Welcome to the September edition of our Newsletter.
August has come and gone and saw me attend the Cleve Field Days, or Eyre Peninsula Field Days perhaps more correctly. I thoroughly enjoy attending this bi-annual event and catching up with clients and seeing the changes in the agri-industry. The technological advancements are amazing to witness. Boom sprays fitted with camera technology whereby every four spray nozzles have a dedicated camera which identifies weeds and adjusts the spray nozzles as required. The biggest headers you have ever seen, with New Holland showing off their giant new CR 10 and CR 11 harvesters full of tech and hoppers that can hold up to 20 tonne and with the CR 11 boasting a massive 775HP engine.
Aerial spraying technology using drones is fast being developed, with drones being utilised for commercial harvest spraying on the EP already. The grain marketing space remains competitive with multiple strategies available to farmers to maximise their returns through the various sale methods now being offered.
This past month the ATO has issued draft guidance on its approach to personal services income and interposed entities. Practical Compliance Guide (PCG) 2024/D2 was published on 28 August, 2024. It demonstrates the ATO’s compliance approach to contractors who provide predominantly personal services through a company or trust and then split or retain income to reduce their otherwise overall tax liability. Contractors operating through Companies or Trusts that derive the vast majority of their income from charging for their personal services should be careful not to fall foul of the guidelines by splitting income with a spouse or using a ‘dump company’ to either receive or retain income.
Also on the ATO front, there has been advice that the ATO is purchasing data from software companies that provide property management software. The purpose of this is to undertake data matching in an attempt to identify taxpayers that may not be returning their rental income and expenditure in an accurate manner.
The continued rise of the use of software and technology coupled with the advances in artificial intelligence will mean much of our lives will be open to scrutiny far more easily than ever before. How this lack of privacy and control over your personal information impacts into the future will be certainly something to watch closely.
I otherwise am hoping some good spring rains come and help our rural sector out who are experiencing some pretty dry times across the State and hope you enjoy this month’s newsletter.
I hope you all have a healthy, happy and successful September; as always if you have any questions or concerns in areas where we may be able to assist, feel free to give us a call, as we say… we’re here to help!
Please telephone our main office number on (08) 8231 6100 or email reception@ezralegal.com.au.
For information on the range of legal advice and services that we provide, head to:
Michael Fabbro
Practice Principal
Ezra Legal
