AMWin - Computer software for service industry business.

Viki and Maryanne from The National Support Centre provide an excellent how do I document - this time it's how to track your payment entries in any one of several ways.

And on a lighter side we have the usual mandatory yarns. If you're a liberated Woman you should enjoy the first one.

You may also wonder why we are so reluctant to answer some of your questions and often refer you to your accountant or tax agent for advice. You may also wonder why we go out of our way to advise you that we are not accountants and any advice we may give you should be verified by your accountant. Well hopefully the answer to these and other questions can be found in section 251 L of the tax legislation which says:

SECTION 251L UNREGISTERED TAX AGENTS NOT TO CHARGE FEES

251L(1) [Services for which fee not to be charged]

Subject to this section, a person who is not a registered tax agent must not knowingly or recklessly demand or receive any fee for:

(a)	preparing or lodging on behalf of a taxpayer a return, notice, statement, application or other document about the taxpayer's liabilities under a taxation law; or
(b)	giving advice about a taxation law on behalf of a taxpayer; or
(c)	preparing or lodging on behalf of a taxpayer an objection under Part IVC of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 against an assessment, determination, notice or decision under a taxation law; or
(d)	applying for a review of, or instituting an appeal against, a decision on such an objection; or on behalf of a taxpayer, dealing with the Commissioner or a person who is exercising powers or performing functions under a taxation law.
(e)	Penalty: 200 penalty units. (currently equals a fine of $22,000 per incident.)

I feel that this makes supporting our customers very difficult and as such at a Software Developers Consultancy Group meeting with the tax office in August 2005, I raised the issue to the attention on the ATO and fellow software developers and we received the following reply.

As a result of enquiries made by software developers we are providing the following information.

This area is covered by S251L of the Income Tax Assessment Act.

This section makes it an offence for anyone other than a registered tax agent (or in some cases a barrister, solicitor or BAS service provider) to charge or receive a fee for (among other things) :

preparing or lodging on behalf of a taxpayer a return, notice, statement, application or other document about the taxpayer's liabilities under a taxation law; or

giving advice about a taxation law on behalf of a taxpayer;

Section 251L can be viewed in full at http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.htm?docid=PAC/19360027/251l

NOT CHARGING A SEPARATE FEE

Can a software developer's help desk provide advice on taxation law if it doesn't charge a separate fee for that advice over and above its normal or built-in support fees?

An Example

Mary works on the help desk for Excellent Software Developers Pty Ltd, where she provides product advice and is regularly asked questions in relation to taxation laws.

Mary has always referred questions about taxation laws to the ATO Help Lines but feels that she could answer many of them based on her product knowledge and industry experience.

Excellent Software Developers Pty Ltd are wondering if they are able to allow their help desk staff to provide advice on taxation laws if they do not charge a separate fee for the service.

The answer is NO unless the help desk staff meet the requirements of Part VIIA of the ITAA (Registration of Tax Agents). The Tax Office takes the view that, in these circumstances, the fee for the total software service includes a fee for provision for advice on taxation laws.

Since then there was another SDGC meeting I attended on the 6th October 2005 where this issue once again was raised and I have since sent further correspondence to the ATO disputing the content of S251L and how it effects us providing support to our customers. I will provide any further developments on this in our next newsletter.

Our national support team will do its best in the meanwhile to provide you the best level of support possible. However, some questions may have to be referred to your accountant if they include advice on taxation or GST/BAS laws/legislation.

New Core Stock Deposits Ruling

Please note that this information is provided based on Subsection 29 70(3) of the Goods And Services Tax) and you should contact your accountant or the ATO to clarify any information provided. Please do not accept this information as valid unless you have confirmed it through either or both.

In July 2005 the New Core Stock deposits ruling was fully implemented.

This generated many changes to how core stock is to be calculated and handled. Unfortunately for many of our users this also means substantially more paperwork. The fundamentals of the new system is that the Core Deposit cannot be treated as a security deposit for the return of the core item (even though us people in novice land might consider that it was).

