Practice Updates - December 2025

Payday Super now law 

The Federal Government has passed Payday Super legislation, confirming a 1 July 2026 start date. With the ATO’s draft compliance guideline now released, employers should begin preparing the shift to payday-aligned Superannuation Guarantee obligations. This includes reviewing current SG processes, updating systems for more frequent contributions, tightening onboarding and reporting workflows, and conducting real-time testing ahead of go-live. Early preparation will help employers meet the ATO’s ‘low-risk’ expectations and minimise exposure to penalties under the new regime.  

Lynden Group can help employers assess SG readiness, update payroll and reporting processes, and implement Super payments aligned with paydays in line with ATO guidance, reducing compliance risk ahead of the 1 July 2026 transition.   

Updated guidance on calculating plug-in hybrid electric vehicle home charging rate 

The ATO has finalised its update to Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2024/2 to include a methodology to calculate the cost of electricity when a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is charged at an individual’s home. This applies to employers who provide a PHEV as a fringe benefit where the vehicle is charged at a residential premises and the electricity cost for charging cannot be practically separated from other household electricity usage. 

Update to OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital 

The Council of the OECD on 19 November 2025 approved updates to the Model Tax Convention (MTC) with accompanying Commentary. The update revises and clarifies various MTC Articles, including: 

• New Commentary to Article 5 addressing situations where cross-border working from a home or other premises may constitute a permanent establishment (PE), 

• The creation of a PE in the place of extraction of natural resources, 

• An optional treaty provision for taxing activities connected with the exploration and exploitation of extractible natural resources, 

• Changes to the Commentary in respect of the optional simplified and streamlined approach for Transfer Pricing, also known as ‘Amount B,’ 

• Other provisions regarding dispute resolution, transfer pricing for financial transactions and utilizing information received under exchange of information mechanisms 

Victoria: Compliance areas of focus 2025-26 

The Victorian State Revenue Office has highlighted some of its compliance focus areas for 2025-26:  

• Payroll tax: A focus on undisclosed wages with a strong emphasis on superannuation, fringe benefit and contractor payments, as well as labour hire and employment agency arrangements.  

• Land tax: land incorrectly receiving the principal place of residence or primary production exemption, as well as land owned by trustees and absentee owners.  

• Vacant residential land tax: vacant properties where the landowner has failed to make a notification, and properties incorrectly claiming the holiday home exemption.  

• Land transfer duty: related party transactions, as well as exemptions and concessions relating to principal place of residence and first home purchases.  

• Landholder duty: capital raisings by Victorian landholders, and offshore transactions in corporate groups that own land in Victoria.  

• Lease duty: Transactions of leasehold estates in caravan parks and lifestyle villages, and the grant, transfer and/or assignment of leasehold estates associated with the establishment and sale of renewable energy assets.  

• First Home Owner Grant: applicants that have failed to meet the residency requirements or disclose a past receipt of the grant by their spouse/partner.  

Draft legislative instrument to input tax supplies for fund-raising events 

The ATO has released draft legislative instrument A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) (Frequency of Fund-raising Events) Determination 2026, which proposes to allow an endorsed charity, a gift-deductible entity, or a government school to treat all supplies it makes in relation to a fund-raising event as being input taxed where it holds 15 or fewer like or similar fundraising events in a prescribed accounting year. Prescribed accounting year is defined in the instrument to mean the 12-month period ending on the date the entity balances its accounts. The instrument will commence on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation. Comments closed on 28 November 2025. 

Mandating cash acceptance a step closer 

Under the proposed rules, retailers of fuel and groceries would be required to accept cash for transactions of up to A$500.  

Certain businesses are exempted from the mandate: small businesses with an aggregate turnover under A$10 million, and franchises whose total turnover is below that threshold. 

The intent is to preserve access to cash for those who rely on it, recognising that while digital payments are rising, many consumers still depend on cash for everyday essentials. 

The regulations are subject to a three-year review to assess effectiveness, business impact, and evolving cash distribution/access conditions.  Fuel and grocery retailers should begin reviewing POS settings, staff procedures, cash-handling and safety controls, and in-store signage to ensure operational readiness if the cash acceptance mandate is finalised. 

ASIC supports innovation through exemptions for distributors of Australian stablecoin 

The relief initially applies only to the stablecoin AUDM (issued by Catena Digital Pty Ltd), but ASIC has signalled that the exemption may be extended to additional stablecoins as more issuers obtain AFS licences. 

ASIC emphasised that this is a “first-of-its-kind” step intended to foster innovation and growth in the digital-asset and payments sectors, while preserving consumer protections, for instance, intermediaries must still provide any available Product Disclosure Statement to retail clients. 

The exemption is viewed as an interim transitional measure that bridges the gap until broader stablecoin and digital-asset regulation is finalised. 

We will keep you updated as further practical guidance or developments become available. 

Speak with Lynden Group today to safeguard your business, minimize penalties, and stay ahead of ATO recovery action.   

Office: 03 91157406   

Direct: 03 85481843