In the old days, tax officials could be seen driving around the ‘burbs looking for signs of opulence that didn’t match your income. Now, with everything that needs to be known available digitally, data matching can uncover income that doesn’t…
Buying insurance within an SMSF can give access to deductible expenses that would otherwise not be available, as some insurance premiums, such as for life insurance (which typically cannot be claimed as deductions by individuals for income tax purposes) may…
A death benefit nomination is a written direction to SMSF trustees which instructs the trustee to pay a member’s entitlements to certain dependants and/or legal personal representatives (their estate) in the proportions the member wishes in the event of their…
From about five years ago, the baby boomer generation started to turn 65. A surge in Australian business owners retiring began, and continues, but the topic of succession planning, although given some emphasis by this demographic wave, remains a perennially…
An area where we see individuals getting it wrong as employees is in relation to claiming work-related travel expenses. The absence of hard and fast rules can makes claiming travel expenses difficult as often the deductibility of such costs can…
The final tranche of 2015 small business budget announcements have made it into law, now expanding the tax relief available for small businesses to change the legal structure of their business. This new arrangement is designed to provide greater flexibility…
Business assets, personal use? Is there a problem with using your company’s assets for yourself? Assets that belong to your business but that are being used for your own benefit or enjoyment can potentially trigger a tax issue known as…
Sharpest pencil in the box? Financial reporting quiz for directors A survey of directors, auditors and other financial professionals conducted by the Financial Reporting Council* revealed that, on average, directors believe their knowledge of the more technical accounting issues was…
Making payments into your self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) with pre-tax dollars is labelled making “concessional contributions”. These payments to your super fund include the compulsory 9.5% super guarantee paid by employers, salary sacrificed amounts and personal contributions for which you…
The money put aside in your self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) is of course intended to be kept to fund the retirement of you and your fellow fund members. This is the over-riding obligation of you as trustee to adhere to…