News

Office hours - Christmas Holiday Period  

Financial Dynamics will be closed for the Christmas holiday period from Wednesday 24th December, 2008 until Sunday 4th January, 2009 (inclusive). 

All the Team at Financial Dynamics wish you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year for 2009. 

Shoalhaven Boss of the Year Awards

Congratulations to our Directors, Bruce McDonald and Frank Taylor who were among the 14 finalists in the recent  2008 Boss of the Year Awards.

Bruce and Frank deservedly won the award for 'The Most Fun Bosses in the Shoalhaven'.

YellowBiz 

DID YOU KNOW.... 88% of business information is retrieved from the internet ?

You will want to customize all your advertising once you are online with YellowBiz.

You'll discover how easy editing and refining your advertising will become. 

YellowBiz templates make creating dynamic advertising simple.

Advertise your weekly special or promote your services online.  It's just so simple.

Take the leap forward into the super highway of the YellowBiz marketing environment today.

We even offer free listings!

For further information contact YellowBiz Pty Ltd:

PO Box 1611 Nowra NSW  2541

Phone 1800 108 122

Email admin@yellowbiz.com.au

2008 Budget Highlights  

The Federal Budget handed down on 13 May 2008 contained a package of tax relief measures designed to help families with education, child care and other living expenses, while means testing a range of benefits.

Here are TEN of the highlights of the tax and superannuation changes announced in the Budget:

• The Government has announced the terms for reference of the comprehensive review of Australia's tax system.
• Previously announced personal income tax cuts will go ahead and Medicare Levy surcharge thresholds and low-income thresholds will be increased.
• The childcare tax rebate for out-of-pocket child care expenses will increase from 30% to 50% from 1 July 2008, with the maximum out-of-pocket expenses claimable increasing from $4,354 to $7,500 per child per year.
• Eligibility for Family Tax Benefit Part B will be limited to families whose primary income earner earns $150,000 or less a year.
• A 50 per cent education tax refund will be available for eligible education expenses from 1 July 2008.
• The definition of “income” will be expanded for the purposes of determining eligibility for Government support.
• The Government has tightened the rules for a number of fringe benefits provided after 7.30pm on 13 May 2008.
• The scope for family trusts to utilise tax losses to lower income tax will be reduced.
• In-house computer software to be depreciated over 4 years.
• The Tax Office will establish a superannuation clearing house to assist businesses with meeting choice of superannuation requirements.

For a comprehensive budget report please click here to access the recent bulletin issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

2008 Budget - Payroll Tax Overview 

Payroll tax threshold indexation

The Government will introduce annual indexation of the payroll tax threshold from 1 July 2008 and NSW will be the only state to annually index the payroll tax threshold.

Indexation is be based on the movement in the Sydney CPI over the year to the previous March quarter.

The threshold applying from 1 July 2008 will be $623,000, up from $600,000.

This measure will provide tax relief to businesses by allowing for the impact of inflation on their wages bill.

Payroll tax rate reduction

The Government will reduce the payroll tax rate from 6% to 5.5% in three stages, starting from 1 January 2009.

The first reduction from 6% to 5.75% will occur from 1 January 2009, followed by a reduction to 5.65% from 1 January 2010, and a further reduction to 5.5% from1 January 2011.

Tax Office Scam Warning

The Tax Office is again warning people to be wary of a fraudulent email being circulated that claims to offer a refund from the Tax Office.

The email fraudulently uses the Tax Office logo, has the words ‘Australian Taxation Office – Notification’ or ‘Australian Taxation Office – Please Read This’ in the subject line and is similar to another email scam that circulated in March last year.

The Tax Office is advising people who receive the email to delete it immediately.

The email asks people to click on a link which redirects them to a website that looks similar to the Tax Office website and asks for credit card and personal details in order to receive a refund.

This website is not affiliated with the Tax Office in any way.

Second Commissioner Greg Farr said the Tax Office has notified relevant authorities who are investigating this matter.

“People should always be wary of any unsolicited emails claiming to be from the Tax Office.

“The Tax Office will never send emails to people asking them to provide personal information including credit card details.

“As an extra precaution we recommend you type internet addresses directly into your internet browser rather than clicking on hyperlinks embedded in emails,” Mr Farr said.

If people have entered their credit card information on the website, they should contact their credit card provider as soon as possible and report a possible compromise.

Tel: 02 4421 2345Fax: 02 4421 2340