As though business owners and principals don’t already have enough on their minds, the words “slowing economy” are being heard around the barbecue again — just to add to the list of excuses for not sleeping well at night. Company directors especially need to keep in mind that the Corporations Act holds directors personally liable...

When a life insurance policy has been held by the taxpayer for 10 years or longer, reversionary bonuses received on that policy are tax-free. (A reversionary bonus is the profit earned annually on traditional life contracts on top of the sum-insured.) For policies held less than 10 years, stipulated amounts are included in the Taxpayers...

Not all taxpayers may be aware of how the use of estimates can affect their annual tax bill. Estimates are most commonly used in apportioning expenses between private and business use. More important however is the use of valuations to estimate the cost of transactions that are not arm’s-length or when no actual cash changes...

Christmas will be here before we know it, and it is likely that better organised employers will already be thinking about their yuletide preparations. But while you should feel free to pop a champagne cork or three for your employees, make sure that you don’t get the tax hangover; particularly with fringe benefit tax and...

Severe financial hardship, terminal illness, specified compassionate reasons, permanent incapacity and other limited circumstances can serve as grounds for withdrawing pre-retirement or preserved super. Strict rules do apply to accessing these funds. Overseen by the Department of Human Services, the “early release of superannuation” scheme allows super to be withdrawn in one or more of...

Pay as you go (PAYG) instalments is a system for making regular payments towards your expected annual income tax liability. It only applies to you if you earn business and/or investment income over a certain amount. The Tax Office will notify you, or us on your behalf, if you need to start paying by instalments...

Many professional, business or trades people are members of an association, and during their working life subscribe to an appropriate organisation. In most cases the membership of a trade union for example, or professional association relevant to workers in a particular occupation, would qualify for deduction under the general deduction provisions of the tax laws....

An SMSF can be a very powerful retirement savings vehicle. It’s good for long-term wealth accumulation and asset protection within a tax-effective structure. There is plenty of scope, however, to lose your footing over some of the required (and admittedly numerous) compliance tasks. If mishandled, the potential pitfalls can work to outweigh the benefits of...

Businesses are required to deal with the goods and services tax (GST) in various ways — from charging customers 10% and paying the Tax Office the tax collected, to claiming GST on purchases. While most businesses would typically be entitled to claim GST credits on their purchases, there are some instances where credits cannot be...

The Tax Office this tax time revealed it has undertaken the task of matching income declared on business tax returns against credit and debit card records that have been generated by certain banks and financial institutions throughout the 2014-15 financial year. As part of the unprecedented blitz, the regulator will ask major Australian financial institutions...