The ATO has decided that the core deposit forms a part of the sale of the core unit and therefore the deposit attracts GST in the same way that the new or reconditioned item does. This means that when the core deposit is invoiced it must be invoiced with GST added. This is the easy part.

When the core is returned you are not allowed to simply apply a credit note to the customer who is returning the core stock item. You are required under the new system to get a tax invoice from the customer returning the Goods and then pay the customer for the goods returned in order to get your GST credit back.

If the customer is not registered for GST then you can create a recipient created tax invoice which you must pay when the deposit is refunded. In this case if the deposit is less than $300 you can claim back the full GST amount in the period the refund was made. However, if the deposit is over $300 then you can only claim back the GST on the deposit once the core is reconditioned and then later sold.

I have recently spoken to an ATO officer in who is involved in this area of the ATO and have voiced my concerns over what I feel is causing far too much work for our customers. I expect some feedback shortly about my concerns and will keep everyone informed in the next newsletter. Apparently many representatives from the motor trade and other trades were involved in discussions over this new system and the ATO has considered them in this issue. The position of the ATO appears to be that the core deposits fit into the second hand tax area along with items like trade-ins and second hand goods.

Fuel Excise

In July 2006 the government are planning to introduce a new method of claiming back the fuel excise where a company uses fuel as a part of its business. This includes transport companies, earth moving companies and anyone who uses diesel fuel in a vehicle over 4.5 tonne.

Over the next 6 years leading up to 2011 the government are planning to expand the fuel excise rebates to include petrol and LPG vehicles as well and even to include vehicles such as lawn movers and whipper snippers etc as well - as long as they are used in the course of producing revenue. As such lawn mowing companies would be able to claim fuel excise rebates.

Currently most people claiming a fuel rebate do so by completing a form, sending it off to the ATO and then receiving a rebate in the form of a cheque or deposit to their account. However, as from July 1, 2006 it is proposed that the rebate will be done as a part of the BAS return and as such instead of receiving the refund, it will be taken off your GST liability if any and then any excess will be paid back in the normal way you would get a GST refund. It is proposed that two new boxes will be put on the BAS form for those who are registered to receive a rebate.

If this is something that concerns your business then please keep a close eye on it. Without going into too much detail the changes being considered include somewhere around an 18.5 cents per litre rebate for on road users and around 37 cents per litre rebate for off road vehicles. Many other changes are proposed so check with your accountant or the ATO for details.

Ever have a problem balancing your cash or wish to track your payment entries. The payment register allows you to track your payments in and out. You can isolate the entries by date, or even by payment method i.e, show only your cash payments for a given date.

Using the Selection field, left click on the arrow and choose how you want to search for the payments you want to look at:

Customer	Search for payments from a particular customer
Supplier	Search for payments made to a particular supplier
Method	Search by the method of payment (ie: cash, Amex)
Date Range	Search for all payments within a certain date range
GL Code	Search for payments by a particular ledger (i.e. 1010, 1020)

Searching By Customer:

If you choose Customer, the Customers search window appears to select the
Customer required. Once the Customer is selected, up the Payment Register
window will show payments received from that Customer during the dates
nominated.

Searching by Supplier:

If you choose to search by Supplier, the Supplier search window will appear to select the required Supplier. To search, view and print supplier payments you carry out the same steps as you would to view customer payments.

Searching by Method:

When you choose to search by Method, a Method File window appears.

Highlight the Payment Method required and either double click on it, press the Enter key, or left click the Select button. The Payment Register window will then be displayed, showing any payments (made or received) where that method was used (in the example below, a cheque).

Searching by Date Range:

When you choose to search by Date Range, simply left click in the Date Range for Selection "From" and "To" fields, and type in the date range you wish to search under, or left click on the search buttons to bring up the calendar to choose a date. Left click on the Refresh button. This will bring up all the payments, in and out, made within that date range.

Searching by GL Code:

When you choose GL Code, the General Ledger search screen appears for you to select your ledger. Normally, the choice would be from 1010 or one of your bank accounts.

