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News

Interest Rates Update

  While variable interest rates are continuing to rise, with another 0.50% increase earlier this week, some lenders are actually cutting their fixed rates. Lenders started increasing their variable rates in May, once the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) began increasing its cash rate. However, lenders increased their fixed rates much earlier, in anticipation of future rate hikes and ...
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Tax Returns Are Ready

tax ready
Taxpayers' tax returns are ready to be lodged, as more than 80 million pieces of information are available in pre-fill.   The Australian Taxation Office said much of the information it collects from employers, banks, private health insurers, share registries, and other institutions have now been loaded into people's tax returns.   "While having this data ready to go cuts dow...
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ATO Cracking Down On Shadow Economy

The ATO is cracking down on the shadow economy by using tip-offs from members of the public. The Australian Taxation Office said it had received 43,000 tip-offs about black economy behaviour in the last financial year, with the most common reports being for businesses: Demanding cash from customers Paying workers in cash Making sales but not declaring them The industries that ...
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Businesses Are Hit With Staff Shortages

31% of businesses are hit with staff shortages according to a survey. The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted a survey of about 2,000 businesses in June and found that 620 were having difficulty finding suitable staff. This trend is definitely also something that we at Australian Loans Group have observed and heard about from our many business owner clients. The most common re...
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Homebuilding Activity At Record Highs, But Future Volume Will Be Much Lower

Homebuilding activity is at a record high, but this trend has definitely reversed. A record 143,037 new house builds were started in the year to March, according to the most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. However, when observing the trnd of completed houses vs commenced houses, we can see that they are heading in opposite directions. This suggests that while existing buil...
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FY22 Tax Returns | ATO Warning

Ato Form and pen
  The Australian Taxation Office warned small businesses that it will focus on three main areas when assessing the FY22 tax returns.   The first area the ATO plans to examine closely is overclaiming on expenses and claiming deductions for private expenses that are unrelated to business income.   The second area is the potential omission of certain income streams, such...
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How To Cope With Rising Interest Rates

Interest rates may be rising, but Reserve Bank deputy governor Michele Bullock is confident most borrowers will be able to cope. One reason for her confidence is that "household balance sheets are in very good shape", because the average household is ahead on their mortgage and has considerable equity in their home. Ms Bullock also noted lending standards have increased in recent years...
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Selling Commercial Property? Get Legal Advice

When selling commercial property, it is important to seek legal advice first. Every business knows the importance of ‘buyer beware’ when purchasing a commercial property. But it’s also vital to meet certain legal obligations when you're the vendor.   Otherwise, the buyer might have grounds to cancel the deal or take legal action.   The vendor is required to disclose all mat...
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Is It Better To Buy Or Rent?

If you’re wondering whether it’s cheaper to buy or rent, a new report has answered that question. Now, bear in mind that interest rates are obviously on the way up at the moment, and that these figures are changing rapidly. However, it's not all doom and gloom out there. Even with slightly higher interest rates, there are properties that make good sense when comparing to the cost of renting. ...
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Australia’s Economy Gets Big Tick

Australia's economy is officially one of the strongest in the world. That’s after Moody’s affirmed Australia’s AAA credit rating, making Australia one of only nine countries in the world to have a AAA credit rating with the three major ratings agencies. "Australia's economy continues to demonstrate resilience, underpinned by its scale, diversity and high incomes, as well as its highly fl...
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