event for existing store card holders and ramped up acquisition to the store card program. The added benefit is that loyalty programs work; the probability of selling to an existing customer is around 14 times higher than a new customer. In tough economic times, it’s common for the volume of products purchased by customers to go down. You can overcome some of this reticence by packaging items together and encouraging sales volume by offering a discount on the second item or on bundles. If you are going to package, ensure you are not packaging low-margin products and then discounting them. Packaging works best when you package products with higher profit margins or when you boost the sales volume of slow-moving stock by combining it with faster selling stock. How to contact us We’re available to assist you with tax planning including tax deductions. Contact Collins Hume Accountants & Business Advisers in Ballina or Byron Bay on 02 6686 3000.

Partner spotlight on Jamie Doyle Jamie Doyle is Collins Hume’s small business specialist working with established businesses and start-ups, streamlining their setups, structuring and software so they can realise their full potential. The key to small business success is ensuring that the right processes are in place and continue to be kept in check. Anyone in a business can have a great idea and seeing a great idea seized upon and implemented, big or small, will fire up even the most timid of us. Jamie is all about setting entrepreneurs on the right path from the outset. Using cloud accounting data Jamie is also able to assist business owners on a deeper level with Virtual Chief Financial Officer (VCFO) reporting and insight to enhance business performance. For both start-up and established enterprises, Jamie is on hand as a cloud specialist with a breadth of knowledge spanning Australia’s major accounting software solutions and the add-ons specific to each industry. He is behind some remarkable business efficiency projects where business owners have experienced better efficiency, fewer errors and faster payment times thanks to Jamie transitioning their accounting to the cloud. More and more we're seeing successful businesses tapping into Collins Hume’s strategic business advice and reporting to take advantage of having a financial mentor on tap to help them make important decisions. A common trait of successful business people is that they look to specialists for help. Collins Hume Partner, Jamie Doyle CPA, holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) and is a Registered Tax Agent, Xero Certified Advisor and Law Society of NSW External Examiner.

A reminder of what changed on 1 July 2022 Business Superannuation guarantee increased to 10.5% $450 super guarantee threshold removed for employees aged 18 and over Small business GST and PAYG tax instalments lowered (the total tax liability remains the same, just the amount the business needs to pay through the year is lowered) ATO guidance on how profits of professional firms are structured comes into effect introducing new risk criteria New guidance on unpaid trust distributions to corporate beneficiaries comes into effect that may treat some unpaid distributions as loans and trigger tax consequences Individuals Superannuation guarantee increased to 10.5% Work-test repealed for those under 75 to make or receive non-concessional or salary sacrifice super contributions (the work test still applies to personal deductible contributions) Age for downsizer super contributions reduced to 60 years and older Value of voluntary super contributions that can be withdrawn under the First Home Saver Scheme increased to a total of $50,000 New ATO guidelines on trust distributions come into effect primarily impacting distributions to adult children Home loan guarantee scheme extended to 35,000 per year for first home buyers and 5,000 per year for single parents Australia’s minimum wage increased How to contact us We’re available to assist you with tax planning including tax deductions. Contact Collins Hume Accountants & Business Advisers in Ballina or Byron Bay on 02 6686 3000. Read more tax planning topics here »

Collins Hume Accountants & Business Advisers, one of the Northern Rivers’ preeminent and proactive accounting firms specialising in small and medium business strategy, conducted four Recover. Rediscover. Reimagine. business workshops last month to sold out sessions! Designed to support local business owners during what has been a very challenging time in the region, each workshop inspired business owners to achieve business and lifestyle success in powerful and meaningful ways. All ticket proceeds were donated to those affected by floods via Collins Hume’s global giving partner, B1G1.com. Workshop presenter Peter Fowler said, “It was great to see so many business owners attend and learn how to improve their businesses after a few tough years.” Talking about business and life purpose, resiliency and innovation, both Collins Hume clients and members of the general public were invited to attend. “With 100% of ticket sales going to Northern Rivers flood victims, we were fortunate to be able to raise nearly $3,000 in flood support to help our local community.” Each Recover. Rediscover. Reimagine. workshop encouraged attendees to think about their businesses and get inspired about being practical, reinvigorate as part of a vibrant supportive community and kickstart with a positive mindset. If you missed the Recover. Rediscover. Reimagine. workshops but would like to talk to Collins Hume on how we can assist to improve your business and lifestyle, contact us in Ballina or Byron Bay today on 02 6686 3000. Chris' workshop sessions Peter's workshop sessions

