You may be able to claim a tax deduction for capital expenditure on a landcare operation in Australia in the year it is incurred. Providing you are a primary producer, a rural land irrigation water provider who incurred the expenditure on or after 1 July 2004, or a business using rural land for taxable uses (excluding mining and quarrying businesses) you are eligible to claim a deduction.
Many operations fall under the category of a landcare operation.
For instance, when you primarily and principally:
– eradicate, exterminate or destroy plant growth detrimental to the land.
– put in fences to keep animals from areas affected by land degradation to prevent or limit further damage and assist in reclaiming the areas.
– eradicate or exterminate animal pests from the land.
– construct drainage works to control salinity or assist in drainage control.
– prevent or combat land degradation by means other than fences.
Other operations the ATO defines as a landcare operation include:
– constructing a levee or similar improvement
– erecting fences to separate different land classes as set out in an approved land management plan
– for expenditure incurred on or after 1 July 2004, a structural improvement or alteration, addition, extension or repair to a structural improvement that is reasonably incidental to the construction of a levee or drainage works.
Recouped expenditure
When you claim a deduction and receive recoupment, the recoupment is assessable income. However, you cannot claim a deduction if the capital expenditure is on plant unless you incurred the costs on certain fences, dams or other structural improvements.
If landcare expenditure is incurred by a partnership, each partner is entitled to claim the relevant deduction for their share of the costs.
Whether you are a newcomer to the workforce or have been working full time for 30 years, you must have come across the concept of superannuation. Chances are, you’ve already been steadily building your retirement funds in one of the 500 Australian superannuation funds but are still unfamiliar with how exactly your super is being managed and where your super fund is investing your money in.
With the beginning of a new decade and social issues on the rise, it is time to take a more conscious stance on what you are doing with your super and what causes you are supporting through the employment of your money through your super fund.
A recent investigation into Australian super funds by the Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR), released in February 2020, found that 50 of the largest super funds in Australia are proxy voting against local climate-change initiatives. These organisations are instead approaching climate change from a global perspective, whilst ignoring more pressing domestic challenges to reduce carbon emissions..
The lack of support from Australian super funds for localised climate action is growing problematic, as Australia fails to address its appalling record on carbon emissions and is falling behind new-age global goals to fight against environmental degradation and climate change.
In contrast, some of Australia’s most environmentally and socially conscious super funds lack the reputation to attract long-term users. To look for more environmentally friendly Australian super funds, the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) grades supers based on their ethical contributions and makes this information available to the public.
Instead of mindlessly joining Australian super funds that are neglecting growingly problematic domestic climate change issues, Australians need to become more conscious of our indirect actions and super investments. Rather than investing in an unethical super fund, looking into self-managed super funds may be another good option. We need to learn to take matters into our own hands and become more socially conscious of where exactly our money goes.
