October 2025 – Accounting and SMSF Roundup

October 2025 Round Up

This month’s updates are all about keeping your money working for you. The small business instant asset write-off looks set to stay for another year, giving small businesses room to plan and invest with less red tape. For anyone selling their home later in life, downsizer contributions remain a simple way to turn property gains into super savings. And with AI scams becoming harder to spot, a few small habits can make all the difference in keeping what you’ve built secure.

1. AI scams in Australia: how to spot them and stay safe Read the full article

2. $20,000 Instant Asset Write-Off Due for Extension To 30 June 2026 Read the full article

3. Unlock the Benefits of Downsizer Super Contributions Read the full article

AI scams in Australia: How to Spot Them and Stay Safe

AI now makes it cheap and easy to fake a person’s face and voice. Scammers are using these “deepfakes” in calls, Direct Messages, emails and ads to push investment schemes, steal logins, or socially engineer payments.

Why this matters

  • Australians reported $2.03 billion in scam losses in 2024.
  • Losses were $2.74 billion in 2023.
  • On social media specifically, $43.4 million in losses was reported in just Jan–Aug 2024, with thousands of “celebrity-bait” deepfake pages and ads removed under Meta’s FIRE program, including those targeting Australian banks.
  • Globally, deepfakes now account for a significant share of biometric fraud, approximately 40% in 2024, highlighting just how convincing synthetic voice and video have become.

Real-world cases

  • Celebrity deepfake investment ads. Australia’s consumer watchdog has repeatedly warned about fake news pages and deepfake videos of public figures pushing trading platforms.
  • Deepfake video meetings. In a widely reported case, a finance employee in Hong Kong was tricked by a deepfaked CFO and colleagues on a video call into paying approximately US$25 million, illustrating the convincing and coordinated nature of these attacks.
  • Bank and exchange impersonation alerts. The AFP and the National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC) have issued warnings about bank impersonation scams and crypto-exchange impostors targeting Australians via text messages, emails, and phone calls.

What deep fakes look and sound like

  • Voice cloning: just a few seconds of audio can produce a near-perfect voice. Expect pressure, urgency and requests to move money quickly.
  • Video fakes: slick interviews, Zoom calls, or ads where lip-sync is almost perfect, backgrounds look subtly odd, or lighting on a face doesn’t match the room.
  • Image fakes: profile pics or proof screenshots with mismatched jewellery, blurred ears/hairlines, or warped text.

Tips

  1. Avoid the urgency: Scammers create a sense of panic. Hang up or leave the chat. Call back using a number you recognise (e.g., your bank card number, official website).
  2. Verify out of band: If a boss or family member asks for money, call a known number or set a pre-agreed safe word for video calls.
  3. Challenge the media: Ask the caller to perform a simple action live, such as turning left or showing today’s date on paper. Watch for unusual lighting, frozen teeth/tongue, out-of-sync blinks, or jerky shadows.
  4. Never click payment links in texts: Go directly to your bank app; don’t follow links or numbers supplied in the message.
  5. Treat celebrity money ads as scams: ASIC-licensed financial advertisements on major platforms in Australia are moving to stricter verification; if you don’t see clear provenance, assume it’s fake.

Practical prevention

  • Use passkeys or app-based 2FA (prefer authenticator apps over SMS where possible).
  • Use a password manager and create unique passwords for every account.
  • Use PayID namechecking; consider transfer limits and “cooling-off” delays for new payees.
  • Keep devices up to date; use built-in password and website warnings.
  • Hide your voice and video samples from public profiles where practical; lock down who can direct message or tag you.

Scenarios based on actual scam techniques

Scenario 1: The Urgent Bank Security Call

Characters:

  • John, a 52-year-old teacher in Sydney
  • Scammer posing as “Mary from his bank” using a cloned voice

What happened

John received a call late at night. The caller, sounding exactly like his bank’s security officer (based on a voice sample lifted from an old radio interview John once did), told him that his account was under cyberattack and he needed to transfer $25,000 into a safe-holding account urgently.

The caller used urgent, fearful language: “We can see criminals draining your account right now.” John, panicked, made the transfer through the link they texted him.

Implications

  • John lost $25,000, unrecoverable because he authorised the transaction.
  • He spent weeks dealing with ID theft risks after sharing personal details with the caller.
  • Emotional stress: loss of sleep, anxiety about financial security.

What could have stopped it

  • Stop & breathe: Urgent requests = red flag.
  • Verify out-of-band: Call back using the number on the back of the bank card, not the one given in the text.
  • Channel check: Banks never ask for transfers via text links or over the phone. 

Scenario 2: The Celebrity Investment Video

Characters:

  • Priya, a small business owner in Melbourne
  • Scammer running a fake crypto investment ad using a deepfake video of a famous Australian TV presenter

What happened

Priya saw a slick Facebook ad featuring a well-known TV presenter explaining how she “doubled her money” with a new crypto platform. The lip movements and voice were nearly perfect, yet clearly a deepfake.

She clicked through, spoke with support staff, and invested $10,000 via bank transfer, expecting guaranteed returns. The platform vanished after two weeks.

