As is often the way at this time of year, there are not too many exciting tax development, however, it also the time when certain matters have a habit of flying under the radar. In this weeks podcast we endeavour to make sure no such things occur.   New Home Office Rate   The hourly rate determined by the ATO for deducting home office expenses has been increased from 45 cents to 52 cents per hour for individual taxpayers, effective 1 July 2018. According to the updated Practice Statement PS LA 2001/6, individual taxpayers who claim deductions for work- or business-related home office running expenses may either claim a deduction for the actual expenses incurred or a deduction calculated at the rate of 52 cents per hour. Taxpayers who use the rate per hour method to claim a deduction for home office running expenses only need to keep a record to show how many hours they work from home. They can do this over the course of the year, or if their work from home hours are regular and constant, by keeping a record for a representative four-week period.   Goods and Services Tax   In a recent case of Qian v FC of T, it was determined that a taxpayer who was a courier, but using his own van, was deemed to be carrying on a business for GST purposes and was entitled to tax credits in relation to their inputs. Initially, the taxpayer had been denied these credits, and was originally deemed an employee, however, on objective review of the facts, primarily that the contractor was required to provide and upkeep the van, and could derive further income through efficiencies they introduced, they were deemed not to be an employee but rather conducting a business.   This has a potential impact on the SGC requirement of the party that engaged the contractor, should they have been deemed an employee, and it is worth watching this space to see if this is an avenue the Commissioner pursues/   Due Dates (In January)   21st January - due date for any entity that reports on the monthly cycle for GST, WET, PAYGW. 28th January - is the due date for superannuation guarantee contributions for the October to December 2018 quarter. 29th January - Due date for reporting (via TBAR) any transfer account events that occurred between 1st October 2018 and 31st December 2018 (where any member has a an account balance greater than $1m)   As always we hope you found this beneficial, and if you have any queries, comments or thoughts feel free to reach out me at [email protected] and I will reply personally. Thanks for listening, and until next week, see you later.