Category Archives: Latest News

Are you aware of the increasing security and privacy risks when sending and receiving sensitive information electronically, such as your Tax File Number (TFN)?…

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As part of the 2020-2021 Budget, the government has announced new incentives to assist economic recovery and to bring Australians back to work. The…

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The latest budget from the NSW Government has responded to one of the most challenging periods in our lifetimes, after facing severe drought, the…

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The partners at Walker Wayland NSW, are proud to announce that as of October 2020, the firm has achieved Carbon Neutral Status with the…

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Individuals Business incentives and companies Other tax measures Superannuation Social security   The Federal Treasurer, Mr Josh Frydenberg, handed down the 2020/21 Federal Budget…

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A great day was had by all at the Annual Walker Wayland NSW Sydney Charity Golf Day on Thursday, 21 March at The Moore…

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We are all familiar with the purpose of a signature however with the constant development of technology observed over the past few years – things have dramatically advanced. 

We have experienced a shift away from hard copy and physical documents sent with ‘snail mail’, toward electronic documents shared via email, cloud-based software and online sharing services.
But the ease of electronic document usage presented us with a unique problem – how do we get the recipient to sign it? 

Don’t fear however, as you may or may not be aware, there is now the ability to use electronic and digital signatures to avoid any issues and keep the document in soft copy form.

In fact, the E-Signature sector is booming – now on track to be worth an excess of $5 billion by the decades end according to DocuSign CMO Dustin Grosse (1)

Despite its growing popularity and use – the concept can be confusing and complex to understand so here is what you need to know.

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 Updates to the ATO Online Terms & Conditions will see changes including: The ability to authorise your tax or BAS agent to designate their…

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The new sponsored Parent Visa Subclass 870 will allow Australian Citizens and some Permanent residents to be able to bring over a parent to live in Australia for up to 5 years and will be far more advantageous over previous subclasses offered.

What do the changes include?
It was announced that from 17 April 2019 applications to sponsor parents for either 3 years or 5 years under the new subclass 870 will be open. Visa applications will be open from 1 July 2019.

  • The Government has announced that 15,000 visas in this category will be granted in each program year.
  • There is no “balance of family” test for this visa as it provides for temporary entry of biological or step-parents.
  • The sponsors must be Australian Citizens or Permanent Residents who are usually resident in Australia for four years.

Analysis & Comment:
This new subclass of visa been highly anticipated and it likely to prove popular with many Australian permanent residents and citizens who wish to bring out a parent for an extended period of time. The huge advantage of this visa over the other parent visa sub-categories is that the “balance of family” test will not apply. That will open the market to many more people who are now able to sponsor their parent to Australia.

Financial capability for the sponsor will be a necessary requirement to demonstrate that the sponsor is able to support the parent or parents in Australia for an extended period of time. This is particularly the case as the visa holders will not be granted work rights and will have to maintain health insurance while they are in Australia.

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Australia is facing one of the worst drought crises on record to hit Aussie farmers over the past few decades. With 98 per cent of NSW, over half of Queensland, accompanied with sections of Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia being drought stricken, the NSW Australian government has recognized the severity and on-going extent Australian Farmers are being affected by. To support farmers devastated by drought and its conditions, the NSW Government released an Emergency Drought Relief Package valued at $500 million on the 30 July 2018 to assist in deficiency management.

Since release, consistent extension and alterations throughout the first quarter of 2019 have been added to this package, now valued at over $1.1 billion with various beneficial Financial and Taxation assistance. If you have direct connection, or have affiliation with drought-affected taxpayers, it’s important in this current ambiguous climate to be aware of any financial assistance made available to taxpayers by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) to aid in the process of drought recovery affecting on-going rural businesses.

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