Australian businesses with an annual turnover of $75,000 or more are required to register for GST. If your business has a lower turnover you are not required to register, but you may do so if you wish. You will only be required to charge your customers GST if you are registered. Your Indus Accounting office can assist you with your application to register for GST.

Please contact Indus Accounting on 0423 264 003 / 0412 634 517 to speak with a tax expert to find out whether you are affected or not.

From 1 July 2008 most Australian businesses could claim fuel tax credits for running machinery, plant, equipment and heavy vehicles used in running that business.

To be eligible to make a claim the business must be registered for GST and the claim should be made on the Business Activity Statement (BAS) that is required to be lodged.

The amount that can be claimed will depend on the type of fuel and what it is used for. Fuel tax credits are not available where alternative fuels (e.g. LPG) are used.

If your turnover is less than two million dollars, you would be classed as a small business entity (SBE). As such you would be able to access a number of small business concessions including:

income tax concessions
capital gains tax concessions
excise concessions
Goods and Services Tax (GST) concessions
Pay As You Go (PAYG) installment concessions and
Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) concessions.

Provided that you satisfy the eligibility criteria, you will be able to claim a deduction for the superannuation contributions you have made to a complying superannuation fund or retirement savings account.

To do so you must be fully self-employed or no more than 10% of your assessable income (including Reportable Fringe Benefits and Reportable Superannuation Contributions) is from an employer. You must also have first notified your superannuation fund of your intention to make the claim and received a confirmation.

The Family Tax Benefit helps with the cost of raising children. It is therefore available for those who:

* have a dependent child or secondary student younger than 20 years of age who is not receiving a Government benefit such as Youth Allowance
* provides care for a child at least 35% of the time
* meets an income test <

At Indus Accounting nothing is too complicated. We can assist you with any number of tax questions. Book an appointment online or call 0423 264 003 / 0412 634 517.