The rise in popularity of cryptocurrency has led to more and more Australians looking at these markets as an investment opportunity. While cryptocurrency is a decentralised exchange (meaning that the transactions are peer-to-peer), there is a common misconception that this means that government bodies do not have access to the same information. Increasingly, as we review more and more client records provided by the ATO, we are seeing the following statement “Your client held or disposed of cryptocurrency that may have resulted in a capital gains event”. The ATO has outlined its thoughts on investing in cryptocurrency below and have raised some key areas that taxpayers should be aware of. If you have queries about what tax implications might impact you from cryptocurrency investment, please reach out to Salt Financial Accountants.

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The recent floods in Australia have caused widespread damage and devastation to communities. This past week has seen the increased rainfall and flooding move south to Victoria. The Victorian State Government has announced a flood relief package to support Victorian Businesses impacted by the October floods. Businesses directly impacted by the Victorian floods that commenced in October 2022 can access a one-off grant of $5000 to cover immediate expenses. For additional eligibility requirements please read this article and as always, if you have any queries regarding this grant or assistance in applying, please reach out to the team at Salt.

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Over the past weeks cyber security has been very topical following the Optus cyber-attack. Many people have questioned how they can stay safe online and ensure their data will not be impacted.

At Salt we are entrusted with confidential information and continuously stay up to date with the best data protection protocols. Below is some of the easy ways to protect yourself and your data online:

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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk ditched the controversial land tax after weeks of negative publicity and a refusal by NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet to co-operate.

The changes, which were due to start next year, would calculate an owner’s liability for land tax based on the total value of their Australia-wide holdings that are not exempt, not just those in Queensland.

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For the majority of Australians, employers make compulsory payments into their super fund, called Superannuation Guarantee (SG). The rate of SG payments increased from 9.5 percent to 10.5 percent from 1 July 2022 and will increase gradually to 12 percent.

Generally, if you are self-employed you are not covered under Superannuation Guarantee and aren’t bound by law to make super payments for yourself. One of the most common replies I hear from business owners is that they want to “get off the tools”. However, the reality for many self-employed people is that a super hasn’t been a priority working through retirement becomes a reality.

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On average, every 10 years we have a significant drop in investment markets, excluding the ‘flash crash’ of Covid, the last one we had was the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) 14 years ago. Some would say we are now overdue.

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From 24 March 2022, anyone with a local connection to Australia (including businesses, associations and individuals) will be able to register a new category of domain name. These shorter simpler domain names will end in .au rather than .com.au, .net.au, .org.au, .gov.au or .edu.au.

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Most types of life insurance are not tax deductible. This is because, according to the ATO, insurance premiums aren't tax deductible if the policy pays a benefit for physical injury. But there are a couple of exceptions such as income protection and TPD held inside super.

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Speaking in a recent podcast, Colonial First State head of technical services Craig Day noted the recent announcement from the ATO that all SMSFs will need to report on a quarterly basis from 1 July 2023.

Mr Day explained that from July next year, all SMSFs will need to report events such as the commencement of a pension and pension commutations no later than 28 days after the end of the month.

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