Proposed changes to fuel tax credits

Fuel tax credits provide a credit for any fuel tax (excise or customs duty) included in the price of fuel used in business activities, machinery, plant and equipment or heavy vehicles.


From July 1, 2014, if legislation remains unchanged, most fuel tax credit rates will change due to increases in the carbon charge amounts.


However, in the 2014-15 Budget, the Government announced that they proposed to remove the carbon charge.


If legislated, this amendment will be effective from July 1, 2014.


In addition, the Government has proposed to index the excise duty rates for most fuels every six months from August 1, 2014.


The current fuel tax credit rate for heavy vehicles travelling on public roads has remained the same since July 1, 2013 at 12.003 cents per litre.


For more information, click here.

Exporting Memorised Reports in Reckon

How to Export memorised reports from one Reckon Accounts file and import into another Memorised reports are a very useful feature of Reckon Accounts. After modifying a report, there is an option to memorise that report. Memorising a report means that Reckon Accounts will save all the modifications for the next time the report is generated. Like reports can be memorised and saved in Memorised Report Groups. These groups are accessed from the Memorised Report List. Navigate to drop down menu Reports > Memorised Reports > Memorised Report List. The Memorised Report Groups are displayed in bold. The reports in that group are listed under the heading. Highlight the Memorised Report Group to export. Navigate to drop down menu Memorised Report > Export Template. .  Name the Memorised Report Group file. Click Save. .  Open the new Reckon Accounts file. . Navigate to drop down menu Reports > Memorised Reports > Memorised Report List. Navigate to drop down menu Memorised Report > Export Template. . Browse to the Memorised Report Group file. Click Open. Click OK. The new Memorised Report Group has been added to the Memorised Report List.

Should employees be paid for hours worked outside their ordinary roster?

It is a common practice in many industries to require an employee to arrive at work before the start of their roster or stay back after the end of their shift.

Additional time worked by the employees outside of their ordinary shift or roster is considered worked hours and employees must be paid for this time if their employment is covered by:

• A modern award; or
• The National Minimum Wage.

Employees should also be paid for time spent attending meetings or compulsory training events.

When planning staff rosters, extra time may need to be accounted for and consideration needs to be made as to whether these hours will result in employee overtime.

For more information, click here.