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While shoppers fixate on the rising cost of their weekly food bill, another far more clandestine price increase is sneaking into their shopping trolley. Known as “shrinkflation”, food companies are regularly reducing the size of their products but not the price, burdening consumers already grappling with surging household costs. A growing list of companies are doing so to pass on costs and increase profits by avoiding a sensitive price hike…  Read more

If your car or home insurance is due for renewal, prepare for a shock. Many insurers are applying double-digit price hikes to premiums, significantly outpacing inflation. Insurance Australia Group (IAG), the country’s biggest general insurer that includes the brands NRMA Insurance and SGIO, is raising motor premiums by 14%, and property premiums by 20%. Its nearest rival, Suncorp, which owns the AAMI and Apia brands among others, is also increasing rates…  Read more

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) continues to expand its data-matching capability to ensure taxpayers don’t leave out income or inflate deductions this tax time. New data is now rolling into the ATO from property managers, landlord insurance providers, financial institutions providing loans for residential investment properties and sharing economy providers, as well as income protection policy information. ATO Assistant Commissioner Tim Loh said, ‘This isn’t a game of Guess Who,…  Read more

Announced last week, Suncorp’s (ASX: SUN) insurance arm has forked out about $32 million to more than 15,800 underpaid staff after revealing it failed to adequately pay employees the minimum wage since 2014. The payback includes interest and superannuation, including about $26 million in wages and entitlements, $4.5 million in interest, and $1.4 million in superannuation. Suncorp has entered into an enforceable undertaking (EU) – a written agreement with the Fair…  Read more

For small business owners and payroll managers, staying up-to-date on the latest superannuation changes is essential. With the Australian Superannuation Guarantee (SG) set to increase from 10.5% to 11% from 1st July 2023, it’s important to understand what this means and how it could affect your business. As an employer, this increase, and subsequent increases, will have an impact on your payroll management and accounting systems. Here’s what you need…  Read more

Almost everyone knows someone who has been caught up in the annoying scam that has weaselled its way into the booming side hustle market. A common trick used by scammers is turning people off a handy payment system used by millions. PayID scams often crop up when someone tries to sell something on a sale service like Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree. Australians lost $260,000 to PayID-specific impersonation scams last year,…  Read more

More than 6 million Australians have used the “buy now, pay later” lending services offered by Afterpay, Zip and more than a dozen other companies. Buy now, pay later offers an easy and convenient alternative to credit card services. You can sign up and have your loan approved almost immediately. One reason for this is that buy now, pay later companies aren’t regulated by the same consumer-protection rules that apply to other credit…  Read more

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point (rounded) to 3.7 per cent in April, according to data released last week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, said: “with employment dropping by around 4,000 people and the number of unemployed increasing by 18,000 people, the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 per cent.” “The small fall in employment followed an average…  Read more

The Fair Work Commission is informing employers about changes to some registered employment agreements. Some employers and their employees are still covered by pre-2010 agreements (also known as ‘zombie agreements’). These agreements will terminate automatically in December. If you’re an employer with this type of agreement, you must tell your employees in writing about the coming changes. You must do this before 7 June 2023. The Fair Work Commission has published resourcesExternal…  Read more

On 1 July 2023, the general transfer balance cap will be indexed. Individuals will have a personal transfer balance cap between $1.6 and $1.9 million based on the highest ever balance of their transfer balance account between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2023. When will the ATO display the indexed amount? While indexation will occur on 1 July 2023, the ATO won’t be displaying member’s personal transfer balance caps until 11 July 2023.…  Read more

The Reserve Bank of Australia has today been warned aggressively increasing interest rates would push inflation down but cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. Internal modelling obtained by The Age newspaper revealed a far-larger 1 per cent hike in May would bring down inflation within its target of 2 per cent to 3 per cent earlier than forecast but it predicted the country’s jobless rate would rise to 4.5 per cent next year. That…  Read more

Rates rises have almost double mortgages for some Australians but something strange is happening to Aussie house prices. Australia’s house price recovery continued in April, with PropTrack’s dwelling values index recording a 0.1 per cent monthly rise to be up 1.4 per cent from its December trough. Sydney, the market which led the downturn, is now leading the recovery, with house prices rising 1.7 per cent year to date. The…  Read more

The Australian Government unveiled its annual budget this week, which aims to stimulate economic growth, address long-term challenges, and improve social services. The budget is focused on helping with the cost of living, with tax cuts for middle and low-income earners, while also allocating funding to health, education, and small businesses. If you have any questions about how this budget affects you, please get in touch. Tax Cuts One of…  Read more

Nearly three quarters of Australians would sacrifice their inheritance so their parents and grandparents can spend the money on aged care instead, new research has found. Australians are dying wealthier than ever and have gifted almost $1.4 trillion — or about $67bn a year — in inheritances over the past two decades, according to the report. But new polling suggests most Millennials and members of Gen X would forgo this…  Read more

Australia’s Labor government is set to reveal a vast improvement in the budget’s bottom line next week as its coffers bulge with tax windfalls, yet the outlook will be a sober one as fiscal challenges still loom large. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has spent weeks using “restraint” and “responsible” to describe his second budget since taking office in May last year. There will be some money to offset cost of living pressures,…  Read more

Check out our article in the April/May 2023 issue of The Tradie magazine. Brett Edmonds and the team here at Oracle Accounting & Wealth are ready to supply all bookkeeping, taxation and business-logistics needs to the ever growing building & construction industry. “Tradies are good at bringing the business in, and this is where their time should be spent, rather than worrying about the books and all the other things…  Read more

The huge tax blow that’s going to see tradies and small businesses across Australia pay more…and why it’s going to spark a rush on Utes: ‘Paying a lot more’ Tradies have until June 30 to buy a Ute They can claim it in one year on their tax That’s under instant asset write off scheme Jim Chalmers’ budget blow to hit small businesses Tradies will soon lose the right to…  Read more

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has released the country’s 100 largest HELP/HECS debts through a Freedom of Information request – and the highest debt is a whopping $737,000. The second-biggest has ballooned to nearly half a million dollars, with the third coming in at $387,000. The lowest in the top 100 was more than $219,000. These 100 graduates have the dubious honour of owing a total of around $25 million…  Read more

Tax time is approaching again at an alarming speed and we’re here to remind you that a focus of the Australian Tax Office (ATO) this year is undeclared luxury gifts #gifted to influencers. Earlier this year the ATO issued a warning to influencers regarding financial penalties for failure to declare gifts received as income or incentives. These are considered non-cash benefits and can include jewellery, designer clothing, cars, holidays, appliance and…  Read more

Middle-income Australians will cop one of the largest tax increases in Australian history after the May federal budget. More than 10 million Australians will be left feeling the pinch of a looming decision to scrap tax cuts, with many expected to lose up to $600 in refunds. The record breaking tax hike comes as households are grappling with high interest rates and skyrocketing costs of living. Treasurer Jim Chalmers is…  Read more