Mum and dad investors in receipt of dividends from their share portfolio often benefit from investing in blue chip shares because they usually have franking credits attached. As a general rule, an Australian resident shareholder is assessed for tax on…
FBT and cars – a perennial head-scratcher The provision of cars by employers to employees remains an issue that continues to create confusion for some business taxpayers. A not-uncommon situation is where the employer fails to identify that a car…
Can salary sacrifice work for you? Salary sacrifice can be a great way to get a part of your remuneration in a form other than cash – and not personally pay tax on it. Salary sacrifice (or salary packaging) is…
Tax and the sharing economy The concept of a “sharing economy” has been around for long enough now to have had a very real impact on how we transact. Think Uber, think Airbnb. By now, most people will have realised…
Federal Court rules that ride-sourcing is taxi travel The Federal Court has handed down a decision in a case that deems ride-sourcing is taxi travel within the meaning of the GST law. If the applicant in this particular case appeals…
One investment option that has surfaced relatively recently, and that SMSF trustees may consider as a part of their strategy to grow their fund, is investing through peer-to-peer lending. Peer-to-peer lending involves an investor – a trustee of the SMSF…
From January 1, 2017, the assets test free area and taper rate for pensions increased. The assets test works by reducing a person’s age pension payment for every dollar of assets owned over a certain value. The test takes into…
The ATO says that it has “listened to the concerns of small businesses, tax professionals, industry associations and software providers”, and is working towards reducing GST compliance costs for small businesses. “We are reducing the amount of GST information required…
The ATO has issued guidance on making claims for mobile phone use as well as home phone and internet expenses. Substantiation for mobile, home phone and internet costs It says that if a taxpayer uses any of these for work…
Trusts are an important and very useful concept for managing one’s financial affairs, as well as estate planning. A trust is established whenever there is a separation of the legal ownership (for example, the name appearing on a land title)…