10 ideas to help your business

If your business is struggling, you may not know the best way to fix the problem without some help. We’ve put together 10 ways that you may be able to use to turn your struggling business around. If you aren’t sure where to start, contact us and speak with the experts.

Tax of Insurance Premiums

As a general guideline, the ATO will allow a deduction for certain insurance premiums if it can be shown that the insurance cover relates to earning assessable income. In other words, life insurance, trauma insurance or critical care insurance are generally out. Income protection insurance is one example of the kind of cover that may provide an allowable […]

Taxable Payment Annual Reports

If your business primarily operates in the Building and Construction Industry, and makes payments to contractors, you are required to complete and lodge a “Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR)’ with the Australian Taxation Office each year. Businesses primarily in the building and construction industry need to report to the ATO the total payments they make […]

ATO Targets

Small business owners. Rogue tax practitioners. Uninformed taxpayers. Rental property owners. Such taxpayers have long managed to avoid consequence for partially-correct tax returns. Finally, it seems the Australian government has acknowledged the extent to which individuals are undermining its principal revenue collection agency – the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Fresh off a funding windfall from the […]

Travel Expenses

Working out what can be claimed as travel deductions is an area many taxpayers find confusing. To obtain a deduction three “golden rules” need to be considered and met: The most common question we get asked – “is my home to work travel claimable?” Firstly, home to work travel is generally considered private in nature […]

Trust Tax Losses

Australian trust loss rules are complex, poorly understood and onerous to apply. As a result, business or investment trusts risk claiming losses incorrectly, a situation that can result in a significant tax liability. By making a family trust election (FTE), small to medium sized privately-held businesses operating as a trust can satisfy the trust loss […]

Div 7A Traps

Division 7A Traps – Loan Repayments that are NOT Loan Repayments! Division 7A (or Div 7A for short!) is an anti-avoidance measure designed to prevent private companies from making tax-free distributions of profits to shareholders or to their associates in the form of payments, loans, forgiven debts or via the use of private company assets. […]

Complication of investments for children

It is a fairly well-established and welcome act for an aunt or uncle or of course a parent to start a savings account for a new addition to the next generation. It is not so common however, among the warm and generous emotions that accompany such a gift to factor in the taxation obligations that […]

Ride-Share Income

Have you or someone you know considered taking up ride-sharing (also called ride-sourcing) to earn extra income, or even as an alternative form of employment? When providing ride-sharing services through Uber or GoCatch and other facilitators for a fare, there are things you will need to know, and traps you need to be aware of. […]

Simple Div 7A

If you have a company, then you have probably sat in a meeting with your accountant and heard the phrase ‘that may raise Division 7A issues’. Everyone usually then grumbles and nods wisely, and moves on… But you may be asking yourself, what is Division 7A? Glad you asked. In short, Division 7A is relevant […]