Taxation, superannuation, investment advisory services, Estate Planning, Asian, European and US Business investment opportunities

Tel: 61 2 8095 9426
Fax: 61 2 8569 0242

Practice Update December 2008: FBT tip for Xmas time

When holding Christmas parties, employers are generally liable to pay fringe benefits tax (FBT) on the cost of food and drink (meal entertainment) which is provided to employees and their families*.
Note (*): FBT does not apply to meal entertainment provided to clients and suppliers.

Practice Update November 2008: Super funds coming unstuck with loans to members

The Tax Office has reported that, when it comes to the investment restrictions that apply to SMSFs, the most common contravention continues to be loans to members of funds and their relatives.
In addition, many SMSF trustees are claiming their loan arrangements are arm’s length loans to non-related parties. However, the ATO has found that, in over 20% of its audit cases, the loan arrangements had not been conducted at arm’s length.

Fringe benefits tax (FBT) initiatives

The Budget contained a number of measures to close perceived loopholes in the law – many of them relating to FBT planning opportunities, which are summarised below.

Eligible work-related items

The provision of some work-related items (e.g., laptop computers, personal digital assistants and tools of trade) to employees can be exempt from FBT.
However, this exemption will now only apply [...]

Wealthy People Onto the ATO Radar

1. Rich People
From the Compliance Program we see 3 areas of attack:
Selling Property: Your clients selling real estate and forgetting to report the capital gains.
Big income making employees: Angry public company executives that earn a tonne of money and pay more than ½ of it in tax and try and hide this income through silly [...]

The New Death Tax

I attended a financial planning talk yesterday. I was told that 3 years ago, there was on average, $450,000 in each Self Managed Super Fund. Today, it is $805,000. At that rate, your home will be your second biggest asset (that is, if you live outside of Sydney or Perth).
I was also told to leave [...]

US Citizens – Has Your Financial Advisor Ever Asked If You Are A US Citizen?

Contributed by Norbert Cornell - Contact Norbert at norbert@accountants.com.au or 61 2 99568008 or 61 437381288
The reason for the question is that US citizens do not escape the tax jurisdiction of the USA when they no longer reside in the United States or even if they have never resided in the US.The law also applies [...]

Get a tax effective pension while you are still working!

Contributed by Brett Davies Lawyers - Please contact Norbert Cornell at norbert@accountants.com.au or on 61 2 99568008 or 61 437 381288

If you are 55 and over, you now have the option of easing into retirement. You can reduce your working hours without reducing your income. You can top up your reduced income with a regular [...]