Blog
BONUS – The dangers of income splitting
Now and then the ATO issues warnings on how its general anti-avoidance legislation can apply to professional firms that allocate profits to individual professional practitioners with proprietorship in the firm. Firms potentially affected include those providing services in the accounting, architectural, engineering, financial services, legal and medical professions. Professional firms can be structured in a...
Start-up businesses: Which is the right structure for you?
Start up businesses need to make one important decision from the outset – what type of business set-up will suit your enterprise best? And which structure will be best for the future? You’ve got a choice of four basic business structures – sole trader, partnership, company or trust. Of course, there are also more sophisticated...
General facts about winding up your business
There are times where business owners, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, may need to wind up their business. It is generally less complicated to wind up the business of a sole trader (who has declared “bankruptcy”) than to wind up a business run through other structures. For companies, the terms typically used would be to “go...
Controversial super change scrapped, but other proposals need to be watched
At the time of writing, the new Parliament released the first batch of proposed changes to the superannuation regime, and among these was the announcement that the proposed $500,000 lifetime non-concessional cap is to be scrapped. Recall that these measures were previously announced in the Federal Budget earlier this year before the election. These proposed...
Travel to a workplace: What’s in, what’s out
A recurrent topic of conversation and enquiry when it comes to possible tax deductions is when taxpayers travel to a work location, and the eligibility or otherwise of certain claims in regard to that travel. Work-related travel is a hot focus area of the ATO as taxpayers can often get claims wrong. While trips between...
Wallace Partners Client Information Newsletter – October 2016
A PDF copy of our Monthly Client Information Newsletter for October 2016 wallace-partners-client-information-newsletter-october-2016 A recurrent topic of inquiry when it comes to possible tax deductions is when taxpayers travel to a work location, and the eligibility or otherwise of certain claims for that travel. We unravel the complexities. A start-up business is going to have to make...
BONUS – Is an SMSF right for you?
Do-it-yourself superannuation, in one form or another, has been around for about 30 years. But it has only been over the last few years that SMSFs have made an indelible mark on Australia’s retirement savings landscape. The SMSF sector now claims a bigger slice of the super pie than it ever has, in terms of...
When is refinancing loan interest deductible to a partnership?
About general law and tax law partnerships A general law partnership is formed when two or more people (and up to, but no more than, 20 people) go into business together. Partnerships are generally set up so that all partners are equally responsible for the management of the business, but each also has liability for the...
BONUS – Correcting GST errors and making adjustments on your business activity statements
If you identify a goods and services tax (GST) error for a previous period or on an already lodged business activity statement (BAS), there is always scope to make a correction. The ATO has realised that it is necessary for businesses to be able to make these adjustments, which can easily come about because of...
Setting up an SMSF: What you need to know
There are tempting tax incentives for Australians to save for their retirement via the superannuation system, with an array of choice between superannuation funds that can manage your savings for you, but also the do-it-yourself option of a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF). Managing your own retirement savings however is a huge responsibility and one that...