Tax time targets For landlords, the focus is on ensuring that all income received, whether long-term, short-term, rental bonds, back payments, or insurance pay-outs, are recognised in your tax return. If your rental property is outside of Australia, and you are an Australian resident for tax purposes, you must recognise the rental income you received in your tax return (excluding any tax you have paid overseas), unless you are classified as a temporary resident for tax purposes. You can claim expenses related to the property, although there are some special rules that need to be considered when it comes to interest deductions. For example, if you have borrowed money from an overseas lender you might be subject to withholding tax obligations. Co-owned properties For tax purposes, rental income and expenses need to be recognised in line with the legal ownership of the property, except in very limited circumstances where it can be shown that the equitable interest in the property is different from the legal title. The ATO will assume that where the taxpayers are related, the equitable right is the same as the legal title (unless there is evidence to suggest otherwise such as a deed of trust etc.,). This means that if you hold a 25% legal interest in a property then you should recognise 25% of the rental income and rental expenses in your tax returns even if you pay most or all of the rental property expenses (the ATO would treat this as a private arrangement between the owners). The main exception is where the parties have separately borrowed money to acquire their interest in the property, then they would claim their own interest deductions. The ATO has flagged four priority areas this tax season where people are making mistakes. With tax season upon us the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has revealed its four areas of focus this tax season. Record-keeping Work-related expenses Rental property income and deductions, and Capital gains from crypto assets, property, and shares. In general, there are three ‘golden rules’ when claiming tax deductions: You must have spent the money and not been reimbursed. If the expense is for a mix of work-related (income producing) and private use, you can only claim the portion that relates to how you earn your income. You need to have a record to prove it. How to contact us We’re available to assist you with tax planning including tax deductions. Contact Collins Hume Accountants & Business Advisers in Ballina or Byron Bay on 02 6686 3000. Read more tax planning topics here »

Tax time targets To claim a deduction, you need to have incurred the expense yourself and not been reimbursed by your employer or business, and the expense needs to be directly related to your work. What expenses are related to work? You can claim a deduction for all losses and outgoings “to the extent to which they are incurred in gaining or producing assessable income except where the outgoings are of a capital, private or domestic nature, or relate to the earning of exempt income.” That is, there must be a nexus between the expenses you are claiming and how you earn your income. It all sounds simple enough until you start applying this rule. Take the example of an actor. To land the acting job she needs to attend auditions. She wants to claim the cost of having her hair and make-up done for the audition. But, because she is not generating income at the stage of the audition, she cannot claim her expenses. The expense must be related to how you are currently earning your income, not future potential income. The same issue applies to upskilling. If you attend investment seminars with the intention of building your investment portfolio the seminar is not deductible as a self-education expense unless it relates to managing your existing investment portfolio — not a future one. Or, a nurse’s aide who attends university to qualify as a nurse. The university degree and the expenses associated with this are not deductible as the nursing degree is not required to fulfil the role of a nurse’s aide. The second area of confusion is over what can be claimed for work. If the item is “conventional” it’s unlikely to be deductible. For example, you can't claim conventional clothing (including footwear) as a work-related expense, even if your employer requires you to wear it and you only wear the items of clothing at work. To be deductible clothing must be protective, occupation-specific such as a chef’s chequered pants, a compulsory uniform or a registered non-compulsory uniform. Work-related or private? Another area of confusion is where expenses are incurred for work purposes but used privately. Internet access or mobile phone services are typical. A lot of people take the view that the expense had to be incurred for work so what does it matter if it’s used for private purposes? But, if you use the service on more than an ad-hoc basis for any purpose other than work, then the expense needs to be apportioned and only the work-related percentage claimed as a deduction. And yes, the ATO does check usage in an audit. Claims for COVID-19 tests will be a test of this rule. COVID-19 tests are deductible from 1 July 2021 if the purpose was to determine whether you may attend or remain at work. The tax deduction does not apply if you worked from home and didn’t intend to attend your workplace, or the test was used for private purposes (for