For business owners across Melbourne and Victoria, 30 June is not just an accounting date. It is a hard deadline. The strategies that reduce your tax bill, the contributions that become deductions, the decisions that affect your structure — they all close at midnight on 30 June and cannot be reopened.
Most small business owners in Footscray and Melbourne's west know this in theory. In practice, the end of financial year arrives busy and the checklist gets reviewed too late. The items below are the ones that matter most — and the ones most frequently left until there is no time left to act.
☑ Pay Superannuation Early — Not On Time
Superannuation contributions are deductible in the financial year they are received and processed by the fund — not the year they are paid. A payment made on 27 June may not clear until 2 July. The deduction is then lost for this financial year.
For Melbourne and Victorian employers and self-employed individuals making personal concessional contributions: pay super by mid-June. Most accountants advise 14-18 June as the practical deadline to guarantee clearance before 30 June.
This applies to employee super, director super, and personal contributions made by sole traders and business owners seeking a deduction.
☑ Prepay Deductible Expenses
Small businesses can prepay certain expenses before 30 June and claim the full deduction in the current financial year — provided the prepayment period does not exceed 12 months. This is one of the simplest and most commonly used year-end strategies for Melbourne small businesses.
Expenses worth considering before 30 June:
- Business insurance premiums
- Professional memberships and subscriptions
- Software and cloud service licences
- Business loan interest
- Rent for a business premises
- Training and professional development costs
The key test: the prepayment period must not extend beyond 12 months from the date of payment. A subscription paid on 20 June 2025 covering the following 12 months qualifies. A payment covering 18 months does not.
☑ Review Asset Purchases — Instant Asset Write-Off
The instant asset write-off allows eligible businesses to immediately deduct the full cost of qualifying assets in the year of purchase. If you are planning to buy equipment, tools, technology, or vehicles for your Melbourne or Victorian business, timing the purchase before 30 June may be significantly more tax-effective than purchasing in July.
Eligibility criteria and thresholds change regularly under Australian tax law. Before making a significant purchase on the assumption it qualifies, confirm with your accountant that the asset, the amount, and your business structure all meet the current requirements. Do not assume — confirm.
☑ Write Off Bad Debts
Outstanding invoices that are genuinely unrecoverable can be written off as bad debts and claimed as a deduction in the current financial year — but only if the decision to write them off is made before 30 June.
The ATO requires that the debt was previously included in assessable income, and that you have made a genuine commercial decision that the debt is unrecoverable. A decision made in August about a debt that was clearly unrecoverable in May does not qualify retroactively.
Review your debtors list now. If there are amounts that have been chased without result, the time to write them off formally is before the financial year closes.
☑ Review Trading Stock Valuation
If your Melbourne or Victorian business holds trading stock, the value of that stock at 30 June affects taxable income. You can choose to value stock at cost, market selling value, or replacement value — and the option can be selected to minimise tax.
Where stock has become obsolete, slow-moving, or is being sold at below cost, valuing it at market or replacement value rather than cost may reduce the taxable amount. This is particularly relevant for product-based businesses in Footscray and Melbourne's west heading into the new financial year.
☑ Pass Trustee Resolutions for Discretionary Trusts
If your business operates through a discretionary trust, trustee resolutions determining how income will be distributed for FY25 must be passed before 30 June. This is a strict legal requirement — it cannot be backdated or addressed after 30 June.
Where resolutions are not passed in time, the ATO may treat trust income as belonging to the default beneficiary, which typically attracts tax at the highest marginal rate. For business owners in Victoria operating family trusts, this requires immediate attention if it has not already been addressed.
☑ Confirm BAS Obligations Are Current
Before the year closes, confirm all BAS lodgements and payments are current. Outstanding obligations that carry into the new financial year attract penalties and interest and create unnecessary complexity at a time when the focus should be on starting the year well.
☑ Have the Year-End Conversation With Your Accountant
The items above cover the most common year-end actions for Melbourne small businesses. But the opportunities specific to your business — your structure, your income, your plans for the new year — can only be identified in conversation with your accountant.
That conversation needs to happen before 30 June, not after it. By July, the strategies have closed. The value of year-end tax planning is entirely front-loaded — it exists only in the weeks before the deadline.
At Phan Campbell & Associates in Footscray, we work with business owners and individuals across Melbourne and Victoria on year-end reviews. If you would like to understand what is still available to you before 30 June, contact us now.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. When does super need to be paid to be deductible this financial year?
Super must be received and processed by the fund before 30 June. Given processing times, most accountants recommend paying by mid-June at the latest.
2. Can Melbourne small businesses prepay expenses before 30 June?
Yes. Small businesses can prepay qualifying expenses and claim the deduction in the current year, provided the prepayment period does not exceed 12 months.
3. What is the instant asset write-off threshold for 2024-25?
Thresholds change regularly. Confirm with your accountant before purchasing assets before 30 June, as eligibility depends on the asset type, cost, and your business structure.
4. Do trust resolutions need to be passed before 30 June?
Yes. Trustee resolutions for discretionary trusts must be passed before 30 June. Late or missing resolutions can result in the ATO applying default tax treatment that may not reflect your intentions.
5. What happens if I miss something before 30 June?
Most EOFY tax strategies cannot be applied retrospectively. Missed super contributions, unpassed trust resolutions, and foregone prepayment deductions cannot be recovered after 30 June.