What's New @ Dewings?

This year's Federal Budget - the third handed down by Treasurer Scott Morrison - is rightly being called an 'election' Budget. The flagship item is the measure to reduce personal tax rates and increase tax offsets for low and medium income earners. Beyond that, however, there's little for business owners to get excited, or agitated, about. There are still a few bright spots though. The Budget is predicted to return to a small surplus a year earlier than previously estimated (by 2019-20), and for the first time in a while, there are some logical, positive changes to superannuation fund management and compliance.

You can read our review here.

It had been our intention to provide some clarity on the practical implications of the company tax rate cuts, including the impact on franking credits, but there has been so much uncertainty about how these cuts are to be implemented that we had to keep putting this issue on hold and re-writing it as more information came to hand. Even now the landscape ahead is far from clear, and we've considered numerous theoretical instances over the last few months where the implications for a company would be, at best, difficult to determine. At the very least, most companies that have retained earnings and receive the benefit of the tax cut will be penalised with a hit to their franking account.

You can read the full version here.

Our approach to reviewing the Budget highlights each year has always been to focus on the impact for small-medium business owners. This year however, the way in which this Budget is received by people in business will really depend on their own outlook.

There's very little in the Budget of any consequence for business. If you're a glass half-full person, that may be a relief. For the first time in a long time, there's no changes in tax rates, the heretofore perennial undermining of retirement confidence has abated, and there are few other measures that might negatively affect business owners. If you're a glass half-empty person though, no news for business may well be bad news, with only minor assistance measures and no wider structural reform.

You can read our review here.

The Government has managed to get a modified version of its proposed cuts to the compay tax rate through the Senate. One element of the new measure will certainly be good for small to medium businesses, but the significance of the overall economic impact is a little more grey.

You can read the full details here.

The Governments re-shaped Budget superannuation proposal has successfully passed through both houses of Parliament. The result will be some of the biggest changes in superannuation since 2007.

You can read the full details here.