example, to tests the kids before school). Claiming work from home expenses Last financial year, one in three Australians claimed working from home expenses. Now we’re out of the pandemic, the ATO will be focussing specifically on what is being claimed. If you claimed work from home expenses last year and returned to the office this year, then there should be a reduction in your work from home claim. The ATO will be looking for discrepancies. If you are claiming your expenses, there are three methods you can use: The ATO’s simplified 80 cents per hour short-cut method – you can claim 80 cents for every hour you worked from home from 1 March 2020 to 30 June 2022. You will need to have evidence of hours worked like a timesheet or diary. The rate covers all of your expenses and you cannot claim individual items separately, such as office furniture or a computer. Fixed rate 52 cents per hour method – applies if you have set up a home office but are not running a business from home. You can claim 52 cents for every hour and this covers the running expenses of your home. You can claim your phone, internet, or the decline in value of equipment separately. Actual expenses method – you can claim the actual expenses you incur (and reduce the claim by any personal use and use by other family members). You will need to ensure you have kept records such as receipts to use this method. It’s this last method, the actual method, the ATO is scrutinising because people using this method tend to lodge much higher claims in their tax return. Ineligible expenses include: Personal expenses such as coffee, tea and toilet paper Expenses related to a child’s education, such as online learning courses or laptops Claiming large expenses up-front (instead of claiming depreciation for assets), and Occupancy expenses such as rent, mortgage interest, property insurance, and land taxes and rates, cannot generally be claimed by employees working from home (especially by those who are working from home solely due to a lockdown). The ATO has flagged four priority areas this tax season where people are making mistakes. With tax season upon us the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has revealed its four areas of focus this tax season. Record-keeping Work-related expenses Rental property income and deductions, and Capital gains from crypto assets, property, and shares. In general, there are three ‘golden rules’ when claiming tax deductions: You must have spent the money and not been reimbursed. If the expense is for a mix of work-related (income producing) and private use, you can only claim the portion that relates to how you earn your income. You need to have a record to prove it. How to contact us We’re available to assist you with tax planning including tax deductions. Contact Collins Hume Accountants & Business Advisers in Ballina or Byron Bay on 02 6686 3000. Read more tax planning topics here »

101 of working with the ATO is that you can’t claim it if you can’t prove it If you are audited, the ATO will disallow deductions for unsubstantiated or unreasonable expenses. Even if the expense is below the substantiation threshold of $300 ($150 for laundry), the ATO might ask how you came up with that number. For example, if you claim $300 in work-related expenses (that is, make a claim right up to the substantiation threshold), how did you come up with that number and not something else? In addition to the obvious records of salary, wages, allowances, government payments or pensions and annuities, you need to keep records of: Interest or managed funds. Records of expenses for any deductions claimed including a record of how that expense relates to the way you earn your income. That is, the expense must be related to how you earn your income. For example, if you claim the cost of RAT tests, you need to be able to prove that the RAT test was necessary to enable you to work. If you were working from home and not required to leave home, it will be harder to claim the cost of the test. Assets such as shares or units in a trust, rental properties or holiday homes, if you purchased a home or inherited a property, or disposed of an asset (including cryptocurrency). You need to keep your records for five years. These can be digital copies of the records as long as they are clear and legible copies of the original. If your records are digital, keep a backup. Records can be tax invoices, receipts, diary entries or something else that proves you incurred the expense and how it related to how you earn your income. The ATO has flagged four priority areas this tax season where people are making mistakes. With tax season upon us the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has revealed its four areas of focus this tax season. Record-keeping Work-related expenses Rental property income and deductions, and Capital gains from crypto assets, property, and shares. In general, there are three ‘golden rules’ when claiming tax deductions: You must have spent the money and not been reimbursed. If the expense is for a mix of work-related (income producing) and private use, you can only claim the portion that relates to how you earn your income. You need to have a record to prove it. How to contact us We’re available to assist you with tax planning including tax deductions. Contact Collins Hume Accountants & Business Advisers in Ballina or Byron Bay on 02 6686 3000. Read more tax planning topics here »