Implications

  • Total financial loss.
  • Ongoing spam calls targeting Priya for more investments — she was added to a victim list sold on the dark web.
  • No legal recourse: the ad originated offshore; complex jurisdictional issues.

What could have stopped it

  • Challenge the media: No genuine investment opportunity relies on urgency or secrecy.
  • Treat celebrity money ads as scams: ASIC warns that guaranteed returns are a scam.
  • Report immediately to Scamwatch and eSafety for ad takedown. 

Scenario 3: The Deepfake “Boss” on Video Call

Characters:

  • Li Wei, accounts officer in a Brisbane construction firm
  • Scammers impersonating her CEO and two other managers in a deepfaked Zoom call

What happened

Li Wei joined a Zoom call where she saw her CEO and two colleagues asking her to urgently pay $250,000 to a new overseas supplier. The faces blinked, nodded, and spoke naturally — but it was a fully AI-generated video based on real LinkedIn photos and YouTube speeches.

Trusting the “CEO,” she processed the payment. 

Implications

  • $250,000 company loss; internal investigation triggered.
  • Regulatory reporting obligations under anti-fraud and corporate governance rules.
  • Staff morale issues; fear of disciplinary action despite being a victim herself.

What could have stopped it

  • Challenge the media: Request a live “safe word” or a unique gesture during video calls.
  • Maker-checker control: Payments should require a second verification via a different channel (e.g., phone or SMS to the CEO).
  • Incident response drill: Staff need training for deepfake risks in payment authorisation.

$20,000 Instant Asset Write-Off Due for Extension To 30 June 2026

If you’re a small business owner planning to invest in new equipment or technology, the government is planning to extend the $20,000 instant asset write-off by a further 12 months until 30 June 2026.

This measure was announced by the Treasurer as an election commitment on 4 April 2025 and is contained in a recently introduced Bill. It’s not yet law, but once passed, the $20,000 threshold will apply until 30 June 2026.

Without this amendment, the threshold would have dropped back to the ongoing legislated level of $1,000 from 1 July 2025.

What the Extension Covers

The extension would apply to:

  • Eligible depreciating assets costing less than $20,000 each.

  • Eligible cost additions included in the second element of an asset’s cost.

  • General small business pools, allowing a full write-off where the pool balance is below $20,000 at year end.

Small businesses that use the simplified depreciation rules and have an aggregated turnover of less than $10 million can continue to immediately deduct the business portion of eligible assets first used or installed ready for use by 30 June 2026.

The write-off can apply to multiple assets, provided each individual asset is under the $20,000 limit.

Unlock the Benefits of Downsizer Super Contributions

If you’re nearing retirement and looking for ways to boost your superannuation savings, downsizer super contributions might be the perfect solution.

These allow eligible Australians aged 55 and over to contribute proceeds from selling their home into their superannuation fund.

In the 2024–2025 financial year alone, 15,800 individuals took advantage of this strategy, contributing a total of $4.165 billion to their superannuation funds.

What It Is

A downsizer contribution allows an eligible individual to contribute an amount equal to all or part of the sale proceeds (up to $300,000 each) from the sale of their home into their superannuation fund. The contribution must not exceed the sale proceeds of the home.

Why It’s Attractive

  • Not restricted by contribution caps or total super balance.

  • No work test or upper age limit.

  • Can be made even after age 75 — one of the few ways to contribute large amounts to super later in life.

Combining with Other Strategies

Someone under age 75 can potentially combine up to $690,000 in contributions in a single year, if eligible and timed correctly:

  • $300,000 downsizer contribution.

  • Up to $360,000 of personal after-tax contributions under the bring-forward rule.

  • Up to $30,000 of personal deductible contributions.


Eligibility

To make a downsizer contribution, you must:

  • Be 55 years or older at the time of contribution.

  • Have owned the home for 10 years or more (ownership can be by you or your spouse).

  • Sell a home in Australia that is not a caravan, houseboat or mobile home.

  • Ensure the sale is exempt or partially exempt from CGT under the main residence exemption.

  • Make the contribution within 90 days of receiving the sale proceeds (usually settlement date).

  • Not have made a downsizer contribution previously from another home.

  • Provide your super fund with the Downsizer contribution into super form (NAT 75073) before or at the time of making the contribution.

Important Deadlines

Failure to submit the form on time may result in your fund rejecting the contribution or treating it as a standard non-concessional contribution — which could have adverse tax implications.

The 90-day deadline from settlement is strict. If more time is needed (for example, delays in purchasing a new home), you must apply to the ATO for an extension. Extensions are granted only in limited circumstances, such as settlement delays due to council approvals.

Important: This is not advice. Clients should not act solely on the basis of the material contained in this article. Items herein are general comments only and do not constitute or convey advice per se. Also changes in legislation may occur quickly. We therefore recommend that our formal advice be sought before acting in any of the areas. This article is issued as a helpful guide to clients and for their private information. Therefore it should be regarded as confidential and not be made available to any person without our prior approval. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.