Dear Client,

With the growth of our practice, it will assist us if you could ring and make an appointment for the preparation of your 2009 Tax Return.

Please review the following checklist to ensure you bring everything to assist me to maximise your refund. [ Tax Return Checklist ]

Medical Rebate: If you or your family has had out of pocket medical expenses in excess of $1,500 you may be able to claim a 20% tax rebate on the amount in excess of $1,500.

A trust is a relationship where a trustee (an individual or a company) carries on a business for the benefit of a range of people (the beneficiaries). It is commonplace for the trustee of a trust to be a company (a corporate trustee) for asset protection purposes.

The Australian Tax Office has published a Superannuation Guarantee Ruling which changes the definition of "Ordinary Time Earnings" (OTE) used to calculate employers Superannuation Guarantee obligations.

Under the ruling, OTE means all earnings from "ordinary hours of work". Salary and wages paid in the "ordinary hours of work" do not extend to overtime payments, according to the ruling.

The ruling also maintains that all types of bonuses are now to be included in OTE other than:

There has been a change to the fuel tax credit rate for fuel used in heavy vehicles travelling on a public road. The rate to use when calculating claims will depend on when the fuel was acquired. This means:

• For fuel acquired from 1 January 2009 use the new rate of 17.143 cents per litre
• For fuel acquired before 1 January 2009 use the old rate of 18.51 cents per litre.

The Government has issued a new $4.7bn economic package to stimulate business investment and encourage capital expenditure.

As part of this the Government has introduced the following ‘capital investment allowances’ in relation to ‘depreciable assets’ (plant, equipment and motor vehicles) acquired between 13 December 2008 and 30 June 2009. To be eligible the assets must be ‘installed ready for use’ by 30 June 2010. This means: