September 2026 E News

Welcome to our fourth edition as Elevare Accountants, Chartered Accountants | Business Advisors.

Markets delivered a sharp shift in tone through September, driven by energy-led inflation, widespread property value cooling, and liquidity pressures across the private credit sector following major developer administrations and fund trading suspensions. On the tax front, small businesses gain greater certainty as we head into October with the permanent implementation of the $20,000 instant asset write-off, alongside clear ATO guidelines on substantiating work-related travel deductions.

In this issue, we break down these market movements and tax updates to keep your operations compliant and financially resilient. We also welcome our newest team member, Jonathan Walsh, share details on an upcoming ATO GST masterclass, and outline your key October compliance deadlines.

Please note that our office will be closed for the Labour Day public holiday on Monday, 5 October 2026, reopening at 8:30 am on Tuesday, 6 October 2026. As a reminder, Daylight Saving Time also begins this same long weekend—clocks will turn forward by one hour at 2:00 am on Sunday, 4 October 2026. Have a safe, enjoyable long weekend and enjoy the extra hour of daylight!

The Elevare Accountants Team

Overview

Market Update Research Brief: Rates, Property and Private Credit

The main story for clients this quarter is that interest rates are going up again around the world. The RBA lifted the cash rate to 4.60% on 29 September, house prices have fallen for five months in a row, and the private credit sector is under real pressure after Bathla Group's $3.4 billion collapse and Metrics Credit Partners' audit-driven write-downs and trading suspensions this week.

• Most major central banks are now raising rates, not cutting them. The RBA (4.60%), Fed (3.75–4.00%), ECB (2.50% deposit rate) and Bank of Japan (1.25%) all hiked in September, and the Bank of England held at 3.75% on a 6–3 vote with three members wanting a rise. Higher energy prices from the Middle East conflict are the main reason, and markets expect further hikes into late 2026 and 2027.

• Australian home values fell 0.9% in August, the fifth straight monthly fall, and are 3.6% below the March peak. The falls are now widespread: 93% of capital city suburbs recorded declines. Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane are leading, and higher rates and weaker lending suggest more falls ahead.

• Bathla Group is in voluntary administration, which is sending shockwaves through Private Credit markets.

What is driving this

The common cause is energy-led inflation from the widening Middle East conflict. Central banks are now reversing the easing they did in 2024–25.

The RBA's 29 September statement said:

• "the conflict in the Middle East has broadened and global energy prices are now much higher than had been assumed in the August forecasts"

• AI-related demand is pushing up global prices for technology goods

• recent Australian inflation outcomes were "stronger than expected"

• the Board will keep going "including increasing the cash rate target further if needed"

This was the RBA's fourth hike of 2026 (February, March, May and September), a total of 100 basis points this year. The cash rate is now at its highest level since 2011.

In the US, the Fed made its first hike in more than three years under Chair Warsh. Its statement said "Inflation remains elevated". Year-end projections are to be between 4.1% and 4.4%, up from 3.6% to 4.1%.

In the UK, CPI rose to 3.1% in August. The Bank of England now expects inflation of around 3.75% in Q4 2026 and slightly above 4% in Q1 2027, with energy costs accounting for almost all of that upward revision. The ECB raised its 2026 inflation forecast to 3.0%.

Market expectations for late 2026 and 2027

• Australia: the big banks unanimously expected the September hike. ANZ is the most hawkish, forecasting another hike in November that would take the cash rate to 4.85%.  HSBC also expects a further hike in Q4. The 2-year government bond yield, at about 5.06%, is above the cash rate, which means markets are pricing more tightening.

• US: markets price one more 25bp hike in December and continued hikes into 2027.

• Eurozone: pricing on 10 September implied about a 49% chance of an October hike, an 89% chance of at least one more by December, and about 60bp of extra tightening by April 2027.

• UK: in a Reuters poll taken 4–8 September 2026, 57 of 65 economists (nearly 90%) expected the Bank of England to hold for the rest of the year, and the poll saw 3.75% holding "through at least mid-2027". Markets, however, are pricing a rise later this year and more in 2027.

• Japan: before the meeting, all 52 economists in a Bloomberg survey expected the September hike, and about 93% expected another by January 2027.

What this means for clients: the "rate cuts are coming" story of 2025 is over. Borrowers should plan for higher repayments for longer. Savers and income investors earn higher cash and term deposit rates. Assets priced for falling rates, such as long-duration bonds, growth equities and leveraged property, face more pressure on valuations.

Australian Property Market

The data

• Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) reported on 1 September that its national Home Value Index fell 0.9% in August. That is the fifth consecutive monthly fall, leaving values 3.6% below the March 2026 peak.

• The downturn has spread. The share of capital city suburbs recording a fall over three months rose from 45.8% to 93% through winter.

• Regional markets are no longer holding up better. The combined regional index fell 0.4% in August. Regional South Australia was the only broad regional market to avoid a decline.

• Demand is the main driver. Cotality estimates home sales were 15.5% lower than a year earlier and 11.5% below the five-year average.

• The RBA's 29 September statement confirmed the trend, noting that "housing prices have fallen in most capital cities and new housing loans have declined noticeably".

Which cities are most affected

• Sydney is leading the decline. Values are about 7.1% below the February 2026 peak.

• Upper-quartile houses in Sydney and Melbourne are more than 10% below their peaks (Cotality September Chart Pack). Higher-value homes in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra turned first and have fallen furthest.

• Canberra fell 1.1% in August and Brisbane fell 1.0%. Brisbane has now fallen for three straight months and is 2.7% below its May peak. 91% of Brisbane suburbs are lower, and listings are up 51% on a year ago.

• Adelaide and Perth each fell 0.8% in August. Perth is down 3.2% since April, and its listings are also up 51% year-on-year.

• Hobart fell only 0.2%. Darwin, up 0.6%, was the only capital to rise over winter.

Causes and outlook

Commentators point to four causes:

• four RBA hikes in 2026

• weaker borrowing capacity and fewer new loans

• worse affordability

• lower confidence after the May 2026 federal Budget, which Bathla's founder and Centuria both cited, including proposed tax changes

Lower-priced homes and units are holding up better, and Cotality says targeted support for first home buyers should help limit how far values fall. Even so, ABC and Cotality commentary expects values to keep falling, especially after another rate rise.

Bathla Group Collapse

An important correction: Bathla Group has not been formally liquidated. As at late September 2026 it remains in voluntary administration, although in practice it is being wound down.

Timeline

• 25 August 2026: Teneo Australia was appointed voluntary administrator of Bathla Group and its subsidiaries, 542 entities in total.

• 4 September: at the first creditors' meeting, preliminary known creditor claims of about $3.4 billion were disclosed.

• 18 September: the NSW Supreme Court extended the deadline for the second creditors' meeting to 13 September 2027. Reuters noted this "does not guarantee a 12-month reprieve from liquidation".

• 24 September: Teneo said about $4.7 million of short-term funding from five lenders had run out. It said "discussions with lenders for further funding have now concluded". All construction on the 13 remaining sites stopped, and staff numbers fell to about 67. The focus is now an orderly sale of subdivision and land-bank sites.

Scale of the collapse

Other scale measures:

• 43 lenders exposed; Howden Group's analysis notes Teneo "held discussions with five of Bathla's 43 lenders to support continued construction"

• about 600 subcontractors, most of them likely unsecured

• roughly 2,000 homes under construction and another 13,000 in the development pipeline, across 200 NSW projects the ABC (24 September 2026) described as "in jeopardy"

Unsecured trade creditors are expected to recover very little. Larry Kaine, managing partner of Corporate Recovery Partners, said unsecured parties "will retain little to no chance of recovering" if Bathla is liquidated, and Olvera Advisors said "unsecured recoveries are likely to be immaterial."

Causes cited

Founder Bhart Bhushan described a "perfect storm" of:

• softening sales

• changes in the May 2026 federal Budget

• rising construction costs

• falling confidence in key markets

Much of the development activity was funded project by project by different lenders. That structure made a single rescue deal hard to put together.

Private credit links

Bathla's debt was concentrated among non-bank lenders. PAG is the largest, owed about $300 million, and has taken control of several projects. Leda has also taken over projects. Other named lenders include:

• Centuria Bass

• Balmain

• Credit Connect

• Ray White Capital

• Wingate

• CVS Lane Capital Partners

• Keystone Capital

• OSK Capital

• Wentworth Finance

Investor funds were directly affected:

• On 17 August, before the collapse, Centuria Bass paused redemptions and applications in two funds (the Centuria Bass Credit Fund and the Bass Property Credit Fund) because of rising withdrawal requests linked to Bathla concerns.

• Macquarie's wealth platform has blocked new money into two Bathla-exposed funds that have gated redemptions.

• The CVS Lane First Mortgage Fund and CVS Lane Property Finance Fund are closed to new members on Netwealth.

Private Credit Issues in Australia

What happened

• Before the market opened on Monday 28 September, trading halted in three ASX-listed Metrics funds:

  • Metrics Master Income Trust (MXT)

  • Metrics Income Opportunities Trust (MOT)

  • Metrics Real Estate Multi-Strategy Fund (MRE)

• The responsible entity, The Trust Company (RE Services), part of Perpetual, requested the halt and then obtained a voluntary suspension because the two-day limit on trading halts would not cover the time needed.

• The trigger was the KPMG audit of the FY26 accounts. KPMG made "different decisions" on valuation inputs and probability weightings from those used in the unaudited preliminary reports released on 31 August.

• The audited accounts are due by 30 September, and the suspension is expected to stay until they are released.

Bloomberg put the combined cut at about A$169 million. What drove each cut:

• MXT: higher individually assessed credit-loss provisions, partly offset by lower collective provisions, plus an adjustment for capital-raising costs.

• MOT and MRE: mainly lower fair values for unlisted commercial real estate and private equity investments. MOT also raised its provisions.

Metrics said "greater weight was given to downside scenarios and less favourable potential outcomes". It said this reflected "interest-rate and macro-economic conditions and heightened regulatory expectations as applied to specific assets and the portfolio".

Investor impact

Metrics had also suspended redemptions in its unlisted wholesale funds: the roughly $6 billion MCP Wholesale Investment Trust and a roughly $3.3 billion wholesale real estate debt fund.

The markets performance up to September:

We are pleased to welcome Jonathan Walsh, Intermediate Accountant to Elevare Accountants. 

Jonathan joined our firm in March 2026, bringing over 22 years of combined commercial and public practice experience.

Based full-time in our Mullumbimby office, Jonathan handles a wide array of client portfolios, ranging from individuals and partnerships to trust structures, companies, and SMSFs. Having completed his Bachelor of Business and Master of Accounting at UTS, he is currently pursuing his CPA qualification.

We look forward to the value and expertise Jonathan brings to our clients and the broader team.

If you travel for business, tax time is a good opportunity to review your travel expenses and make sure you’re claiming the deductions you’re entitled to. You can generally deduct the business portion of expenses you incur when travelling for work, as long as you have the right records to support your claim.

Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to deduct travel expenses such as:

• accommodation and meals when you stay away overnight for business

• airfares and public transport fares, including buses, trains, trams, taxis and ride-sourcing services

• car hire-related expenses

• fuel, tolls and parking costs associated with business travel.

When claiming travel expenses, remember you can only deduct the business-related portion. If your business travel involves any private expenses you won’t be able to deduct them. Private expenses may include:

• sightseeing, entertainment and other leisure activities,

• a holiday you add onto your business travel, or

• costs for family members travelling with you.

Keeping good records

Good record keeping throughout the year can make tax time easier. Keep records that show your travel was for business purposes, such as invoices, tickets, boarding passes and other supporting documents. You need to keep these records for 5 years, so you should store them in a safe place.

They should also be written in English, or be easily converted to English.

If you're a sole trader or a partner in a partnership travelling away from home for 6 or more consecutive nights, you'll need to keep a travel diary. Recording your business activities as you go can help you work out and substantiate your claims.

Employee travel expenses

If you have employees who travel for work, you may be able to claim travel expenses that your business pays for directly or reimburses. Keep in mind that paying for an employee's private travel may attract fringe benefits tax (FBT), and different rules can apply to travel allowances.

Source and credit: ATO.gov.au

From 1 July 2026, the $20,000 instant asset write-off is permanent, giving eligible small businesses greater certainty when investing in assets.

If your business has an aggregated annual turnover of less than $10 million, you may be able to claim an immediate deduction for the business portion of eligible depreciating assets that:

• cost less than $20,000 and

• are first used, or installed ready for use, in an income year.

This IAWO can help improve cash flow and reduce compliance costs by allowing deductions to be claimed sooner.

What you need to know

• The $20,000 limit applies to each asset, so you can instantly claim multiple eligible assets, as long as each one costs less than $20,000.

• You may be able to claim an immediate deduction for eligible improvements or upgrades to existing assets, where the cost of the upgrade is less than $20,000.

• In most cases, both new and second-hand assets are eligible, although some exclusions and limits apply.

• If you previously chose not to use simplified depreciation rules, you can re-enter the regime until 30 June 2027, without waiting for the usual 5-year lock-out period.

• Assets costing $20,000 or more that can’t be immediately deducted, can continue to be added into the general small business pool and depreciated at 15% in the first income year and 30% each income year after that.

• From 1 July 2026, the low-value pool threshold increased from $1,000 to $20,000.

How to claim

If you want to claim the IAWO, include the deduction in your tax return for the income year that the asset was first used, or installed ready for use.

Remember to keep good records to support your claim.

For more information, including eligibility criteria, exclusions and claim requirements, visit Instant asset write-off for eligible businesses.

Source and credit: ATO.gov.au

Supporting Small Businesses: ATO Masterclasses

• Date: Tuesday 6 October 2026

• 11:30 - 12:30 pm AEST

• Location: Online

• Cost: FreeEvent organiser: ATO

What is the goods and services tax (GST)? Do you need to register?

This course outlines who must register for GST, how to calculate GST on sales and purchases, as well as other requirements such as invoicing, record-keeping, and reporting GST to the ATO.

Review the free course on Goods and services tax and come along to the masterclass with any questions you have.

Click the link below to register your interest.

Source and credit: Business.gov.au

Register Here

4 October

Daylight Savings begins (NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the ACT).

Don't forget to wind your clocks forward! At 2:00 AM, clocks will jump forward by one hour to 3:00 AM. Most smartphones and digital devices will update automatically, but remember to manually adjust any analog clocks or car dashboards.

5 October

Labour Day Public Holiday

Our office will be closed next Monday, 5 October for Labour Day and we will return on Tuesday, 6 October at 8.30 am.

21 October

Activity statements

• September monthly activity statements – final date for lodgment and payment.

• Quarter 1 (July to September) PAYG instalment activity statement for head companies of consolidated groups – final date for lodgment and payment.

PAYG instalments

• Annual PAYG instalment notice – final date for payment and, if using the rate method or varying the instalment amount, final date for lodgment.

  • If you have already received your income tax assessment, you should not vary your annual instalment.

28 October

Activity statements

• Quarter 1 (July to September) activity statements – final date for lodgment and payment.

• Annual activity statement – TFN withholding for closely held trusts where a trustee withheld amounts from payments to beneficiaries – final date for lodgment and payment.

GST instalments

• Final date for electing to pay GST by instalments (that is, option 3) for June balancers if another reporting option was previously used.

• Final date for opting out of option 3 for the current financial year.

• Quarter 1 (July to September) instalment notices (forms S and T) – final date for payment and, if varying instalment amount, lodgment.

GST

• Final date for eligible quarterly GST reporters to elect to report GST annually.

PAYG instalments

• Final date for eligible instalment reporters to elect to report annually for June balancers.

• Final date for notifying your quarterly PAYG instalment reporting and payment choice for the 2013 income year for June balancers.

• Quarter 1 (July to September 2013) instalment notices (forms R and T) – final date for payment and, if varying the instalment amount, lodgment.

31 October PAYG withholding

• Lodgment for PAYG withholding where ABN not quoted – annual report

  • Use this to report amounts withheld because another entity did not quote their ABN.

  • These amounts should have been reported at label W4 of activity statements.

• Lodgment for PAYG withholding from interest, dividends and royalties paid to non-residents – annual report

  • Use this to repo withholding, and the amounts withheld.

  • These amounts should have been reported at label W3 on activity statements.

    
    

• Lodgment for PAYG withholding annual report – payments to foreign residents

  • Use this to report payments made to foreign residents for entertainment or sports activities, construction and related activities and arranging casino gaming junket activities, and the amounts withheld.

  • These amounts should have been reported at label W3 on activity statements.

GST

• Annual GST return or Annual GST information report – lodgment and payment (if required) is due when the income tax return is due, for those who have an income tax obligation.

  • If you use a tax agent, different lodgment and payment dates may apply.

Income tax

• Individual, partnership and trust income tax returns – final date for lodgment unless an approved SAP or a later lodgment date has been granted.Trusts that are medium to large taxpayers in the last year they lodged and have one prior year return overdue as at 30 June of the last financial year.Lodgment of income tax returns for trusts, which did not lodge their income tax return on time for the previous financial year.Income tax return lodgment due date for all June balancing companies where one or more prior-year returns were overdue, as at 30 June.Income tax returns lodgment due date for companies that did not lodge their income tax return on time for the previous financial year.

NFP self-review return

• Annual NFP self-review return final lodgment due date, unless an approved SAP, for non-charitable not-for-profits (NFPs) with an active ABN who self-assess as income tax exempt.

TFN reportQuarter 1 (July to September)

• TFN report for closely held trusts for TFNs quoted to a trustee by beneficiaries – final date for lodgment.

Annual Investment Income Reporting

• Lodging the annual investment income report (AIIR) – final date for lodgment for all investment bodies.

Global and domestic minimum tax

• The Combined global and domestic minimum tax return and the GloBE Information Return are due 31 October 2026 for fiscal years ending on 30 April 2025.

Source and credit: ATO.gov.au