As a boost for small businesses, the Government has extended access to a number of small business tax concessions by increasing the annual turnover eligibility threshold from $2m to $10m. These measures were effective from July 1, 2016 and they expand the number of small business entities able to access the concessions.
Under the announced measures, businesses with a turnover below $10m will now be able to access a range of existing small business tax concessions. The increase in the threshold will allow an additional 90,000 to 100,000 business entities access to concessions including:
- The lower company tax rates detailed in this newsletter.
- Simplified depreciation rules, including the immediate tax deduction for assets costing less than $20,000 (up until 30 June 2017)
- Simplified trading stock rules that give businesses the option to avoid an end of year stocktake if the value of their stock has changed by less than $5,000.
- Simplified method for PAYG instalment payments.
- The option to account for GST on a cash basis and apply the simplified method of GST instalments payments.
- Immediate deduction for prepaid expenses.
- Immediate deduction for professional expenses.
- Fringe Benefits Tax concessions, including exemptions for car parking and work-related portable electronic devices (applicable from 1 April 2017).
The current $2m turnover threshold will be retained for access to the small business CGT concessions.
