A reminder for all employers of the need to pay employees’ super at the same time as their wages or salary from 1 July 2026.

With these changes, super funds must receive employees’ SG contributions no later than 7 business days after payday.

The super guarantee charge (SCG) will have tougher penalties if employers don’t pay super in full and on time.

When hiring a new employee, employers will have 20 business days (starting from the day after wages or salary are paid) for the employee’s super fund to successfully get their first super contribution.

All employers should check:

• Payroll systems can handle more frequent superannuation payments and comply with the reporting requirements.
• Consider some cash flow planning with a view to monitoring upcoming super obligations closely to avoid cash flow concerns.

Please contact our office if you require further clarification and/or assistance.

Employers should be prepared for the permanent closure of the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (‘SBSCH’) on 1 July 2026.

While 30 June 2026, is technically the final day for employers to use the service, make any final payments and download reports, employers should now be moving to an alternative option to the SBSCH.

Employers should check their existing software and payroll packages, as they may already include super functions they can use to pay superannuation. Alternatively, employers can look for options from super funds or digital service providers offering payroll services, software or commercial clearing houses.

For further information on the available options, please contact our office.

The Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) exemption for eligible electric vehicles (EV) is an attractive tax incentive available to Australian employers and employees.  With the increasing cost of fuel, it is an opportune time to re-visit the tax incentives available.

The EV FBT Exemption 

Broadly, to qualify for the FBT exemption, the vehicle must meet the following criteria:

• Be a zero- or low-emissions vehicle. All pure electric and hydrogen vehicles remain eligible (plug-in hybrid vehicles are only eligible if first held and used before 1 April 2025);
• First held or used on or after 1 July 2022;
• Used by a current employee or their associate (e.g., a family member); &
• Below the luxury car tax threshold of $91,387 for 2025-2026.

Registration, insurance, repairs, maintenance and fuel expenses provided for eligible electric cars are also exempt from FBT.

While the benefit is exempt from FBT, the taxable value of the benefit must still be determined when working out whether an employee has a reportable fringe benefits amount to be included on their income statement or payment summary.

Salary Packaging an EV

One of the biggest advantages of the FBT exemption is through salary packaging.  A typical arrangement includes:

• The employer leasing or purchasing the EV
• The employee agrees to a salary sacrifices arrangement
• The vehicle is used for private use
• No FBT being payable

In leasing the vehicle, referred to as a novated lease, employees can pay for the car and running costs from pre-tax income.  The GST can be claimed on lease payments, plus all running costs can be packaged within the lease.

Novated leases can also be set up for a spouse’s vehicle, where one partner is in a good position to take on the novated lease and the other partner drives the EV.

Please contact our office if you require further assistance.

On 4 November 2025, the Federal Government’s payday super legislation passed both houses of parliament.

What’s changing for employers

From 1 July 2026:

• Employers need to pay employees’ super at the same time as their wages or salary.
• Super funds must get employees’ SG contributions no later than 7 business days after payday.
• The super guarantee charge (SCG) will change, with tougher penalties if employers don’t pay super in full and on time.
• When an employer hires a new employee, they’ll have 20 business days (starting from the day after wages or salary are paid) for the employee’s super fund to successfully get their first super contribution.

This is a significant change for employers and proactive steps should be taken to:

• Review payroll systems to evaluate current processes and software capabilities.
• Check your payroll systems can handle more frequent superannuation payments and comply with the reporting requirements.
• Enhance cash flow planning with a view to monitoring upcoming super obligations closely to avoid cash flow concerns.

Please contact our office if you require further clarification and/or assistance

Employers should start preparing for the permanent closure of the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (‘SBSCH’) on 1 July 2026.

• By acting now to find an alternative service, employers will:
• have an established process in place to pay super guarantee (‘SG’) for the March and June quarters (if they currently pay quarterly);
• reduce the risk of late payment of SG for the June 2026 quarter due date (28 July), as the SBSCH will be already closed;
• have more time to set up their business cash flow to enable frequent
  payments of SG;
• have finalised payments and downloaded any reports from the SBSCH before it closes permanently.

Employers who are still using the SBSCH should be aware of the following key dates.

• 10 December 2025 — Super payments, along with instructions, must be received by 5.30 pm AEDT on this date. The ATO says payments received after this time will be processed from 2 January 2026.
• 28 January 2026 — December 2025 SG quarterly payments due date.
• February to March 2026 — Employers should move to an alternative option to the SBSCH.
• 28 April 2026 — March 2026 SG quarterly payments due date.
• 30 June 2026 — Final day for employers to use the service, make any final payments and download reports.
• 1 July 2026 — SBSCH is no longer available.

Employers may already have other options readily available so they can exit from using the SBSCH ahead of time.

