income splitting
Living Away From Home Allowances on ATO Radar
October 2011The Australian Taxation Office (“ATO”) is increasing their audit activities in relation to Living Away From Home allowance (“LAFHA”) benefits provided to employees. This article sets out the requirements of a LAFHA and the documentation that should be maintained to support LAFHA benefits. What...
Issues with Family Trusts
October 2011Family trusts can be a very tax effective way of managing wealth, and a useful part of an overall strategy for wealth accumulation and asset protection. What is a family trust? The term family trust refers to a discretionary trust set up to hold a family's assets or to conduct a family business. Generally,...
Budget 2011 – Small Business Tax Changes
May 2011This article contains a summary of the key tax changes in the 2011 budget that impact on small businesses. As always, there are winners and losers. A small business for tax purposes is defined to have a turnover of less than $2 million GST exclusive. Immediate deduction for asset purchases Small business...
Why Is Income Splitting Closely Scrutinised?
August 2010Owners of business structures either as partners, shareholders or trustees can be employed by the partnership, company or trust company they are part of, and receive compensation income for their work. When a business receives payment for personal services rendered by an employee, a question arises about...
Business Structuring
August 2010Our main objectives in providing a service to implement the best business structure for your needs are to:Achieve adequate asset protection Ensure tax flexibilityIn many cases this is possible through the use of trusts.Our service includes:Meeting to find out about your business Research...
Tax Planning
August 2010Tax planning is the process of organizing the affairs of a taxpayer so that, as far as legally or commercially possible, the liability of the taxpayer to income and other taxes is minimised. – (definition from the Australian Master Tax Guide)Some common strategies of reducing ones tax liability are:Reduce...
Property Investments & Trusts
May 2009One of the benefits of a negatively geared property investment is the ability to deduct the losses incurred against other income. For this reason many investors register property investments in their individual names. Although this achieves their tax objective it does not provide tax flexibility nor...