Insights
Australian tax, explained properly
Cornerstone guides to the questions Brisbane clients actually ask — with current figures, worked examples, and the substantiation the ATO expects. Reviewed 17 August 2026.
Why trust these guides?
Because they're dated, sourced in current law and ATO guidance, and written by the same registered agents who lodge the returns. Every guide states what it covers, shows worked numbers where numbers help, and says plainly where an answer depends on facts we'd need to see. Where the law changed recently — the 70c home-office rate, the 12% super guarantee, non-deductible ATO interest from 1 July 2025 — we say so, because most competing articles still quote the old figures.
- Reviewed 17 August 2026
- Australian law and ATO guidance
- Worked examples with real numbers
- General information, not personal advice
Guides
Start here.
Work from home deductions: fixed rate or actual cost?
The two methods, what each one actually covers, the records the ATO now insists on, and how to work out which gives you more.
Learn more →Rental property deductions, line by line
What's deductible while a property is genuinely available for rent, what's capital, and where the ATO finds most errors in investor returns.
Learn more →Vehicle claims: log book or cents per kilometre?
Which trips count, the two methods and what each is worth, and why twelve weeks of records can be worth thousands.
Learn more →The compliance calendar, in one place
Every date that carries a penalty, what shifts when you lodge through a registered agent, and what to do when you can't pay on time.
Learn more →Superannuation: the 12% rate and the caps that matter
What employers must pay and by when, what individuals can contribute and claim, and the two mistakes that cost the most.
Learn more →Fringe benefits tax, without the headache
What triggers FBT, why the effective rate is so high, the exemptions that matter to small business, and how the Christmas party actually works.
Learn more →Single Touch Payroll Phase 2, explained
What's reported with every pay run, why Phase 2 broke a lot of payroll files, and the errors we find most often when we take over a payroll.
Learn more →TPAR: who has to lodge, and what to report
The report that tells the ATO what you paid your contractors — which industries it covers, what goes in it, and why the data-matching matters at both ends.
Learn more →QBCC minimum financial requirements, explained
Net tangible assets, maximum revenue and the current ratio — what QBCC requires at each category, and the balance-sheet items that quietly disqualify builders.
Learn more →Records and receipts: what to keep, and for how long
The five-year rule, the $300 threshold, what counts as written evidence, and the records that matter for decades rather than years.
Learn more →The EOFY checklist that actually saves tax
What to do before 30 June, in order of how much it's worth — and the three items that close permanently at midnight.
Learn more →Division 7A: taking money out of your own company
Why the money in your company isn't your money, what a complying loan actually requires, and how to fix a director loan account before year end.
Learn more →Trust distributions: the 30 June deadline that costs the most
Why a resolution dated 1 July is worse than useless, how streaming works, and where the ATO now draws the line on distributions to adult children.
Learn more →GST registration: when you must, and when you shouldn't
The thresholds, the exceptions that catch people out, and how to decide whether to register voluntarily.
Learn more →Capital gains tax when you sell property
How the gain is actually calculated, which exemptions apply, and the two situations that turn a modest tax bill into a very large one.
Learn more →Contractor or employee? The test that decides
Why an ABN and an invoice prove nothing, which factors actually decide it, and what a wrong answer costs — with interest.
Learn more →By occupation
Deductions for your job.
Occupation-specific checklists — what your trade or profession can claim, and what the ATO routinely disallows.
- Tax deductions for nurses and midwives
- Tax deductions for teachers and education staff
- Tax deductions for tradespeople
- Tax deductions for truck drivers
- Tax deductions for real estate agents
- Tax deductions for hospitality workers
- Tax deductions for FIFO and mining workers
- Tax deductions for rideshare and delivery drivers
Free tools
Calculate it yourself.
Five calculators on current rates — no sign-up, nothing sent anywhere.
Income tax calculator
Estimate your tax, Medicare levy and refund on the current resident rates — then see what a deduction is actually worth at your marginal rate.
Learn more →Work from home calculator
Run both methods side by side — 70 cents per hour against actual apportioned costs — and see the difference in dollars and in tax saved.
Learn more →Vehicle claim calculator
Work out your business-use percentage, compare both methods, and see exactly what twelve weeks of log book records is worth to you.
Learn more →Super guarantee calculator
Your SG liability at the current 12% rate, per employee and per quarter — plus what happens to the deduction if a payment lands a day late.
Learn more →Structure calculator
Enter your profit and what you actually draw. See both tax outcomes side by side — then weigh the annual compliance cost honestly.
Learn more →Decisions
Comparisons and costs.
The three questions that decide the most money — what it should cost, which structure to use, and who you actually need.
Ready when you are
Talk to a Brisbane tax accountant.
Free 15-minute consultation. No obligation — just clear advice on what you need, what it costs, and what you could be saving.