Fuel Tax Credit Changes 2023-2024

Fuel Tax Credit Changes 2023-2024

Fuel Tax Credit Changes 2023-2024

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Fuel Tax Credit Rates

Remember, the rate that applies is based on the date you acquired the fuel.

Rates for Fuel Acquired from 1 August 2023 to 4 February 2024

Eligible Fuel Type Use in Heavy Vehicles (cents per litre) All Other Business Uses (cents per litre)
Liquid Fuels (e.g., diesel or petrol) 20.0 48.8
Blended Fuels (B5, B20, E10) 20.0 48.8
Blended Fuel (E85) 0

20.92

 

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) (duty paid) 0 15.9
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) (duty paid) 0 33.4 (cents per kilogram)
B100 0 13.0

Rates for Fuel Acquired from 1 July 2023 to 31 July 2023

Eligible Fuel Type

 

Use in Heavy Vehicles (cents per litre)

All Other Business Uses (cents per litre)

Liquid Fuels (e.g., diesel or petrol)

18.9

 

47.7

 

Blended Fuels (B5, B20, E10)

18.9

 

47.7

 

Blended Fuel (E85)

 

20.415

 

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) (duty paid)

0

15.6

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) (duty paid)

0

32.7 (cents per kilogram)

B100

0

12.7

 

Note 1: As of 1 November 2019, the rate for heavy vehicles includes fuel used to power passenger air-conditioning of buses and coaches.

Note 2: Claims for packaging or supplying fuel can use the ‘all other business uses’ rate for the appropriate eligible fuel type.

Note 3: Fuel tax credit rates will change for fuel used in a heavy vehicle for travelling on a public road due to changes in the road user charge. The heavy vehicle road user charge will increase by 6 percent each year over 3 years from 28.8 cents per litre for petrol and diesel in 2023–24, to 30.5 cents per litre in 2024–25 and to 32.4 cents per litre in 2025–26.

Note 4: The road user charge rate for gaseous fuels per kilogram will increase from 38.5 cents per kilogram in 2023–24, to 40.8 cents per kilogram in 2024–25, and to 43.2 cents per kilogram in 2025–26. Currently, the road user charge reduces fuel tax credits for gaseous fuels to nil.

We encourage you to use the fuel tax credit calculator provided by the ATO to accurately report on your Business Activity Statement (BAS). This tool will incorporate the latest rates and provide a straightforward calculation process.

For more information contact us on (03)58 333 000

Need more help or information?

Click the link below to contact us at Plus 1.

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Closed Public Holidays

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T: (03) 5833 3000
F: (03) 5831 2988
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The Road Ahead – The Importance of Financial Planning in the Trucking Industry 

The Road Ahead – The Importance of Financial Planning in the Trucking Industry 

The Road Ahead – The Importance of Financial Planning in the Trucking Industry

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Financial planning plays a crucial role in the success and sustainability of any business, and the trucking industry is no exception. Trucking companies face unique challenges and opportunities due to the nature of their operations, making effective financial planning even more vital.  

 

In this blog, we will explore why financial planning is essential for trucking companies. We will also highlight how the Plus 1 Group, a team of expert business advisers and transport accountants based in Shepparton, VIC, can assist trucking businesses with their financial planning and ensure a successful and profitable operation. 

Mitigating Risks 

The trucking industry is subject to various risks such as volatile fuel prices, regulatory changes, and unpredictable market conditions. By engaging in thorough financial planning, trucking companies can identify and assess these risks, enabling them to develop strategies to mitigate their impact. Plus 1 Group, as experienced business advisers in Shepparton, can provide expert insights and guidance to help trucking companies navigate potential risks and uncertainties effectively. 

Maximising Profitability 

Efficient financial planning allows trucking businesses to optimise their operations and maximise profitability. By analysing key financial data, such as fuel costs, maintenance expenses, and driver wages, businesses can identify areas for improvement and implement cost-saving measures. Plus 1 Group’s transport accountants in Shepparton have a deep understanding of the trucking industry’s financial intricacies and can provide tailored advice to enhance profitability. 

