The Latest News from Quarles Business Advisors & Accountants Perth

What’s New at Quarles

The business and financial sector is an ever-changing landscape, and it can be pretty hard to keep your finger on all the latest news at all times, especially with everything else you have on your plate.

That is why we here at Quarles Business Advisors & Accountants Perth ensure that we stay abreast of any changes that may impact our various client’s businesses and finances and that way you can stay focused on other more important things in your life.

Keep reading to find out what has been happening in the world of business and finance over the last couple of months and how it might impact you.

Private Health and Tax

A growing number of Australians are choosing to opt out of private health insurance as the financial incentive is diminishing. Currently, anyone earning more than $90,000 a year who doesn’t have health insurance will pay extra tax, in the form of the Medicare Levy Surcharge. There is also a Lifetime Health Cover loading that goes up by 2 percentage points every year a person delays taking out private health insurance after the age of 31 and until they’re 65. Despite this, rising premiums and bracket creep are making it cheaper to pay the Medicare Levy Surcharge than investing in basic health cover.

Vulnerable Workers Bill

The federal government has passed a new Fair Work amendment: Protecting Vulnerable Workers bill. The new bill significantly boosts fines for employers attempting to force employees to pay back their wages in cash, and it makes franchisors and holding companies culpable for breaches of the Fair Work Act if they’re found responsible. What’s more, the Australian Labor Party successfully had an amendment made to the new bill that reverses the onus of proof onto the employer, regarding claims for unpaid wages where the employer has not produced wage slips or employment records.

New Small Business Laws

In September new laws came into place that allow small and micro businesses access to additional opportunities to raise capital to grow their business. Crowd-Sourced Equity Funding allows businesses the opportunity to raise up to $5 million a year, with individuals allowed to contribute up to $10,000 per company, per year. As opposed to Crowdfunding whereby investors receive a business report or a sample product, Crowd-Sourced Equity Funding means investors become shareholders of the business and expect a financial return on their investment. Additionally, there is more good news for small businesses, with the amendments to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 which passed in August. These amendments make it harder for corporations with the substantial market power to engage in conduct with the purpose, effect or likely effect to substantially lessen competition in markets in which they directly or indirectly participate.

 

$17 billion in Missing Super

A report released this year by the ATO has shown a 17-billion-dollar gap in Australian superannuation that’s accrued over the past eight years. As a result, the Federal Government is cracking down on employers not paying the mandatory 9.5 percent of employee earnings to a super-fund of their choice. Measures to close the superannuation gap include: asking employers to submit monthly reports via Single Touch Payroll so the tax office can detect non-compliance; and granting the ATO power to seek court-order penalties where employers are caught repeatedly failing in their super obligations.

 

Not sure if any of this impacts you? Alternatively, maybe you want to know a little bit more about something mentioned above? Get in touch with the experts at Quarles Business Advisors & Accountants Perth, and we would be happy to answer any questions you might have.