Tax
H&M; inks tax deal
Madeleine Heffernan 12:32 AM Fast-fashion retailer is one of a growing number of multinationals locking in their Australian tax.
Tax cuts in limbo as Tax Office says 'no'
![Bond investors are just happy to get their money back and are not worried about earning any interest](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/j/c/0/o/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpvz3h.png/1467791111173.jpg)
Peter Martin Tax cuts promised from Friday July 1 will fail to arrive for up to a year after the Tax Office confirmed it won't be changing its tax schedules to accommodate the prime minister.
Company tax cuts 'built on uncertain foundations'
![Economic modeller Chris Murphy ran the numbers for the Treasury.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/v/m/9/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpvh62.png/1467287501055.jpg)
Peter Martin, Mark Kenny Claims of a boost to living standards from the government's planned company tax cuts rest largely on a dramatic reduction in tax avoidance, a new analysis shows.
Changes for your hip pocket loom
![Many financial thresholds change from July 1.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/s/q/0/a/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpsppf.png/1467080755536.jpg)
John Collett As the start of the financial year approaches there is always a raft of changes in taxes and thresholds.
WELL HEELED
How to max your tax refund
![Get your tax affairs in order before toasting the new financial year.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/n/y/o/d/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpsk3h.png/1467074349685.jpg)
Melissa Browne Making sure you're financially organised is the key to ensuring you maximise your tax return and receive your refund as soon as possible.
Run for health cover before June 30
![Only hospital cover counts for avoiding the Medicare Levy Surcharge or Lifetime Health Cover.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/d/3/c/m/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpsoig.png/1467174237289.jpg)
Laura Crowden Amid the mid-year stocktake sales and car dealership runouts is a notion that it is rather important - to sort out private health insurance before June 30.
TAX TIME
Giving clubs change face of philanthropy
![Bryony Green and Sarah Wickham, co-founders of Good Mob.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/n/4/o/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpn1y9.png/1466558105143.jpg)
Christine Long Many people will make spontaneous donations to charity before the end of the financial year, but Bryony Green and others like her will be banding together for more "purposeful and planned" giving.
ELECTION 2016
The election outcome and your finances
![The outcome of the election could have a big effect on your hip pocket.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/o/g/k/c/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpkgo2.png/1467595420909.jpg)
Leo D'Angelo Fisher That unsettling prickling sensation many of you will be feeling right now is just your hip-pocket nerve reacting as July 2 nears.
Tax
What the ATO is cracking down on at tax time
![About 8.5 million Australians claim $19.7 billion in work-related expenses each year.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/i/i/h/j/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpji1b.png/1466163863972.jpg)
Nassim Khadem Each year about 12.4 million Australians claim more $30 billion in deductions against their income, now the ATO is cracking down.
INSIGHT
Why bracket creep is here to stay
![<P>](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/3/7/0/l/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpe3dl.png/1465892672634.jpg)
Clancy Yeates For all the fuss about bracket creep, its impact is often overestimated.
MONEY BRAIN
Does tax make us behave like monkeys?
![This common squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) has an aversion to loss similar to humans.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/7/o/v/p/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpf30m.png/1465691927751.jpg)
Catherine Robson The end of the financial year is a time for financial reflection and proactive planning.
WELL HEELED
Make most of your tax situation
![If you have children, make sure you don't accidentally go over a threshold and lose your family payments.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/8/m/4/o/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpeiij.png/1467341745685.jpg)
Melissa Browne Many people are quick to complain about how changes to our tax system will affect them, but they won't do anything about it.
This time it's the Coalition promising things it can't afford
![Peter Martin dinkus](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/q/y/b/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpd30x.png/1467849790124.jpg)
Peter Martin Labor ought to consider reversioning the old 1980's AIDS slogan: "I like sex, but I'm not prepared to die for it."
TAX
Accountants using offshore outsourcing
![Many Australians are paying a premium for their tax returns but are unaware the work is being outsourced offshore.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/9/g/d/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gp9g5j.png/1465353756437.jpg)
Jo Stewart Australian consumers are used to the offshore call centre when dealing with telcos. But would you expect your accountant to outsource your tax return to a cheap outfit overseas?
Your checklist for tax time
![Three weeks to go before the end of the financial year.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/c/z/y/e/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gp8kpf.png/1465352912809.jpg)
Sally Patten With just three weeks to go before the end of the financial year, sprinters have limited time to get their financial affairs in order before the taxman comes calling
WELL HEELED
How to value start-up share options
![If you're being offered equity in a start-up, you need to understand how the pie is being carved up. Illustration: Karl ...](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/c/b/2/n/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gp3prj.png/1464690241201.jpg)
Melissa Browne If you're tossing up whether to work for a start-up you need to understand how share options work.