When your GL Code has been selected the Payment Register will list all entries going in and out of the ledger you have chosen. Entries in Blue relate to customers and normally relate to money coming in, and entries in Red relate to suppliers and normally relates to money going out.

Agence France Presse published a photo of Katrina hurricane victim Latesha Vinette holding her new Red Cross debit card, a picture instantly redistributed on public wire service web sites. The balance on the card dropped to ZERO within minutes, as hundreds of fraudsters went on shopping sprees with the card number. A few hours later, Latesha was paged over the Reliant stadium speaker system to receive a call from Mastercard, which wanted to know about cash-advance requests totaling $65,237, and attempts to use the card to buy a Ferrari and hundreds of other goods on eBay.

Our first yarn this month is one for the ladies - Thanks Brian for sending it along.

What really happened.

After three weeks in the Garden of Eden, God came to visit Eve.

So, how is everything going?" inquired God.

"It is all so beautiful, God," she replied. "The sunrises and sunsets are breathtaking, the smells, the sights, everything is wonderful, but I have just one problem. It's these breasts you have given me. The middle one pushes the other two out and I am constantly knocking them with my arms, catching them on branches and snagging them on bushes. They are a real pain," reported Eve.

Eve went on to tell God that since many other parts of her body came in pairs, such as her limbs, eyes, ears, etc..........she felt that having only two breasts might leave her body more "symmetrically balanced" as she put it.

"That is a fair point," replied God, "But it was my first shot at this, you know. I gave the animals six breasts, so I figured that you needed only half of those, but I see that you are right. I will fix it up right away."

"Just fantastic," she replied, "But for one oversight on your part. You see, all the animals are paired off. The ewe has a ram and the cow has her bull. All the animals have a mate except me. I feel so alone."

God thought for a moment and said, "You know, Eve, you are right. How could I have overlooked this? You do need a mate and I will immediately create a man from a part of you. Now let's see.....where did I put the useless boob?"

Now doesn't THAT make more sense than that business about the rib?

Sent in by Ted this is an oldie but a goodie

A depressed young blonde woman was so desperate that she decided to end her life by throwing herself into Sydney Harbour. When she went down to the docks, a handsome young sailor noticed her tears, took pity on her, and said:

"Look, you've got a lot to live for. I'm off to Europe in the morning, and if you like, I can stow you away on my ship. I'll take good care of you and bring you food every day."

Moving closer, he slipped his arm around her shoulder and added, "I'll keep you happy, and you'll keep me happy."

The blonde nodded 'yes.' After all, what did she have to lose?

That night, the sailor brought her aboard and hid her in a life-boat. From then on, every night he brought her three sandwiches and a piece of fruit, and they made passionate love until dawn. Three weeks later, during a routine search, she was discovered by the captain.

"What are you doing here?" the Captain asked.

"I have an arrangement with one of the sailors," she explained. "He's taking me to Europe, and he's screwing me."

"He sure is, lady," said the Captain. "This is the Manly ferry."

Early retirement bonus

The Navy found they had too many officers and decided to offer an early Retirement bonus. They promised any officer who volunteered for early retirement a bonus of $1000 for every inch measured in a straight line between any two points in his body.

The officer's got to choose what those two points would be.

The first officer who accepted, asked that he be measured from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. He was measured at six feet and walked out with a bonus of $72,000.

The second officer who accepted was a little smarter and asked to be measured from the tip of his outstretched hands to his toes. He walked out with $96,000.

The third one was a grizzly old Captain who, when asked where he would like to be measured replied, "from the tip of my penis to my testicles. "It was suggested by the pension man that he may want to reconsider, explaining about the nice checks the previous two officers had received. But the old Captain insisted and they decided to go along with him providing the measurement was taken by a medical officer.

The medical officer arrived and instructed the Captain to "drop em", which he did. The medical officer placed the tape measure on the tip of the Captain's penis and began to work back. "My God!" he suddenly exclaimed, Where are your testicles?"

The Captain calmly replied..."Vietnam"