Employers should check their existing software and payroll packages, as they may already include super functions they can use to pay SG.

Otherwise, employers can look for options from super funds or digital service providers offering payroll services, software or commercial clearing houses.

For further information please contact our office.

The ATO is ‘detecting and addressing’ recurring errors in specific industries when businesses have a turnover between $1 million and $10 million.

These industries include property and construction (including builders, contractors and tradies), and professional, scientific and technical services (including engineering, design, IT and consulting professionals).

In these industries, the ATO continues to see recurring issues, including:

• omitted sales and income in BAS and tax returns, including income from related entities;
• overclaimed expenses and GST credits;
• private expenses incorrectly reported as business-related, or not
  properly apportioned between business and personal use;
• failure to register for GST when required;
• incorrect claims for the research and development (R&D) tax incentive offset, especially for activities that do not meet the eligibility criteria;
• not seeking independent advice from a registered tax agent, particularly in head contractor/subcontractor arrangements.

By sharing the issues that it is seeing, the ATO hopes to help taxpayers running a small business in one of these (or other) industries to avoid common errors and get it right from the start.

From August 2025, the ATO is progressively including ‘debts on hold’ in relevant taxpayer ATO account balances.

A ‘debt on hold’ is an outstanding tax debt where the ATO has previously paused debt collection actions. Tax debts will generally be placed on hold should the ATO decide it is not cost effective to collect the debt at the time.

From August 2025, the ATO will begin including debts placed on hold in the taxpayer’s ATO account balances.  However, only debts placed on hold post 1 January 2017 will be reinstated to the client’s ATO account.

Taxpayers with ‘debts on hold’ of $100 or more will receive (or Kelly & Associates will receive) a letter before it is added to their ATO account balance.  The balance can be viewed in the ATO’s online services or the statement of account.

Taxpayers with a ‘debt on hold’ of less than $100 will not receive a letter, but the debt will be included in their ATO account balance.

Importantly, the ATO will begin charging the general interest charge (‘GIC’) six months from the day the taxpayer’s ‘debt on hold’ has been included in their account balance.

Clients are advised to contact our office should they have a debt on hold and wish to discuss their options.

Legislation has recently been enacted to reduce student loan debts. In summary:

• there is a one-off 20% reduction to Higher Education Loan Program debts and other student loans that were incurred on or before 1 June 2025;
• the minimum repayment threshold is increased from $54,435 in the 2024/25 income year to $67,000 in the 2025/26 income year (to continue to increase each year with the growth in wages); and
• a marginal repayment system has been introduced where compulsory student loan repayments are calculated only on income above the new $67,000 threshold (rather than having it based on a percentage of the repayment income).

Notably, the ATO will apply the one-off 20% reduction, and individuals do not need to take any action.

The car limit for the 2026 income year is $69,674.  This is the highest value that a taxpayer can use to calculate depreciation on a car where they use the car for work or business purposes and they first use or lease the car in the 2026 income year.

If a taxpayer is buying a car and the price is more than the car limit, the highest input tax (GST) credit they can claim (except in certain circumstances) is one-eleventh of the car limit.  For the 2026 income year, the highest input tax credit they can claim is $6,334 (i.e., one-eleventh of $69,674).

The luxury car tax (‘LCT’) threshold for the 2026 income year is $91,387 for fuel-efficient vehicles, and $80,567 for all other luxury vehicles.

Input tax credits need to be claimed within the four year time limit.  A taxpayer cannot claim an input tax credit for luxury car tax when they buy a luxury car, even if they use it for business purposes.

We are pleased to introduce our team of accountants who will be completing the bulk of our individual tax returns this year.  Kaylie and David will be overseeing the process with assistance from Ashleigh, Kathryn, Jordan, Christian and Sarah.

As always, we are available for face-to-face consultations as well as offering a remote service.  Our remote service has continued to be popular with clients and includes phone appointments and Microsoft Teams meetings.

Please contact reception to book your face-to-face or remote service appointment on (03) 5224 1022.

Information for your 2024/25 tax return can be emailed directly to your accountant or to reception@kellyassoc.com.au.  Alternatively, we can provide a secure link upon your request, allowing you to safely deliver sensitive taxation information to us electronically.  Please note that payment summaries no longer need to be provided as we can access them from the ATO portal.

To further assist with tax preparation this year, we have provided an Individual Tax Return Checklist and a complementary Tax Data Organiser to help gather and compile your tax information.  The ATO website also provides some helpful deduction guides that are specific to particular occupations and industries: Occupation & Industry Specific Guide Occupation & Industry Specific Guide

Where appropriate, we are using DocuSign for signing and returning documents.  Please keep an eye out for documents sent to you via DocuSign and contact our office if you require any assistance with the signing program.

We look forward to assisting with all your taxation needs for the 2024/25 tax year!