INSTANT ASSET WRITE-OFF SCHEME – BUY OR BYE-BYE
With noises from both sides of politics about company tax reform, this year could well be the last chance for small to medium manufacturing enterprises to take advantage of the ATO’s Instant Asset Write-Off Scheme.
For the benefit of those who might have forgotten, the scheme, which was originally introduced in the 2015 Federal Budget by then Treasurer Joe Hockey, allows SMEs to instantly write off any eligible asset purchase up to $20,000 value, effectively reducing the company’s taxable income for the year by the value of the asset.
Originally intended to run until 30th June 2017, last year the scheme was extended for 12 months and the turnover limit for qualifying companies was raised to $10 million. And while several bodies are lobbying for the scheme to be made permanent, the official position is that the $20,000 asset price limit will revert to $1000 on 1st July 2018.
One person who has been a key advocate of the scheme since its inception is Greig Maver of Maverick Equipment. “Having operated as an SME for many years, I can certainly testify that there aren’t many Santa Claus moments.
“But this write-off scheme has been one that has kept giving, enabling us and to improve our productivity by purchasing assets that we might otherwise have thought twice about and helping our customers to make decisions on materials handling equipment that is only going to improve their productivity as well.
“Mind you,” he adds, “with all the political rumblings about tax reform, I wouldn’t bank on the scheme being extended beyond this year.”