Effective Date: Starting from July 1, 2019, even if you owned the land before this date, any costs you incur for holding vacant land may no longer be deductible. This applies to lessees too, not just landowners.

What's Changing: Expenses like interest, rates, insurance, and maintenance costs for vacant land may no longer be deductible.

Entities Excluded: Certain entities like companies, public trusts, and managed investment trusts can still claim deductions for these holding costs, as long as they meet the usual requirements.

Who Might Be Affected: For land bought before August 20, 1991, denied deductions won't be factored into capital gains tax calculations, potentially resulting in lower profits when selling the land.

If you need help, contact Tax Ideas Accountants & Advisers at +61 2 83181545 or book an appointment on our live calendar.

Client: My client travels a lot for work as an executive regional chef. Their employer covers their accommodation costs, but they have to pay for their own meals. Can they claim meal expenses based on the ATO's reasonable meal amounts, even if their payment summary doesn't show any travel allowance?

Client: Company A paid $179,000 as an initial franchise fee to start a gym franchise. But they didn't go ahead with the business, not because of any fault of theirs, but because of a legal dispute with the franchisor. They couldn't get a refund of the fee. Here are the questions:

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