{"id":5483,"date":"2021-02-17T16:36:53","date_gmt":"2021-02-17T05:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mnygroup.wpengine.com\/?p=5483"},"modified":"2025-02-01T17:44:58","modified_gmt":"2025-02-01T06:44:58","slug":"natural-disasters-and-help-with-your-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/en\/natural-disasters-and-help-with-your-tax\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural Disasters and Help with Your Tax"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 14.4px;\"><nav aria-label=\"breadcrumbs\" class=\"rank-math-breadcrumb\"><p><span class=\"last\">Home<\/span><\/p><\/nav><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Now that we are into bushfire season, and with flooding events having already occurred, it is perhaps timely to be reminded that as well as the more obvious immediate devastation inflicted on people\u2019s property, destructive events such as fires or floods can also mean loss of income for the affected people. This can come about not only directly, but also in terms of damage done to workplaces, income-earning tools of trade, vehicles and essentials such as computers and other equipment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-5484 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Natural-Disasters-and-Help-with-Your-Tax-1024x578.png\" alt=\"Natural Disasters and Help with Your Tax\" width=\"1020\" height=\"576\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The ATO says that if you are affected by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ato.gov.au\/tax-professionals\/your-practice\/tax-and-bas-agents\/natural-disasters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">natural disaster<\/a>, such as bushfires, floods or storms, there is generally no need to worry about your tax affairs right away. It says it will give you time to deal with your more immediate problems first, and has a dedicated phone number (1800 806 218) to provide information about what support it can offer.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">MORE TIME TO LODGE, PAY AND RESPOND<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The ATO says that your tax obligations can generally be put to one side until you have dealt with the immediate effects of the disaster \u2013 whether you are affected yourself or are helping those affected. It can allow more time to settle tax debts, or if you are unable to lodge your return or activity statement, or cannot immediately deal with any other correspondence that may be currently on the table.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The ATO also says that if a business owner is unable to lodge a superannuation guarantee charge (SGC) statement, it can give you more time to lodge, although you will still be liable for the SGC and the nominal interest component will continue to accrue. You may be able to vary the amount of your next instalment if you are liable to pay under the Pay-As-You-Go instalments system.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">EARLY ACCESS TO YOUR MONEY<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you are expecting a refund from an income tax return or activity statement, the ATO may be able to arrange for your refund to be issued as a priority. In limited circumstances, you may be able to access your superannuation to assist you and your dependants, but special consideration will need to be sought.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">After a natural disaster, it may be the case that you receive assistance from government authorities, charitable institutions, employers, your family, a trade union or other sources. Most one-off assistance payments are tax free, but regular Centrelink payments remain taxable.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">DAMAGED OR DESTROYED PROPERTY<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If your property is damaged or destroyed in a disaster, you may receive an insurance payout if you had appropriate cover. How this is treated for tax purposes depends\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">on the typ<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">e of property and whether or not the property is income-producing. Repairs to income-producing properties are generally tax deductible in the year you incur them. However, this depends on <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">the work you do restores it to its original condition or goes beyond remedying the damage to the point where it is an improvement or a complete replacement. <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Significant capital gains tax concessions may also apply. Talk to us for guidance in this regard.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">RECONSTRUCTING YOUR TAX RECORDS<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If your records have been lost or destroyed \u2014 whether you are an individual, in business, or responsible for a self-managed superannuation fund \u2014 talk to <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">this office about how we can help. The ATO can also provide assistance to help reconstruct your tax records and make reasonable estimates where necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">FUEL TAX CREDITS FOR INDIVIDUALS, BUSINESSES AND OTHERS<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Following a disaster, you may need to use taxable<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> fuel (such as diesel or petrol) for generating electricity for domestic purposes; you may then be eligible to claim fuel tax credits. Businesses that are registered for goods and services tax (GST) can claim credits for the fuel tax included in the price of fuel used in eligible business activities to run machinery, plant, equipment and heavy vehicles. Non-profit organisations that are not registered for GST can claim credits for fuel used in operating emergency vehicles or vessels. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-5488 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Natural-Disasters-and-Help-with-Your-Tax-Fast-Help-1.png\" alt=\"Natural Disasters and Help with Your Tax- Fast Help\" width=\"285\" height=\"437\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Natural-Disasters-and-Help-with-Your-Tax-Fast-Help-1.png 341w, https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Natural-Disasters-and-Help-with-Your-Tax-Fast-Help-1-196x300.png 196w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 285px) 100vw, 285px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/\">www.mnygroup.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #999999;\"><em>This information has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Because of this, you should, before acting on this information, consider its appropriateness, having regard to your objectives, financial situation or needs.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ATO says that if you are affected by natural disaster, such as bushfires, floods or storms, there is generally no need to worry about your tax affairs right away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1690],"tags":[1410],"class_list":["post-5483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-taxation-news","tag-ato-administration","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-20"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mnygroup.com.au\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}