The following article has been prepared and published by the advisors at Select Advice Financial Planning.  Harris Black has had a long-term relationship with Select Advice Group assisting many of our clients and being situated along side us in the Harris Black offices.

When you envision the path required to achieve your financial goals and objectives, there is probably no doubt in your mind that it won’t always be smooth sailing, i.e. risk-free. For example, there may be both ups and downs, as well as potential obstacles that may arise along the way.

Importantly, how you choose to plan ahead (‘be prepared’) and navigate your way through the rough periods can often make all the difference in the long-run. With this in mind, there are strategies that can help manage risks you may be faced with on your wealth accumulation journey.

In this animation, we illustrate one such strategy, a comprehensive personal insurance plan. In a nutshell, whilst each type of personal insurance (Life, Total and Permanent Disability, Income Protection and Trauma insurance) serves a purpose in its own right, collectively they come together to provide overall protection from an array of lifetime risks.

At Harris Black, we care about our clients financial and personal well-being and encourage you to review your personal insurance needs and polices.  Please seek help from your financial advisers for further information or contact Select Advise who are available to discuss your situation at any time.

To know more about Select Advice Financial Planning, click here.

11 November 2023

• Quarter 1 (July–September) activity statements lodged electronically – final date for lodgment and payment

21 November 2023

• Lodge and pay October monthly activity statements.

1 December 2023

• Payment due date for companies that were taxable medium to large clients in the immediate prior year
• Payment due date for companies that were required to lodge by 31 October

Are you struggling to prioritise your business issues and opportunities? Do you need clarification on which strategies will accelerate the growth and profit of your business? Take 5 minutes to complete the 25-question Mindshop Growth and Profit Diagnostics to identify from 10 key success factors:

• Your top 3 areas of high performance (what’s working)
• Your top 3 areas of improvement (what’s not working)
• An overall graph showing how you performed across the top 10 key success factors: marketing, sales, people, implementation, strategy, profit, leadership, innovation, technology, and systems.

Where will you focus your energy to succeed in the coming year?

The ATO are keeping a close eye on work from home (WFH) deductions to ensure taxpayers are claiming the correct deductions.  There is a new fixed rate method for this financial year too. If you’re lucky enough to WFH or work in a hybrid arrangement read on for our tips to claim WFH expenses.

WFH deductions for the 2023 financial year are based on either the actual expenses incurred or a revised ‘fixed rate method’ of 67 cents per hour effective from 1 July 2022. The revised fixed rate method replaces both the previous fixed-rate (52 cents per hour) and the ‘covid-19’ or shortcut rate (80 cents per hour), and there are changes to what expenses are included.

The revised fixed rate method of 67 cents per hour does not require the taxpayer to have a dedicated home office space. This rate covers running expenses incurred, including:

• internet expenses
• phone expenses
• electricity and gas for heating, cooling and lighting
• stationary and computer consumables e.g. printer ink and paper.

If using the fixed method, a separate deduction is not available for any of the above expenses. However, you can include a separate claim for the following expenses:

• decline in value of assets used while working from home e.g. computer and office furniture
• repairs and maintenance of these assets
• cleaning of home office.

 Records are required to be kept; the ATO will not accept estimates as proof of deductions. Timesheets, rosters, logs of time spent or a diary for the full year are sufficient evidence of working from home hours. Alternatively, a 4 week representative diary can be kept from 1 March 2023 as evidence. There is also a requirement that one bill for each expense (i.e. phone and internet expenses) should be kept.

The actual cost method remains unchanged for the 2023 financial year. As in prior years, detailed records are required for all the working from home expenses being claimed including evidence of calculation of the private use and work-related apportionment.

A reminder, you can’t claim a deduction for the below items under the working from home costs:

• coffee, tea, milk and general household items
• expenses where your employer reimburses you for the cost.

Please contact your Harris Black team member for additional information if required.