Illegal Phoenixing
With high-profile cases of illegal phoenix activity back in the news, new funding to crack down on the practice and the establishment of a cross-agency anti-Phoenix taskforce, the obligation of professional advisors to not participate in suspected phoenixing is clear. Where professionals see illegal phoenixing behaviour, there are moral and ethical expectations to report it […]
Renting your Principal Place of Residence
There are various reasons why you might consider vacating and renting out your home for a limited time. You might want to take an extended holiday and feel more comfortable if someone is living there and paying rent. You may have an additional property, a holiday house for instance, and a change of pace that […]
Cash v Accruals
Goods and Services Tax (“GST“) is calculated as the GST owed to the Australian Taxation Office (“ATO“) by the business (GST collected on sales made) less GST owed by the ATO to the business (GST paid on purchases made). The ATO gives small business owners the option of reporting GST on a cash basis if […]
Basics of Family Trust Elections (FTEs)
Most practitioners have heard of family trust elections (“FTE“), and some may have made FTE’s to err on the side of caution. However, in many cases, a clear explanation of the reasons for making a FTE is not readily available. This article aims to provide a practical explanation of the main situations in which a […]
Repairs, replacement and maintenance
You can claim a deduction for repairs and maintenance to machinery, tools or premises you use to produce business income, as long as the expenses are not capital expenses. What you can claim You can claim the cost of allowable repairs and maintenance, including: painting; conditioning gutters; maintaining plumbing; repairing electrical appliances; mending leaks; replacing […]
Small Business Tax Concessions – Basics
In addition to the capital gains tax (“CGT“) exemptions and rollovers available more widely, there are four concessions that allow you to disregard or defer some or all of a capital gain from an active asset used in a small business: 15-year exemption – If your business has continuously owned an active asset for 15 years […]
FBT and entertainment
New changes to salary packaged entertainment From 1 April 2016, all employers providing salary packaged meal entertainment or entertainment facility leasing expenses (EFLE) benefits to employees will be unable to use the 50/50 split method and 12 week register method for valuing the salary packaged benefits. Only the actual method can be used to determine […]
Controlling your superannuation
How to Control Your Superannuation Most people want to take control of their superannuation. There are a few things you can do for making the most of your super. Minimise your super fees The first thing you can do is look at minimising your super fees. It is estimated that 20% of Australian’s pay more […]
Managing carried forward losses
You operate a company Your accountant set you up in a company and in recent years things have been pretty tough business wise so much so that the company has incurred significant losses. Your business partner who feels the business cannot afford 2 owners and who owns the other 50%, has asked you to buy them […]
What is Division 7A? A basic explanation
Division 7A only applies to private companies, all loans, advances and other credits made by private companies to shareholders (or their associates), and so is highly relevant in the SME market. This is an area of high risk for the ATO. Craig Dangar notes that this is an area of concern for many businesses, especially […]