Creating a Solid Foundation for Growth 

Financial planning provides a solid foundation for long-term growth and expansion. By setting realistic financial goals, trucking companies can align their strategies accordingly and allocate resources effectively. Plus 1 Group, as trusted financial planning experts in Shepparton, can assist trucking businesses in creating comprehensive financial plans that take into account growth objectives, market dynamics and industry trends. 

Compliance and Tax Planning 

The trucking industry is subject to numerous regulations and tax requirements. Failing to comply with these obligations can lead to penalties and legal complications. By engaging the services of experienced transport accountants, like Plus 1 Group, trucking companies can ensure compliance with relevant regulations while optimising their tax planning strategies. This ensures that businesses remain in good standing with the ATO and take advantage of available tax incentives. 

Financial Planning is the Smart Choice 

Financial planning is of utmost importance in the trucking industry, enabling businesses to navigate challenges, capitalise on opportunities, and achieve sustainable growth. By partnering with Plus 1 Group, business advisers, and transport accountants based in Shepparton, Victoria, trucking companies operating in Melbourne and Sydney can benefit from our expertise in financial planning and ensure a solid financial foundation for their success. Whether it’s mitigating risks, maximising profitability, or ensuring compliance, effective financial planning is essential for the long-term success of your trucking business. 

 Speak to the Experts at Plus 1 Group 

Want to know more? Email or call our friendly team at Plus 1 Group on (03) 5833 3000 and we’d be happy to answer your questions and arrange a no obligation consultation.  

Need more help or information?

Click the link below to contact us at Plus 1.

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Monday to Friday
8:00am to 5:00pm

Closed Public Holidays

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If you need to get us documents quickly, access remote support, or the MYOB Portal click the button above.

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T: (03) 5833 3000
F: (03) 5831 2988
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Single Touch Payroll Finalisations by 14th July

Single Touch Payroll Finalisations by 14th July

Single Touch Payroll Finalisations by 14th July

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Here is a summary of the ATO article about STP Finalisations before July 14th. To find the full article, click here.

Single Touch Payroll (STP) requires employers to submit an annual finalisation declaration by July 14. This process ensures that employees can access their income information to complete their tax returns. If an employer is unable to make the declaration by this date, they must apply for a deferral.

Following successful finalisation of employee information through STP, employers are exempt from providing payment summaries to employees and from lodging a payment summary annual report. For payments not reported via STP, employers must continue to provide payment summaries and lodge annual reports.

Several common issues can arise when making a finalisation declaration, including inaccuracies in the year-to-date (YTD) amounts, finalising records for the wrong financial year, and omitting some employees in the finalisation declaration. Employers must be diligent in checking these details.

Changing payroll software or Payroll IDs within the financial year requires careful steps to ensure accurate income statements. Proper transition helps avoid overstating income.

For employers with closely held payees, the rules vary depending on the employer’s size and the mix of payees. In some cases, the finalisation due date extends to September 30.

If amendments are necessary after submitting a finalisation declaration, they should be lodged promptly. Employees should be informed about these changes, especially if they’ve already lodged their tax returns.

Employees should be informed that they can access their year-to-date and end-of-year income statements online via myGov, and that their income statement will change status to ‘tax ready’ after the employer has made the finalisation declaration. Employees should be advised to wait until their income statement is ‘tax ready’ before lodging their tax return.

Need more help or information?

Click the link below to contact us at Plus 1.

Open Hours

Monday to Friday
8:00am to 5:00pm

Closed Public Holidays

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If you need to get us documents quickly, access remote support, or the MYOB Portal click the button above.

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27 Welsford Street
Shepparton, VIC 3630

T: (03) 5833 3000
F: (03) 5831 2988
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Superannuation Critical Alert

Superannuation Critical Alert

Superannuation Critical Alert – June Quarter due 28th July, 2023

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June Update

Your employee’s super contribution is only considered ‘paid’ on the date it’s received by the super fund. Not the date it’s received by the clearing house.

In light of this, we encourage employers to make their payments at least 5-7 working days before the due date.

Payments for the June quarter (April through to June) are due no later than July 28th.

With Single Touch Payroll and reporting from Super Funds, the ATO is now able to identify late superannuation payments and will contact employers in breach.

