Your reportable super contributions are the sum of any of the following:

Personal deductible contributions you may have made ( Your personal deductible contributions include any personal contributions you made to a super fund for which you can claim an income tax deduction on your individual tax return.)

Promoters of arrangements to access superannuation savings has attracted ATO attention.

Except in some very specific circumstances, you cannot access your super savings until you reach retirement age (which is between age 55 and 60, depending on your date of birth.)

The specific circumstances in which you can access your super savings early are very limited and tightly restricted - these are mainly related to specific medical conditions or when you are experiencing severe financial hardship.

If you run your own business and have bought or are thinking about buying or leasing a company car, make sure you consider your fringe benefits tax (FBT) obligations.

Recent checks of luxury cars by the Tax Office found that many company owned or leased cars used by employees didn't account for FBT - resulting in some hefty tax bills for employers.

The Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS) will be closed to new entrants from 20 September 2009.

To register for the PBS you must first qualify for the Age Pension before 20 September 2009. Therefore, only men over the age of 65 and women over 63.5 years are eligible to register.

Note that you do not need to be eligible for the Age Pension at the time of registration. The pension bonus is calculated based on your Age Pension entitlement when you apply to receive the Age Pension for the first time.

[ Download a prinatble PDF version of this list here ]

When you come in to see us at A Grade Tax, please bring the following items to assist us in completing your tax return:

Employment Deductions

As announced in the May 2008 Federal Budget, from 1st July 2009 income tests used to determine eligibility for a range of government financial benefits will change.  From this date, salary sacrified contributions to superannuation will be counted as income for the following:

• Family assistance
• Child support
• Eligibility for the superannuation co-contribution
• Various tax offsets:  and
• Medicare levy surcharge

The Education Tax Refund (ETR) is a new government initiative to help with the cost of educating primary and secondary school children. It means eligible parents, carers, legal guardians and independent students could get 50% back on some education expenses. This includes items like computers, educational software, textbooks and stationery.

Tax bonus payment

• If your 2007-08 taxable income was up to and including $80,000 the bonus is $900
• If your income exceeded $80,000 but did not exceed $90,000 the bonus is $600
• If your income exceeded $90,000 but did not exceed $100,000 the bonus is $250.