November 2008

Christmas Pay Run

For those contractors that are receiving this newsletter, it is extremely important that timesheets for the fortnight ending Sunday 21 December are submitted and/or faxed (whatever you normally do) by 3.00pm on Monday 22 December. Timesheets received after this date will not be processed on Wednesday 24 December, but on the next pay run of Thursday 8 January.

Thanks for your understanding.

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Merry Christmas!

Welcome to our December newsletter. 2008 certainly has been an a big year. Apart from the world seemingly falling apart around us, we've seen the release of the Gershon report in to the ICT industry in Canberra, the Rudd Government enjoying it's first year anniversary and Contract1 enjoying our 2nd birthday in March!

This calendar year, we've billed over $6.7m on behalf of contractors which is a 60% increase in billings over last year. Naturally we're very proud of our continued growth and success, but we can't do it without the continued support of our lovely contractors now scattered in every State and Territory except for Tasmania. So if you know if any contractors across Bass Straight that require the services of someone like us, please let them know so we can call ourselves truly National!

As always, if there is anything that we could be doing better to make the lives of our contractors even just slightly better, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us. For now, Merry Christmas, have a safe and happy holiday and a prosperous New Year.

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Portable electronic devices - Upgrades at the time of purchase.

The ATO have released an Interpretative Decision with regards to upgrades to devices that take place at the time of purchase. Basically if the upgrade, in this case to inbuilt memory, takes place at the time of purchase then the upgrade can be included in the capital cost of the equipment for FBT purposes.

Here are the facts;

• An employee purchased a laptop computer. At the time of purchase the employee also requested additional memory be included in the computer. The laptop computer and the additional memory were itemised on the one invoice.
• The employer agreed to reimburse the employee for the cost of the laptop and additional memory, that is, the total invoiced amount.
• The laptop computer is 'a portable electronic device' for the purposes of paragraph 58X(2)(a) of the FBTAA.
• The employer's reimbursement is an expense payment benefit for the purposes of paragraph 20(b) of the FBTAA.

And the rest of the information about the decision can be found here.

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Referral offer

If you know of anyone about to start a contract anywhere in Australia, who require the services of a Contractor Management Company, we'll happily provide a gift voucher to the value of $100.00 to you, the introducer. You can choose any of a wide range of gift vouchers including Myer, David Jones, or any store that you may get the best value from. Just let us know who requires the services of Contract1, and we'll be in touch to say thank you!

For now, happy contracting!

Stuart McLeod.
Managing Director - Contract1 Pty Ltd.

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