The 120% deduction for skills training and technology costs It’s a great headline, isn’t it? Spend $100 and get a $120 tax deduction. Days after the Federal Budget announcement that businesses will be able to claim a 120% deduction for expenditure on training and technology costs, we started receiving emails encouraging us to spend now to access the deduction. But, there are a few problems. Firstly, the announcement is just that, it is not yet law. And, given the Government is in caretaker mode for the Federal election, we do not know the position of the incoming Government on this measure. And, even if the incoming Government is supportive, we are yet to see draft legislation or detail to determine the practical application of the measure. What was announced? The 2022-23 Federal Budget announced two ‘Investment Boosts’ available to small businesses with an aggregated annual turnover of less than $50 million. The Skills and Training Boost is intended to apply to expenditure from Budget night, 29 March 2022 until 30 June 2024. The business, however, will not be able to claim the deduction until the 2023 tax return. That is, for expenditure between 29 March 2022 and 30 June 2022, the boost, the additional 20%, will not be claimable until the 2022-23 tax return, assuming the announced start dates are maintained if and when the legislation passes Parliament. The Technology Investment Boost is intended to apply to expenditure from Budget night, 29 March 2022 until 30 June 2023. As with the Skills and Training Boost, the additional 20% deduction for eligible expenditure incurred by 30 June 2022 will be claimed in the 2023 tax return. The boost for eligible expenditure incurred on or after 1 July 2022 will be included in the income year in which the expenditure is incurred. Technology Investment Boost A 120% tax deduction for expenditure incurred by small businesses on business expenses and depreciating assets that support their digital adoption, such as portable payment devices, cyber security systems, or subscriptions to cloud-based services, capped at $100,000 per annum. We have received a lot of questions about the specific expenditure the boost might apply to, for example does it cover website development or SEO services? But until we see the legislation, nothing is certain. Skills and Training Boost A 120% tax deduction for expenditure incurred by small businesses on external training courses provided to employees. External training courses will need to be provided to employees in Australia or online, and delivered by entities registered in Australia. Some exclusions will apply, such as for in-house or on-the-job training and expenditure on external training courses for persons other than employees. We are waiting on further details of this initiative to be released to confirm whether there will need to be a nexus between the training program and the current employment activities of the employees undertaking the course. So once again, until we have something more than the announcement, we cannot confirm how the measure will apply in practice or how broad (or otherwise) the definition of skills training is. What happens if I have already spent money on training and technology in anticipation of the bolstered deduction? If the measure becomes law, and the start date of the measure remains the same, we expect that any qualifying expenditure incurred in the 2021-22 financial year will be claimed in your tax return. But, the ‘boost’, the extra 20% will not be claimable until the 2022-23 financial year. If the measure does not come to fruition, you should be able to claim a deduction under normal rules for the actual business expense. How to contact us We’re available to assist you with tax planning including tax deductions. Contact Collins Hume Accountants & Business Advisers in Ballina or Byron Bay on 02 6686 3000. Read more tax planning topics here »

Director Penalty Notices Throughout March, the ATO sent letters to directors who are potentially in breach of their obligations to ensure that the company they represent has met its PAYG withholding, superannuation guarantee charge, or GST obligations. These letters are a warning shot and should not be ignored. The director penalty regime ensures that directors are personally liable for certain debts of the company if the debts are not actively managed. The liability applies to both current and former directors. To recover this debt, the ATO will issue a director penalty notice to the individual directors. The ATO can then take action to recover the unpaid amount, including: By issuing garnishee notices, By offsetting tax credits owed to the director against the penalty, or By initiating legal recovery proceedings against the director. In some cases it is possible for the penalty to be remitted but this depends on when the PAYGW, GST or SGC amounts are reported to the ATO. For example, in some cases the penalty can be remitted if an administrator or small business restructuring practitioner is appointed to the company, or the company begins to be wound up. However, this is normally only possible for PAYGW and GST amounts if they are reported to the ATO within 3 months of the due date. For SGC amounts this is only possible if the unpaid amount is reported by the due date of the SGC statement. If the unpaid amounts are not reported to the ATO by the relevant deadline then the only way for the penalty to be remitted is for the debt to be paid in full. Winding up the company at this stage will not make the liability of the directors go away. If you have received a warning letter from the ATO or a director penalty notice then please contact Collins Hume immediately on 02 6686 3000.

