By: Max Newnham Don’t make this common mistake. Many small businesses are often started on a part-time basis while the owner is working full-time. This can mean a portion of the owner’s home, or the property that the home is situated on, is often used for business purposes. A common mistake made is for owners to […]
By: Steve Burnham Home office expense claims are subject to the same general substantiation requirements as other deductions – that is, records must be kept for five years. But in practice, full compliance with the substantiation rules may be difficult. It may be simple to keep a receipt for a printer purchased for a home […]
By: Steve Burnham The ATO has announced that, after consultation and collaboration with business taxpayers and industry representatives, it has developed what it calls a “safe harbour” mechanism for calculating car fringe benefits under the operating cost method. In ATO parlance, a safe harbour is a guideline that allows taxpayers to make use of a simplified […]
By: Steve Burnham The ATO has produced a large number of public rulings over many years. Although most are current, many have not been updated in a very long time. To address this situation it has announced a program of modernisation of its database of rulings under its new “advice under development” program. This initiative allows […]
By: Steve Burnham A dictionary definition of a trust is: “A fiduciary relationship in which one person (the trustee) holds the title to property (the trust estate or trust property) for the benefit of another (the beneficiary).” Why create a trust? One of the big motivations will be to protect assets. Property and assets can be […]
By: Steve Burnham Whether you’ve been on a working visa and have been slogging away bagging bananas in Tully for six months, or decided to quit your city job and move to Peru, your employer has been putting money aside for your superannuation. Among sorting out all your affairs, you’re probably also wondering what will happen […]
By: Steve Burnham The ATO says that last year about half a million Australians lodged a tax return for the first time, with a similar number if not more expected to lodge by the time the looming October 31 deadline arrives for getting your tax return in to the ATO. Of course given that close deadline, […]
By: Steve Burnham Your client might be sick of the daily commute, or want more flexibility of hours – or it could be that they have a talent or skill that they trust will translate into a fulfilling career in their own business. Or it could just be that the idea of working from home seems […]
By: Rod Myer The Australian Taxation Office has fired a shot across the bows of plans by DomaCom, an investment company, to allow self-managed super fund (SMSF) investors to live in houses their funds own. In response to enquiries from The New Daily, the ATO issued a statement signed by Assistant Commissioner Kasey Macfarlane, saying it was not […]
By: Nicola Field Self-managed super fund trustees and their advisors need to be alert to the latest round of wealth-stripping fraudulent schemes. Fraudsters have Australia’s over-50s in their sights, and pre-retirees with self-managed super funds (SMSFs) are particularly vulnerable. Figures from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) show that in 2015, reported losses to […]