ASSET CHECK
Time to reduce your tax bill
![Given the uncertainty over tax cuts, it might be better for middle and high-income earners to claim more tax deductions ...](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/x/f/w/0/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gp3jyw.png/1464316535783.jpg)
Daryl Dixon ​With the end of the tax year looming, now's the time to implement strategies to reduce this year's taxation bills.
Negative gearing report linked to Morrison ally
![Treasurer Scott Morrison has been advised to stick to his day job and not be an amateur YouTube director by Bill Shorten.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/r/y/n/j/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gp1c04.png/1465967749288.jpg)
James Massola and Peter Martin Draft report makes bold claims that have alarmed some of the people it has been circulated to.
Hard to see clearly with so much ink
![Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/k/s/w/z/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gp200e.png/1464067557996.jpg)
Peter Martin Attack a squid and it squirts out ink. That could be why we are suddenly awash with reports on negative gearing.
'Aussie John' is wrong. Here's why
![John Symond has been backed by Malcolm Turnbull.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/4/v/a/j/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gow6tp.png/1463463394464.jpg)
Peter Martin ''Aussie John'' has got it wrong. Labor isn't planning to hit negative gearing on all established housing overnight.
Negative gearing's hidden taxpayer cost
![Negative gearing is falsely accused of driving house investment activity, experts say.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/c/t/2/j/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goubz7.png/1464276268959.jpg)
Peter Martin Taxpayers who negatively gear cost other taxpayers an average of $310 per year, a new analysis of Tax Office data shows.
BUDGET 2016
Budget 2016: max tax bang for buck
![It's time to start thinking about tax deductions.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/9/u/k/o/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goltxt.png/1462408741350.jpg)
Melissa Browne An accountant shares tax strategies arising from the 2016 federal budget for individuals, businesses, and employees.
$80,000 is anything but average Scott Morrison
![Treasurer Scott Morrison addresses the media during a doorstop interview ahead of Budget day.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/j/a/l/0/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goj9w7.png/1462168638133.jpg)
Peter Martin If Scott Morrison thinks that by offering tax cuts to Australians earning more than $80,000 he is helping average workers, he doesn't know much about what an average worker earns.
NEGATIVE GEARING
How investors outgun first home buyers
![<p>](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/z/o/m/3/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gogx87.png/1467720745411.jpg)
Caitlin Fitzsimmons It's not just that one in three buyers are investors, it's also that they're disproportionately competing with first-home buyers.
Turnbull out on a limb over negative gearing
![Perhaps perplexed by the sudden invite to connect on LinkedIn, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is yet to respond.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/d/s/5/0/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goeoj3.png/1461806494068.jpg)
Peter Martin You've heard the one about the one-year-old who's buying a house.
Tax benefits for top earners cost $11b
![Negative gearing and foreign investment make things tougher for new households, one academic says.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/4/8/8/3/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goeef5.png/1462779308884.jpg)
Peter Martin Surgeons, anesthetists, finance managers and lawyers will be the overwhelming beneficiaries of the Turnbull government's decision not to touch negative gearing in the budget, research shows.
Still time to defuse the super time bomb
![Malcolm Turnbull's government had the opportunity to make the super contribution permanent but chose not.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/a/i/a/z/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goc1ae.png/1461303375172.jpg)
Peter Martin Australia's tax system is set to skew toward the rich unless this government or the next intervenes.
Morrison needs a reality check on tax
![Treasurer Scott Morrison during a joint press conference wirh Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer Kelly ...](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/a/l/u/a/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goady9.png/1461325542035.jpg)
Peter Martin The government's theme for selling the budget reads like a Seinfeld script.
Coalition plans tougher crackdown on super to outflank Labor
![Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited a building site in Belconnen Canberra on Monday 19 April 2016.](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/a/0/q/z/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.go9u61.png/1461134820019.jpg)
Peter Martin The Turnbull government is preparing to trump Labor in the budget, cracking down harder on high-income superannuation tax concessions to raise four times as much.
TAX
Easy tax deductions you've probably forgotten
![Have you kept a checklist?](/web/20160708155137im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/0/9/7/0/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.go5ba3.png/1461110893026.jpg)
Kate Cowling Beyond the handbag or man bag, there are easy deductions taxpayers miss every year.