Small Business Entity Concessions
Small businesses with an annual turnover of less than $10 million may qualify for a range of tax concessions (although the threshold may be lower or higher based on the concession). If your business is eligible you can use the concessions that suit you. For certain concessions, the threshold has been increased from $10 million to $50 million. You may have to satisfy additional conditions and will need to check whether you qualify for the concessions each tax year.
Eligible businesses can use the concessions outlined below.
CGT 15-year asset exemption*
If you are 55 or older and retiring and your business has owned an asset for at least 15 years, you won't pay capital gains tax when you sell the asset.
CGT 50% active asset reduction*
If you have owned an asset to conduct your business, you will only pay tax on 50% of the capital gain when you sell the asset. For individuals (including partners in partnerships and beneficiaries of trusts), this reduction applies in addition to the standard* 50% CGT discount, thereby reducing the taxable amount to 25% of the capital gain.
* For foreign or temporary residents, a reduced CGT discount between 0-50% applies depending on individual circumstances.
CGT retirement exemption*
There is a CGT exemption on the sale of a business asset (up to a lifetime limit of $500,000). If you are under 55, money from the sale of the asset must be paid into a complying superannuation fund, or retirement savings account.
CGT rollover*
If you sell a small business asset and buy a replacement, you can roll over your CGT liability to the value of the replacement asset. This means you won't pay any CGT owing until you sell the replacement asset.
Simpler depreciation rules******
You can usually pool your assets to make depreciation calculations easier.
You can also immediately write-off – deduct the full cost in the year you buy them – most depreciating assets that cost less than a certain limit. The limits are:
From 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012 | $1,000 |
From 1 July 2012 to 31 December 2013 | $6,500 |
From 1 January 2014 to 7.30 pm on 12 May 2015 | $1,000 |
From 7.30 pm on 12 May 2015 to 28 January 2019 | $20,000 |
From 29 January 2019 to 7.30 pm on 2 April 2019 | $25,000 |
From 7.30 pm on 2 April 2019 to 11 March 2020 | $30,000 |
From 12 March 2020 to 31 December 2020 (must be first used by 30 June 2021) | $150,000 |
From 6 October 2020 to 30 June 2023, full expensing applies to allow eligible businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $5 billion to deduct the full cost of new eligible depreciating assets | No limit |
From 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 (this has not yet passed Parliament) | $20,000 |
From 1 July 2024 onwards (or 1 July 2023 if the $20,000 limit does not pass Parliament) | $1,000 |
Simpler trading stock rules*****
If the value of your trading stock has not increased or decreased by more than $5,000 over the year, you can choose whether or not to do an end-of-year stock take.
Immediate deduction for certain prepaid business expenses***
You can claim an immediate deduction for prepaid business expenses if the payment covers a period of 12 months or less and ends in the following income year.
Immediate deduction for certain business start-up expenses***
You can claim an immediate deduction for certain business start-up expenses, such as professional expenses and legal and accounting advice.
Two-year amendment period*****
The time limit for the Commissioner or the taxpayer to amend an income tax assessment of an individual or small business is two years, instead of the standard four years.
Accounting for GST on a cash basis*****
You don't need to account for GST on a sale you make until you receive payment for the sale. Equally, input tax credits for purchases can only be claimed when you have paid for the purchase.
Annual apportionment of GST input tax credits
If you purchase items you use partly for private purposes, you can claim full GST credits for these on your activity statements. You can then make a single adjustment to account for the private use percentage at the end of the year.
Paying GST by instalments****
You can pay GST by instalments the ATO calculates for you and can vary this amount each quarter if required.
Paying GST annually
You can pay GST annually if you are voluntarily registered for GST.
FBT car parking exemption****
In some cases you may be exempt from FBT for employee car parking.
FBT exemption****
Multiple work-related portable electronic devices (e.g. laptop computers) provided to your employees are exempt from FBT.
PAYG instalments based on GDP amount*****
All individuals and small business entities can pay fixed quarterly instalment amounts as calculated by the ATO based on their business and investment income in their most recently assessed tax return.
Lower company tax rate***
Base rate entities pay company tax at 25% rather than 30%.
Small business income tax offset **
Individuals who receive business income other than via a company are entitled to a tax offset.
Small business technology investment boost***
From 29 March 2022 to 30 June 2023, small businesses can deduct an extra 20% of expenditure incurred for the purposes of digital operations or digitising its operations. This can be business expenses (such as cyber security systems or subscriptions to cloud based services) and depreciating assets (such as portable payment devices). There is a limit on this expenditure of $100,000 per income year.
Small business skills and training boost ***
From 29 March 2022 to 30 June 2024, small businesses can deduct an extra 20% of expenditure incurred for the provision of eligible external training courses to their employees.
* The annual turnover threshold for the CGT concession is $2 million.
** The annual turnover threshold for the small business income tax offset is $5 million
*** The annual turnover threshold for these concessions is $50 million
**** The annual turnover threshold for these concessions is $2 million
****** Please note that the turnover test for the instant asset write-off has changed over time. For more details, see here.
MORE: For more information, see the Small business entity concessions essentials section of the ATO web site.