On Tuesday 9 May 2017 Treasurer Scott Morrison handed down the 2017-18 Federal Budget, his second Budget.

In his Budget Speech the Treasurer reported a deficit of $29.4bn for 2017-18. However, the government forecasts this to improve to a surplus in of $7.4bn by 2020-21. The Budget expects the economy to  grow at 2.75% in 2017-18 and 3.0% in 2018-19, supported by growth in household consumption, exports and a transition to non-mining business investment.

In our last edition , we looked at the criteria that the Australian Tax Office (ATO) consider when they examine whether an artist is carrying on a bona fide arts practice.

From the start of the new financial year, we have decided not to issue any more refund cheques to our clients. We will be asking all clients for banking details as we will be making EFT payments direct into your account.

We have decided to prepare a series of ’Fact Sheets‘ that encapsulate basic information on how to start an arts business and, once started, how to successfully run this endeavour. In this edition of the Newsletter we will outline the steps that artists need to take to ensure that they are making tax claims as a ‘business’.

Adelaide-born painter Sydney Ball has died aged 83. Ball was born in 1933, and moved to New York in 1962 where he enrolled at the Art Students League and studied under Theodoros Stamos. It was a time when he was exposed to the rise of the Abstract Expressionist movement and rubbed shoulders with Mark Rothko, Lee Krasner, Barnett Newman, Robert Motherwell and Willem de Kooning.

Congratulations to Alexandra Walker, who was the 2016 recipient of the Lowensteins prize awarded by the Arts Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA).

After not attending the fair for two years it was a great pleasure to be able to travel to the Art Basel Hong Kong Art Fair that covered a whole week of events from the 21 to 25 March 2017 at the Hong Kong Exhibition Centre.

Our recent office move to South Melbourne has given us the opportunity to initiate changes to Lowensteins' operations which will result in an improvement to the services that we offer our clients.

We are pleased to announce ABC Arts's Creatives - a season of five half hour biopics on significant established and emerging Australian artists. "Rosemary Valadon: A Sensual World" will be screened on Tuesday 4 April, 10pm, and available thereafter on ABC iView.

It is with great sadness that we received the news of the passing of Sydney Ball at the age of 83.

In a park in Northern Germany two hours from Berlin, two Australian expats with a love of art have set up the Wesenberg Sculpture Park. This is the realisation of a dream by Peter Thompson and David Ng.