Running a business is hard enough and then June rolls around and you start worrying about tax planning, legislative changes, deadlines and personal wealth strategies.
To help you understand the most relevant things for you and your business, we have compiled the top ten things to look at in this tax planning season. If you’re after more detail, scroll straight to the bottom where we have links to some more detailed pages for your perusal.
Whilst we’ve given you some key things to consider when it comes to year-end tax planning, there’s many other things to consider which you’re able to get into with your accountant at tax planning time. You can also follow the links below for some extra detail.
Tax time is fast approaching, are you prepared?
Whilst your accountant is here for you every step of the way, it will help you, and your accountant, if you are across the relevant issues before it comes time to prepare your tax work.
Here’s some of the key year-end tax planning tips for individuals for financial year 2024/2025.
Superannuation contributions need to be received by the fund before 30 June to be deductible. The concessional (deductible) limit for superannuation is generally $30,000.
There may also be an opportunity to contribute extra by using a prior year catchup, making non-concessional contributions, accessing the Small Business CGT Concessions in relation to the disposal of an asset, or by making a Downsizer super contributions.
The fund will need to be notified of your intention to claim a deduction and the individual should receive confirmation and retain this with their tax records.
Where an individual has made taxable capital gains it may be tax effective to consider whether unrealised capital losses can be realised (i.e. loss-making assets sold) during the same year to offset the gain. Please note that capital gains and losses are generally brought to account when sale contracts are signed rather than when transactions settle.
Donations to deductible gift recipients may be deductible where paid and receipted prior to 30 June.
Individuals may claim an immediate deduction for prepayments of tax-deductible expenses not exceeding 12 months.
Individuals not carrying on a business (e.g. employees) are not entitled to the instant asset write-off or temporary full expensing measures. Employees are limited to expensing assets costing less than $300.
Where employees wish to access the full expensing measure for larger purchases (e.g. work vehicles) they may need to consider acquiring assets in related business entities or via a novated lease or other salary packaging options with their employer.
Consider varying the 4th quarter PAYG instalment in line with tax estimates where forecast tax is lower that instalments.
Consider whether the fixed-rate method of claiming for home office costs of 52 cents per hour is suitable for you or whether you’re better off claiming the actual costs. You can find out more here.
Make sure vehicle logbooks properly reflect business travel arrangements and include all the details required by the ATO. If you’re not using the logbook method and wish to claim based on kms travelled only please note this is limited to claims of up 5,000km at 88 cents per km.
The ATO is looking closely at travel expenses, particularly where employees may be living away from home rather than travelling for work. For clients who do extensive travel, maintaining a travel diary is strongly recommended to correctly maximise any deductions.
Acquiring a private health policy (hospital cover) may mitigate future Medicare Levy Surcharge amounts.
It is important to check the amount of rebate claimed through the fund and whether a catch-up payment may be necessary when you lodge your income tax return based on your taxable income exceeding the relevant threshold.
You may be entitled to claim for depreciation in relation to building works. To make these kinds of claims you may need to engage a quantity surveyor to assess the amount of eligible costs.
Note: there is no longer an ability to claim travel costs to inspect rental property.
The ATO has a focus on individuals not declaring gains and losses on crypto currencies. Where you maintain this type of investment you need to keep records of your costs of investment and any potential taxable events which may even occur where you do not cash in the investment (e.g. exchanging between crypto currencies can trigger a tax liability). Some other things to consider:
You should discuss with your Gild advisor if you’re looking at investing in crypto.
Tax planning isn’t just about now; it’s about setting you up for success into the future. With a Gild Group advisor, you can work together to ensure your business is in the best possible tax position and potentially improve your cash flow moving forward.
Here are some key topics to consider:
Act fast on asset purchases! Assets purchased by businesses turning over less than $10m ready for use by 30 June 2025 are fully deductible up to the $20,000 threshold (note that this isn’t currently legislated, but the government has suggested it will be soon).
Business’ prepayments are generally deductible to businesses with an aggregated turnover less than $50m. This means that if you prepay up to 12 months in advance for an annual expense (e.g. insurance, loan interest) before 30 June 2025 you may get a full tax deduction at the date of payment.
A debt will generally need to be considered ‘bad’ before it can be written off and deducted.
You need to document that you have taken action to recover the debt to conclude it is reasonable the debt will not be recovered prior to 30 June 2025. You generally don’t need to have commenced legal actions.
Where you are not able to show evidence of recovery, it may be possible to determine that the debt was doubtful when raised such that the income should not have been accrued. This will depend on the circumstances of each case.