Significant penalties will apply.

Payment Dates

With the ATO amnesty on superannuation payments no longer in effect, it is absolutely critical that your superannuation payments for employees are made before the due date as it can take up to a week to process.

Superannuation due dates for the remainder of the year are:

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Why does it matter if I am late?

There are significant penalties and interest payable, even if you are just late by 1-2 days. This includes;

  • General Interest at 10%
  • Superannuation payable on all earnings (not just Ordinary time)
  • Administrations fees of $20 per person per quarter
  • Penalties of up to 200% of total superannuation payable for your employees
  • These penalties are not tax deductible

By Law, if your payment is made late or you pay the wrong amount, you must complete and lodge a superannuation guarantee charge statement and pay the SGC charge as soon as possible.

The ATO are showing no leniency in this area. With the ATO receiving payroll information from all employers via the single touch payroll reporting, they are able to data match against the super stream records to determine any incorrect amounts or payments not made.

Failure to identify & report a late or incorrect payment will result in additional penalties being applied with these backdated to the original due date. As one employer found out just recently;

A recent case reported by the ATO identified an employer who only paid a portion of their quarterly superannuation liability on time. They paid the balance a week later. The amount paid late was $140,000. As the employer failed to also lodge a SGC report to identify & declare this, fees and penalties were applied. The payment required to be made by the Employer was just over $550,000. This was nearly 4 times the original amount due for being 1 week late.

It is critical that superannuation payments are made before the due date and for the full amount due.

Like we do at Plus 1, employers can choose to make payments more regularly, such as monthly or fortnightly to help ease the cash flow burden and reduce the risk of not paying on time.

Regardless of how payments are made, ultimate responsibility for ensuring they are paid on time, accurately and into the correct superannuation funds, always rests with the employer.

Just recently, the federal government announced that from 1st July 2026 employers will be required to pay employee super contributions to the complying funds on the same day that employees are paid their wages. So, now is an opportune time to get your processes and systems in place to accommodate for these changes.

Need more help or information?

Click the link below to contact us at Plus 1.

Open Hours

Monday to Friday
8:00am to 5:00pm

Closed Public Holidays

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If you need to get us documents quickly, access remote support, or the MYOB Portal click the button above.

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27 Welsford Street
Shepparton, VIC 3630

T: (03) 5833 3000
F: (03) 5831 2988
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Get set for a new national minimum wage for the new financial year.

Get set for a new national minimum wage for the new financial year.

Get set for a new national minimum wage for the new financial year

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On 1 July 2023, the national minimum wage (NMW) and modern award minimum wages will increase by 5.75% following the Fair Work Commission (FWC) Expert Panel decision handed down earlier this month.

The National Minimum Wages applies to Australian employees that are not covered by awards or enterprise agreements. It will actually increase by 8.65% because of a change to how the wage is calculated.

The key outcomes for the 2023 Annual Wage Review are as follows which will see:
• the current weekly minimum wage increase from $812.60 to $882.80 (an increase of $70.20 per week); and
• the current hourly minimum wage increase from $21.38 to $23.23 (an increase of $1.85 per hour);
• a 5.75% increase will apply to modern award minimum wages across the board.

Any employee not covered by a modern award or enterprise agreement will, from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2023, be entitled to a minimum weekly wage for 38 hours of work equal to $882.80, or $23.23 an hour (plus the 25 per cent casual loading in respect of casual employees).

From the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2023, any employees covered by a modern award are to be paid no less than the new modern award wage in respect of the employee’s classification under the modern award. This change also includes casual loading and other loadings, penalties, allowances or overtime, which are calculated by reference to the modern award minimum pay rates.

Employers should review annual salary packages for award-covered employees to ensure they are adequate to compensate them for their award entitlements (and the increase in the Superannuation Guarantee rate to 11% on and from 1 July 2023).

Remember that if base rates of pay under an enterprise agreement covering an employee are less than the base rates provided in an award covering the same employee (or the National Minimum Wage if award-free), the latter rates prevail.

More information on award changes can be found on the Fairwork Website.

