In his second Budget, the Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg has unleashed $300bn to support the economy and get growth back on track. With Australia’s unemployment rate at a 22-year high, it’s no surprise that this Budget is all about job recovery. To encourage private enterprise and businesses of all sizes to hire new employees the government announced some significant business measures including extension of small business tax concessions, outright deductions of capital assets until 30 June 2022, loss carry-back, and clarification of the corporate residency test.

The ATO has outlined options for businesses struggling with the economic downturn including deduction of business losses and offsetting losses in future years. It is also assisting taxpayers with waiving interest and penalties in certain circumstances.

The maximum number of allowable members for SMSFs could soon increase from 4 to 6 if a recently reintroduced Bill passes Parliament. The Bill was previously a part of the 2018-19 Budget measures and was aimed at providing more flexibility to many SMSFs with aging members and larger families. By allowing more members, the government envisions that SMSFs will become a part of intergenerational solutions for managing long-term investments.

o combat phoenixing and other black economy activities, a new regime of director identification numbers (DINs) will come into effect in the near future. The new regime requires all directors to confirm their identity and will be a unique identifier for each person who is a director or elects to become a director.

Australian consumer law protects people who purchase goods from Australian companies, but what recourse do you have for a refund when you’ve bought something from a foreign business that has little or no physical presence in Australia? A recent Full Federal Court case has set a precedent for foreign-based businesses to abide by the Australia consumer law in most circumstances.