You may also request a refund of GST paid on the debt on your BAS.
To ensure effective and tax-efficient trust distributions, trustees need to act by 30 June to make a resolution regarding how the trust income will be distributed. This resolution is then recorded in writing.
While the resolution can be documented later per the trust deed, best practice is to finalise it by 30 June. You also need to be mindful of how distributions are made to beneficiaries (cash or loan) and potential unforeseen tax implications.
To ensure dividends are counted within the 30 June 2025 financial year, they need to be paid before this date. This includes where dividends are used as loan repayments (typically to ensure Division 7A compliance) so even if no cash is changing hands, the dividend should be documented clearly before 30 June.
Additionally, it’s essential to verify that there are sufficient franking credits available. We can assist in reviewing and documenting dividend payments and recommend always getting advice to ensure dividends are tax effective.
Where you have existing private company loan agreements in place (i.e. under compliant Division 7A loan agreements) you will need to ensure that the Minimum Yearly Repayments are made prior to 30 June 2025 to avoid adverse tax consequences.
There are various methods available to evidence a repayment of a loan which do not necessarily require a cash payment. Please speak with your accountant to determine the appropriate repayment strategy for your loans.
If you’ve got a new loan this financial year that you’re unable to repay by 30 June we recommend speaking with your advisor to ensure a compliant loan agreement can be put in place (typically it will involve a 7-year term, minimum annual repayments, and an interest rate set by the ATO which is currently 8.77%).
Gone are the days when you can accrue director fees on 30 June and claim a tax deduction. If you want to pay fees to company directors, the only way to ensure the amount is tax deductible is to have withheld and reported the relevant PAYGW on the fees at the time. So, if you’re considering paying extra director fees we recommend doing so before 30 June and have them processed as normal wages (i.e. PAYGW, superannuation, workers compensation, payroll tax, etc.).
Superannuation expenses are generally only deductible where the amount has been paid and received by the superannuation fund prior to 30 June. The current year concessional (i.e. amount you can claim a tax deduction for) is $30,000 per person.
Superannuation contributions are generally taxed in the fund at 15% (which may be substantially less than your personal marginal tax rate which may be up to 47%).
Note that high-income earners (those earning over $250,000) may have to pay additional tax within their super fund on contributions made. This is known as Division 293 tax and it seeks to reduce the tax concessions received by high-income earners in their super funds.
Consider the financial circumstances and wealth planning goals of all entities in your group, including the business operating entities as well as you and your family individually, to determine whether additional superannuation contributions make financial sense.
The superannuation guarantee percentage is increasing to 12% from 1 July 2025. Employers should make sure they review employee contracts to determine whether the employee is remunerated on a superannuation inclusive or exclusive basis and whether the additional cost will be passed on to the employee.
Where you qualify as a “early-stage innovation company” and you have completed a capital raise during the financial year you may be able to have your investors access certain tax concessions. You need to make sure you have made the appropriate disclosures electronically with the ATO by 31 July (i.e. just after the end of the financial year).
You may also be entitled to Research and Development (R&D) tax concessions, employee equity concessions and other government funding. We recommend you discuss these with your Gild advisor to make sure you are maximising your entitlements for you, your investors and your employees.
Where you have first-time beneficiaries of trusts within the current financial you will need to notify the ATO with a TFN declaration by 31 July (i.e. just after the end of the financial year).
Where you have completed your tax estimates, and you have overpaid tax instalments you should look to vary your final instalment in line with your tax estimates to get amounts overpaid refunded. This should be done by the lodgement date of the June BAS, it cannot be done late.
The ATO requires reporting of payments made to contractors in the following industries:
The report is due by 28 August 2025.
Where you acquire new or own existing property you may be able to access increased deductions for prior year capital spend in relation to the property. In particular:
You may be entitled to access the temporary asset write-offs in relation to these amounts (subject to meeting conditions).
Likewise, where a tenant moves out of your property and leaves a fit-out in place you may potentially be able to continue to depreciate some of their fit-out you acquire under the capital works provisions. A Quantity Surveyor can estimate the costs associated with the construction.
The ATO continues to consider the treatment of employees v contractors, and this has been the subject of several recent court decisions.
This distinction impacts whether superannuation guarantee amounts and on-costs are payable on contractor payments. The State Revenue Offices are now receiving this information and using it to determine other tax compliance such as payroll tax is being maintained.
You should ensure your systems and processes for determining the classification is appropriate.
Tax planning is important, but it’s not always easy. Partner with The Gild Group to ensure you’re in the best possible position before 30 June.
