Have you ever gone to pay for your coffee or lunch and saw the tip jar at the local café counter, and wondered how (or if) the business accounts for tax on that money? Depending on a number of factors, this can add up to quite a sum over a year, assuming the café owner...

There is a unique problem with self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) when it comes to marriage breakdown and splitting assets upon divorce, and it is a problem that could become more common. First, some salient facts to consider. Most of the 539,375 SMSFs in Australia are two-person funds (69.5% of them, according to the latest Tax...

A recent report from the Federal Treasury said there were around six million “lost” superannuation accounts holding a total of about $18 billion as at mid 2014. This figure represents roughly one in five of every superannuation account. A lot of working Australians may not even know that there could be super money out there...

The Aussie dollar has traditionally taken the role of slightly-poorer cousin to the US dollar, and until 2010 the last time the Australian dollar was equal pegged with its US counterpart was on July 28, 1982, when the Reserve Bank, not market forces, was controlling its value. Not long after (December 1983) the dollar was...

If you own a business that employs staff, and provide remuneration to your employees in a form other than straight salary, you may be up for fringe benefits tax (FBT). The upside for your workers is that they do not then have to pay income tax on the value of the benefits provided to them....

To get ahead of the game and stay there, you need to flex your grey matter as often as possible. Self-education is one way of ensuring you keep up to speed with developments and methods relating to either your business or your field of employment. To help encourage employers and employees alike to undertake educational...

For small businesses The government wants to improve the superannuation system and bring it into the modern electronic world through the introduction of SuperStream, and this includes for SMSFs. Under the new system, employers must interact electronically using approved software. Employers with 20 or more employees should have already started using SuperStream from July 1...

The term “capital gains tax” (CGT) is perhaps the biggest misnomer in tax. It is not its own, separate tax on capital gains per se. For an individual, it is included as part of that person’s assessable income and subject to tax at their marginal tax rate. When a taxing point for CGT happens (referred...

While it is generally accepted that business owners are the most driven to see their business succeed, the same sort of vested interest can also give staff a sense of participation and a solid reason to see the company become profitable. Having a real stake in a company through owning shares in it is an...

A recent decision by the Full Federal Court dealt with the goods and services tax (GST) treatment of four types of manufacturer incentive payments made to a car dealership. However the decision, and the Tax Office’s response, is likely to have an impact in the wider market, not just in the motor vehicle dealership industry....