March 2023 Newsletter

Please click on the following link to view this month's newsletter for March 2023. We would like to highlight the following articles:-

Working from home expenses: new fixed rate

A new revised fixed-rate method for calculating working from home expenses will apply from 1 July 2022 onwards.

How it works

You can claim 67 cents for each hour you work from home during the relevant income year. The rate includes the additional running expenses you incur for

home and mobile internet or data expenses
mobile and home phone usage expenses
electricity and gas (energy expenses) for heating, cooling and lighting
stationery and computer consumables, such as printer ink and paper.

You can separately claim a deduction for the work-related use of technology and office furniture such as chairs, desks, computers, bookshelves.

To claim your working from home deduction using this method, you must keep a record of the number of actual hours you work from home during the entire income year – for example, a timesheet, roster, diary or other similar document.

Upcoming FBT-related changes

Employers that have provided FBT car parking benefits for the 2022/2023 FBT year should be aware that the ATO has finalised the changes to its ruling on car fringe benefits, specifically on the concept of “primary place of employment”. Considerations of whether a place is an employee’s primary place of employment may include where their duties are performed, the place at which is primary to the employee’s conditions of employment.

A new area that the ATO is working on is the issuance of a draft practical compliance guideline for calculating electricity costs when charging an electronic vehicle (EV) at an individual’s home for FBT purposes.

For an eligible EV that is exempt from FBT, car expenses such as registration, insurance, repairs/maintenance and fuel (including electricity to charge and run electric cars) are also exempt.

$3 million super cap

We will provide an update on the mooted changes to the taxation of superannuation once we are more certain about the final position to be taken. In the meantime, please use the following link to access the treasury discussion paper provided by the Australian Government on the proposed $3 million threshold for super balances.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries in relation to your tax and accounting matters.