By Anthony Keane WOMEN are more pessimistic than men about retirement and more than three out of five say they will battle financially after finishing work. A study by retirement planning firm StatePlus has found that 64 per cent of women say they will struggle to achieve a comfortable retirement lifestyle, with Australia’s wage disparity also […]
By Anthony Keane IT sounds like a tempting idea — let young Australians withdraw their superannuation early to use the money as a house deposit. They get into their own home earlier than they otherwise would, still have many decades to save up their super for retirement, and Australia’s housing affordability problems maybe ease a little, […]
By Jim Minifie and Cameron Chisholm, Grattan Institute In the drawn-out debate on the value of a company tax cut to our economy, there have been a number of claims: that the plan would cost $50 billion; that the cuts are just a handout to foreign investors; that there will be little benefit for many years; and […]
By: Jackson Stiles A Senate committee has been told that the devastating problem of unpaid superannuation is at least $2 billion worse than previous estimates. Back in December, a joint Industry Super Australia (ISA) and Cbus report exploded into the headlines by estimating that bosses had ripped off 2.4 million workers to the tune of $3.6 billion worth […]
Trusts are an important and very useful concept for managing one’s financial affairs, as well as estate planning. The pros and cons of ‘electing’ to be a family trust A trust is established whenever there is a separation of the legal ownership (for example, the name appearing on a land title) from the beneficial […]
By: Max Newnham Businesses registered for GST can claim input tax credits, the GST included in payments, and reduce the amount of GST collected that must be paid to the ATO. When payments relate 100 per cent to business items, such as stock purchases, the amount of input tax credit claimable is one-eleventh of the […]
By: Max Newnham There is a misconception that it is easier to claim a tax deduction for expenses in a business rather than as an employee. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just because a person runs a business does not make it any easier to claim expenses, especially with regard to claiming motor vehicle […]
By: Finn Kelly Superannuation is likely already one of your largest assets, and for many of us it’ll most certainly be our largest asset one day. My question to you is, if you know it’s your largest asset, then are you taking it seriously? And if not, why not? If you’re a Gen Y, I know […]
The ATO has just released the latest of what has become a series of annual publications. The report, Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview, started being published in late 2011 and has become an anticipated event for many in the SMSF arena — containing as it usually does some good news. The statistical report […]
The ATO has announced that it is extending the deadline it had set for SMSF trustees to disclose any personal services income that has been diverted to their fund. The concern for the ATO, as outlined in a taxpayer alert (TA2016/6) it issued last year, is the minimising or avoidance of tax obligations that […]