If you need any assistance please don’t hesitate to contact us on 03 5833 3000.

Need more help or information?

Click the link below to contact us at Plus 1.

Open Hours

Monday to Friday
8:00am to 5:00pm

Closed Public Holidays

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If you need to get us documents quickly, access remote support, or the MYOB Portal click the button above.

Contact Us

27 Welsford Street
Shepparton, VIC 3630

T: (03) 5833 3000
F: (03) 5831 2988
Email Us

A local business loses 280K to an email hack. Why 2FA is important.

A local business loses 280K to an email hack. Why 2FA is important.

A local business loses $280,000 to an email hacker. Why 2FA is important.

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Its true. One of our own clients lost up to $280 thousand dollars to a malicious third-party hacking into their emails. They were able to access passwords found in their emails, log into their invoicing software and pay fraudulent invoices to themselves. How did they hack into their emails? Simple, they found out their email address password and just logged in.

Its scary to think that it could be so simple for someone to get into your emails and use that information to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, keep in mind if you use correct IT procedures and have knowledge about your IT failing, you can be a much less enticing and a much more difficult target. No IT system is ever 100% secure, but your IT system can be secure enough to hopefully prevent attacks all together.

So, how did the hacker manage to gain access to our client’s email password in the first place? It’s likely the result of a technique known as phishing, where fraudulent emails or websites are used to trick unsuspecting users into revealing their login credentials. Sometimes, all it takes is one misplaced click or an overlooked detail to fall victim to these sophisticated cyber traps. Learn more about phishing from our previous article about phishing.

This incident also reveals a crucial lesson: never share your passwords via email. Emails are not encrypted and are always visible in plain text. Even if the hacker didn’t have the password, if they managed to intercept the emails, they could still be able to read your emails through other attacks. Although it may seem convenient, especially when dealing with multiple accounts or collaborating with team members, sending passwords in an email is akin to leaving your house keys under the doormat. Once a hacker gains access to your email, they potentially have access to all your online accounts.

Why is this so? An email account often serves as a recovery point for most online accounts. If a hacker gains access to your email, they can trigger password resets on your other accounts and intercept the recovery emails, effectively locking you out and taking control. It’s a digital domino effect of disastrous proportions.

This brings us to the vital importance of Two-Factor Authentication (2FA).

2FA provides an extra layer of security by requiring two forms of identification before granting access. Typically, the first form is something you know (your password), and the second form is something you have (like your mobile device) or something you are (like your fingerprint). This means that even if a hacker manages to compromise your password, they would still need the second authentication factor to access your account.

Many popular email services, including Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo, offer 2FA. Here’s a simplified guide on how to enable it:

Gmail:

Go to your Google Account.

Under “Security,” select “2-Step Verification.”

Click “Get started.”

Follow the prompts to set up your verification method.

Outlook:

Go to your Microsoft account security page. This requires new versions of outlook that use Microsoft Accounts.

Under “Two-step verification,” click “Set up two-step verification.”

Follow the prompts to set up your verification method.

Yahoo:

Go to your Account security page.

Click “Two-step verification.”

Enter your mobile number.

Click “Send SMS” or “Call me” to get a verification code.

Enter the code and activate 2FA.

In a digital world where cyber threats are ever-present and ever-evolving, adopting proactive measures like avoiding the sharing of passwords via email and enabling 2FA is crucial. It’s not just about protecting your business’s financial assets—it’s about safeguarding your reputation, your customer relationships, and your peace of mind.

However, remember that no security measure is infallible. Continue educating yourself and your team about the latest cyber threats and mitigation strategies. There are other IT practises such as “Need to know” access policy, Zero Trust Architecture, Vulnerability assessments and much more. A cybersecure business is not a destination, but a journey, and with each step, you make your business a harder target for those with malicious intent.

Need more help or information?

Click the link below to contact us at Plus 1.

Open Hours

Monday to Friday
8:00am to 5:00pm

Closed Public Holidays

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If you need to get us documents quickly, access remote support, or the MYOB Portal click the button above.

Contact Us

27 Welsford Street
Shepparton, VIC 3630

T: (03) 5833 3000
F: (03) 5831 2988
Email Us