Hire and Rental News - February 2016

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43 HIRE AND RENTAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 2016
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
The package is designed to help small business to grow and
create jobs. A rundown on the key features of the package and
what it means for business is available at:
small-business/Pages/jobs-and-small-business-package.aspx.
Tax cuts for small business
If your small business has a turnover of less than $2 million per
year, the following tax breaks apply.
1.5% tax cut for companies – If your business is a company, you’ll
get a tax cut of 1.5 percentage points from 1 July 2015. Your new
company tax rate will be 28.5%.
5% tax discount for other businesses – If your business is not
a company, you’ll get a 5% tax discount from 1 July 2015. This
means the amount of tax you need to pay on your business
income will be reduced by 5%, capped at $1,000 each year.
Asset deductions – You’ll be able to immediately depreciate
any eligible asset costing less than $20,000 which you
buy from 7.30pm on 12 May 2015 until 30 June 2017. This means
you’ll be able to deduct the assets in the financial year in which
you first use or install the asset. There is no limit on the number
of eligible assets costing less than $20,000 you can immediately
depreciate, but you need to buy them between 7.30pm on 12 May
2015 and 30 June 2017.
Reducing red tape
Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) changes – From 1 April 2016, you’ll no
longer need to pay FBT on any portable electronic devices you
provide to your employees for work-related use, such as mobiles,
laptops and tablets. This change applies to all businesses with a
turnover of less than $2 million per year.
Capital Gains Tax (CGT) changes – From July 2016, if your
turnover is less than $2 million per year and you change the legal
structure of your small business, you’ll be able to rollover your
CGT liability. This means you won’t have an immediate CGT
liability at the point when you change entity structure.
Reducing compliance costs for small companies – The
Government will review the regulatory requirements for small
companies, with the aim of reducing compliance costs. Keep an
eye out for the consultation paper on The Treasury website.
Help for start-ups and entrepreneurs
Streamlined business registration – Under Streamlined Business
Registration, to be completed by mid-2016, you’ll be able to take
care of a range of business registrations in a single transaction
on and use a single identifier (your Australian
Business Number) to deal with government.
Deduct professional costs straight away – If you have professional
costs related to starting your small business, such as costs for
legal and accounting advice, you can deduct them in the financial
year you incur them (rather than writing off the costs over five
years). This applies to all businesses with a turnover of less than
$2 million per year.
Crowd-sourced equity funding for public companies – The
Government is planning new laws to make it easier for public
companies to access crowd-sourced equity funding. For
background information, look at the 2014 consultation on crowd-
Jobs and small business package
sourced equity funding.
Help for employers
Work experience program – From January 2016, under the new
National Work Experience Program, the Government will provide
opportunities for employers to offer work experience placements
to unemployed job seekers.
Flexible wage subsidies – From November 2015, employers will
have access to more flexible payment arrangements under the
Restart, Youth, Long Term Unemployed and Tasmanian Jobs
wage subsidies.
Help employing older workers – From January 2016, changes
to the Restart program will make it easier to get Government
support when you employ older workers.
Find your local Employment Services Provider on the JobSearch
website to discuss your recruitment needs. Call the Department
of Employment on 13 17 15.
More about the 2015 Budget
For details on all the above changes, visit the Budget 2015-
16 website
sml_bus/html/index.htm) or call the ATO on 13 28 66.
The Australian Government announced funding for the Jobs and Small Business
package in the 2015/16 Budget.