Take Advantage of the Small Business Investment Allowance
Filed under: Australian News, Business, Finance and Investment
The current Financial Year 2008-2009 ends at midnight next Tuesday 30th June, so now is a good time to take advantage of any tax benefits that you are entitled to.
As part of the Australian Labor Government’s measures to try and stimulate the economy, the Small Business and General Business tax break legislation went into effect on the 22nd of May 2009.
The allowance in a nutshell is this:
if you run a small business with a turnover of less than $2 million and buy an eligibile depreciating asset costing over $1000, you can make an additional one-off 50% tax deduction. This is in addition to the all the normal tax deductions on assets used to earn an income.
If your business is bigger, you still get an additional deduction, but it’s only 30%.
Full details can be found here on the Australian Taxation Office’s website:
The website smartcompany.com.au has a well-written explanation in their article “New details on the 50% small business tax deduction“.
Some examples of tangible depreciating assets include new computers, peripherals, furniture, vehicles and tools. Computer Software does not count as it is not considered tangible and does not depreciate.
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-26
- A truly amazing story about the Super Repo Man that recovers jet aircraft: http://tinyurl.com/ql5weq #
- Leading Japanese scientist explains why perceived Global Warming is not Man-made: http://tinyurl.com/dfow26 #
- Hamas's latest 'peace offer': Replace Israel with an Arab State – http://tinyurl.com/lc4pv9 #
- Iranian government forces kill innocent man, then demand $3000 from father to claim his son's body: http://tinyurl.com/n6akud #
Music Legend Michael Jackson Passes Away
Online media has reported that Michael Jackon suffered a heart attack at his home and could not be revived. He was declared dead earlier this morning at the UCLA Medical Centre.
His artistic contributions to pop music will withstand the passage of time. His trademark ‘moonwalk’ is widely known and imitated by many (including me), and some of his most played songs on video hit shows include ‘Thriller’, ‘Beat It’, ‘Billy Jean’ and ‘Bad’.
He was not a living god, but a human being with imperfections. It is my opinion that media gossip about his private life was a mixture of truth and fiction, his prominence and eccentricity fuelling opportunistic individuals seeking attention and money.
Perhaps his suffering children and family may now live a more normal life, with fewer media intrusions.
Should We Help Egypt Go Nuclear?
Filed under: Australian Foreign Policy, Australian News, Middle-East Affairs
The biggest Australian engineering firm Worley Parsons, an ASX-listed company, has just won a $160 million contract to help build Nuclear Power Plants for the Arab Republic of Egypt.
According to a Bloomberg article, the contract will provide “engineering and advisory services” including “training Egyptian nuclear engineers, advising on which technology to use and best construction locations”.
I have very strong reservations about this deal. Egypt is an Arab-Muslim country. At the moment, the current Egyptian Government is somewhat friendly to the West and uses overwhelming force to prevent its home-grown Islamic fanatics taking control, but this could change overnight.
There are many different designs for electricity-producing nuclear reactors, some of which are designed to avoid producing weapons-grade nuclear fuels as by-products. A the moment, I have no idea what sort of design Worley Parsons plans to recommend to the Egyptians.
My fear is that the reactors could be converted to allow production of weapons grade nuclear fuels, or that Egypt will learn enough to be able to build new reactors specialised for this purpose. The last thing we need is another Islamic regime with nukes.
Netanyahu’s Speech
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu made a fantastic speech that succinctly addressed the history and realities of the Arab-Israeli conflict and provided a framework for a settlement with the Palestinians. A copy can be found here
This speech was remarkable in what was conveyed, namely that:
- The conflict is about the constant Arab rejection of self determination for the Jewish people in their historic homeland.
- Exploding the popular media myth that the main Arab gripe is about the territories captured by Israel in 1967 following the 6-day war, when in fact Arab hostility against Jews in Mandatory Palestine began in 1920, long before the modern state of Israel was established.
- Exposed the folly of the belief that unilateral withdrawals bring peace, by recounting the aftermath of the complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, resulting in the Islamic terrorist group Hamas taking power and launching missiles against Israel.
- Israel accepts the realisation of an Arab Palestinian state provided that the Arabs accept the reality of the Jewish state.
To Prime Minster Netanyahu, I say Bravo!
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-12
- So Frank Sartor might challenge Rees for Premiership? At least he’ll fix the budget – by building monstrous skyscrapers and hiking land tax! #
- Israeli Defence Force develops Robotic Battle Snake: http://tinyurl.com/nvd8vo #