Further assistance for anyone affected or impacted by flooding Watch this post for updates and additions as our team locates and verifies further sources of disaster recovery information. Any new information is flagged with 🆕 First response Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment » Grants for bank customers affected by floods » Recovery centres Dedicated community recovery centres provide face-to-face support for NSW residents affected by natural disasters: https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/floods/recovery-centres Individual and household assistance National Australia Bank (NAB) is donating 1,000 4-year-old laptops to those in need in the Northern Rivers region https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScFkufsaOemCjML3ZDWffgW-ltic9NO-qHl6c2-Fy_goFZO8w/viewform Low income no insurance https://www.nsw.gov.au/resilience-nsw/disaster-relief-grant-for-individuals Australia Post 12-month redirection https://auspost.com.au/receiving/manage-your-mail/redirect-hold-mail/redirect-mail/free-mail-redirection-and-po-boxes Child care subsidy relief for financial hardship https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-to-apply-for-additional-child-care-subsidy?context=41866 National Debt helpline https://ndh.org.au/ Telstra customers can find out more about how to register for a Disaster Assistance Package, including getting additional data, at telstra.com/disasterassist or by calling 1800 888 888 For Telstra outage information and restoration updates visit outages.telstra.com.au Red Cross Bereavement and Relief grants for people affected by either the Queensland or New South Wales floods in 2022 — applications opened 18 March 2022 https://www.redcross.org.au/grants/ St Vincent de Paul Society is offering financial assistance of up to $3,000 depending on the level of damage, the size of the family, and insurance status https://www.vinnies.org.au/.../Fin.../NSW/Disaster_Recovery/ Property assistance Factsheet for tenants affected by disaster https://www.tenants.org.au/factsheet-22-disaster-damage Business and workplace assistance $10,000 small business Northern NSW flood grant https://www.collinshume.com/post/10-000-small-business-northern-nsw-flood-grant NSW Storm and flood disaster recovery small business grant https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-february-and-march-2022-storm-and-flood-disaster-recovery-small-business-grant NSW guide to recovering from a disaster https://www.smallbusiness.nsw.gov.au/resources/get-back-business-guide-recovering-disaster Relief and support for flood victims https://www.businessaustralia.com/how-we-help/be-more-efficient/work-smarter/relief-and-support-for-flood-victims Payroll Tax assistance https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/news-media-releases/natural-disaster-relief Safe work rebate https://www.nsw.gov.au/grants-and-funding/1000-safework-small-business-rebate Free safe work replacement https://disasterassistance.service.nsw.gov.au/summary/846033/ BizRebuild is offering vouchers to help small businesses affected by the March 2022 storms and floods https://www.bizrebuild.com.au/need-help/help-for-bushfire-affected-communities. Complete an online application at bca.awardsplatform.com Retooling Voucher $2,000 Business Advisory Voucher $500 Rural assistance 🆕 Natural Disaster Transport Subsidy: A natural disaster assistance transport subsidy up to $15,000 is available to eligible farmers affected by a declared natural disaster event. This subsidy pays for the cost of transporting fodder and/or water to an affected property, stock to sale or slaughter or stock to/from agistment https://www.raa.nsw.gov.au/grants/natural-disaster-transport-subsidy Rural Landholders Grant: Applications are open until 30 September 2022. All activities and expenditure funded under this program must be complete, and all invoices to claim payment must be submitted to the RAA by 31 March 2023 https://www.raa.nsw.gov.au/disaster-assistance/storm-and-flood-programs/RLG-feb-2022 Rural Assistance Authority loans and grants https://www.raa.nsw.gov.au/disaster-assistance/declarations Blaze Aid – Assistance with fencing repairs https://blazeaid.com.au/how-to-get-fencing-help/ DPI – flood assistance with livestock https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/emergency/floods/current-situation Financial Counselling https://recovery.gov.au/rural-financial-counselling-service-locations#/map Transport and licencing Free of charge reissue of licences https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/floods/identification-licences-and-personal-documents Free replacement of licence https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/floods/driving-and-transport Stamp duty refund for vehicles written off https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/taxes-duties-levies-royalties/motor-vehicle-duty/relief QLD Financial assistance Financial assistance is available for eligible flood-affected communities from both the Queensland and Australian Governments. Personal Hardship Financial Assistance is available for Brisbane, Fraser Coast, Gladstone, Gold Coast, Gympie, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Logan, Moreton Bay, Noosa, North Burnett, Somerset, and Sunshine Coast and includes: Emergency Hardship Assistance Grants to support