Will new LRBA rules stymie your SMSF contribution plans?
An “integrity” measure, which aimed to stop SMSF trustees from manipulating their total superannuation balance in order to keep below the $1.6 million threshold, may have the unintended outcome of reducing the appeal of LRBAs. Legislated changes to limited recourse...
Shares and tax: A stock market investment primer
Investing in the stockmarket is a lot more common than it was years ago, with ordinary Australians having experience with shares and the stockmarket either directly or through managed funds or via their superannuation fund. Recent research conducted by the Australian...
Self-employed? You could claim a deduction for saving for your retirement
A recent change to the rules around superannuation means that more Australians may be eligible to claim a tax deduction for putting money into super. Before June 30, 2017, if more than 10% of your income was sourced from salary or wages from an employer, you were...
Let a GST credit slip through the cracks? All is not lost
Most small business owners stay on top of their GST refunds, mainly because of cash flow concerns, but it’s not all that uncommon to now and then lose track of a credit. What quite a few small business owners may not know is that you have four years to claim any GST...
Your claim for a business tax loss can be denied
Business owners are naturally keen to be able to absorb a business loss as a tax deduction, but it also pays to not stray too far from the generally accepted rules regarding tax losses — there are circumstances where the ATO is legitimately able to deny such claims....
How to deal with SMSF trustee disputes
Everyone goes through the odd rough patch in their relationships with one another and SMSF trustees are no different. However the ramifications of a dispute between trustees are likely to have more wide ranging affects than the average quarrel between friends as SMSF...
Changing a will after death — a deed of family arrangement can make it possible
There are times when the terms of a deceased’s will are not suitable and the beneficiaries involved seek to have the will varied. There are various situations where this may be the case, such as changing circumstances over a long period of time from when the will was...
Claiming self-education expenses
The value of a good education is widely accepted, and it is a common experience over one’s working lifetime to find that further learning is required along the path of one’s chosen career. Changing technology and evolving workplaces means that at some stage in every...
Can you claim a tax deduction for insurance premiums?
As a general guideline, the ATO will allow a deduction for certain insurance premiums if it can be shown that the insurance cover relates to earning assessable income. In other words, life insurance, trauma insurance or critical care insurance are generally out....
Are you Division 7A compliant?
Division 7A is an integrity measure that was designed to prevent companies from making tax-free distributions to shareholders or their associates. This can occur where distributions of profit are disguised as loans or other transactions. This effectively allows the...