Welcome to our November Monthly Newsletter!

The due date for lodgement of an income tax return for the financial year ending 30 June 2019 was on the 31^st of October. If you have returns that have not been lodged yet then do not stress – chances are you have quite awhile longer to lodge. If you are signed up as a client with a registered tax agent then you get to reap the benefits of the tax agent lodgement concession. This concession provides a later due date for lodgement and payment of your income tax return up until 15 May 2020.
We do however still encourage everyone to not hold off on lodgement as this can tie up other areas e.g. you may require your return to process Centrelink payments, to review or commence a loan or perhaps you would like to sell your business and a potential buyer would like to see some documents from your tax agent. So you can see there are benefits to lodging even before you are required to.

Monthly tax tip:

There is a lot of confusion surrounding food and drink for business purposes. Food and drink can sometimes be classified as entertainment which is generally not deductible but in certain situations it is a legitimate deduction. Food and drink which are purchased during travel (for business purposes of course) are tax deductible and the GST component can also be claimed. However, if you are purchasing food and drink at the work place then there is some criteria to be met. If you are purchasing general sustenance for your employees (e.g. tea and coffee, snacks) so that they can comfortably continue working then this type of food can be claimed. This may also include lunch purchased during a work day for staff, snacks for the conference room to be eaten by staff and clients and even dinner if your staff have been asked to work overtime.
If food has been purchased for simply entertainment purposes like food for a staff party then this cannot be claimed. Other non-deductible entertainment can also include a business meal with a client, after work drinks with staff, food and drink purchased at networking events. Categorizing food and drink can be a huge gray area when it comes to tax but when in doubt, please call your tax agent to confirm.

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