people directly impacted by a disaster who are unable to meet their immediate essential needs for food, clothing, medical supplies or temporary accommodation. Eligible applicants may receive $180 per person up to $900 for a family of five or more. For more information, contact the Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349 or visit www.qld.gov.au/community/disasters-emergencies Essential Household Contents Grants of up to $1765 for single adults and up to $5,300 for couples/families. These grants are for those who are uninsured, or unable to claim insurance. If eligible you may receive financial assistance towards replacing or repairing essential household contents, such as beds, linen and white goods, that have been lost or damaged in a disaster Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment provides a lump sum payment for eligible people adversely affected by the South East Queensland floods. Disaster Recovery Allowance (Australian Government) is a short-term payment to help people who have lost income as a direct result of the floods in South East Queensland QLD Essential Services & Safety if you’re uninsured, or unable to claim insurance, you may be eligible for a grant to help you reconnect essential services that were damaged by a disaster https://www.qld.gov.au/community/disasters-emergencies/disasters/money-finance/types-grants/essential-serv-safety-reconnect Please contact each support agency directly about accessing their flood recovery assistance. Last updated 25/5/22

There are lots of reasons to keep fit but very few of them have to do with how we earn our income. As a result, a tax deduction for a gym membership isn’t available to most people. And yes, the Tax Office has heard all the arguments before about how keeping fit reduces sickness and therefore is important to earning an income, and ‘…the way I look is important to my job’. In general, a tax deduction for fitness expenses is only available if your job requires you to have an extremely high level of fitness. The nexus between how you earn your income and the deduction is about the physical demands and requirements of your specific role. Firefighters are a case in point. A person with what the ATO describes as a “general duties firefighter” role cannot claim a deduction for the money they have spent keeping fit, but a firefighter in a specialist search and rescue operations team for example, trained in a range of specialist skills including structural collapses and tunnel emergencies, and who is tested on fitness and ongoing strenuous physical activity as an essential part of their job, would be able to claim fitness expenses. Similarly, a professional ballet dancer is likely to be able to claim their fitness expenses. A model however, might not be able to claim their expenses as, while they need to look a particular way, their modelling role does not require physical training and exertion (clearly the ATO has not seen some of the poses that models have to hold!). So, access to a deduction is about the specialist physical demands and requirements of your role. A recent case before the administrative appeals tribunal (AAT) explored the boundary of who can claim fitness expenses, confirming that a prison dog handler could claim a deduction for the cost of his gym membership. In this case, the dog handler was responsible for training and maintaining two dogs. He was required to be available to assist in emergencies that might arise. While these emergencies didn’t arise often, the handler had to be prepared for the possibility of an emergency arising at any time. Reaching this decision, the AAT noted the handler: Was required to maintain a high degree of anaerobic fitness (including muscle strength sufficient to control a large German shepherd on a lead in a volatile situation); Was required to maintain a high degree of aerobic fitness (that is, a degree of speed and agility sufficient to enable him to move effectively with, and control and direct, his dog in an emergency); and Must also be prepared to restrain prisoners himself. While the employer in this case did not specify any particular level of fitness for the dog handler role, the AAT held that a superior level of fitness was implicitly demanded. However, it did not all go the way of the dog handler. His claim for supplement expenses, travel to and from the gym, and gym clothing was denied. While some commentators have suggested that the floodgates are now open for gym membership claims, as always, the devil is in the detail. To claim a tax deduction for fitness expenses it is generally necessary to be part of a specialist workforce. Police Officers for example cannot generally claim fitness expenses despite the fact that, like the dog handler in the AAT case, they need to respond quickly to emergencies and may need to subdue people. Unless they are part of a specialist response unit that is required to have a specific, high level of fitness, they are unlikely to be able to claim their gym membership expenses. So, for the rest of us, gym memberships will continue to be a labour of self-love and care and not an essential part of how we earn our income. How to contact us We’re available to assist you with tax planning including tax deductions. Contact Collins Hume Accountants & Business Advisers in Ballina or Byron Bay on 02 6686 3000.