20,000 Reasons To Invest In New Dental Equipment

Dental practices across Australia are being encouraged by the Australian Dental Industry Association (ADIA) to make an investment in new equipment that supports delivery of dental and oral health care, and take advantage of an extension of Australian Government tax concessions to do so.

The 2017 Australian Government Budget extended until 30 June 2018 access to an accelerated depreciation allowance that allows businesses with an aggregated annual turnover of less than $10 million to immediately deduct purchases of eligible assets costing less than $20,000.

"ADIA encouraged the Australian Government to extend the life of this important tax concession beyond 30 June 2017 and it's pleasing that this has occurred. Dental practices nation-wide can now plan for their investment in new equipment during the coming financial year," said Troy Williams, ADIA Chief Executive Officer.

This budget measure will allow businesses will be able to immediately deduct purchases of eligible assets costing less than $20,000 first used or installed ready for use by 30 June 2018. Assets excluded from these depreciation rules include in-house software allocated to a software development pool. In most cases specific depreciation rules apply to these excluded assets.

Assets valued at $20,000 or more (which cannot be immediately deducted) can continue to be placed into the small business simplified depreciation pool (the pool) and depreciated at 15 per cent in the first income year and 30 per cent each income year thereafter. The pool can also be immediately deducted if the balance is less than $20,000 over this period (including existing pools). The current 'lock out' laws for the simplified depreciation rules (these prevent small businesses from re‑entering the simplified depreciation regime for five years if they opt out) will continue to be suspended until 30 June 2018.

"When introduced in 2015 these accelerated depreciation arrangements were initially made available to businesses turning over up to $2 million annually. ADIA was pleased to see this threshold increase to $10 million when the Senate approved the first phase of the federal government's company tax cut plans in March 2017," Mr Williams said.

From 1 July 2018, the immediate deductibility threshold and the balance at which the pool can be immediately deducted will revert back to $1,000.