13 December 2021

There comes a time in many people’s lives when they are appointed the executor of a deceased estate.

Even in the simplest of estates, though, the responsibilities involved can be quite onerous – and getting things wrong can make even the executor personally liable.

It’s therefore normally recommended to get professional assistance with this task.

Continue reading “Becoming the executor of a deceased estate” →

3 March 2021

If you have not received your Land Tax assessment yet, Revenue SA are currently processing these and you should expect to receive these in the post very soon.

For the 2020/21 financial year there are some changes to the way land is grouped for assessment.

Which may result in you receiving assessments in multiple ownerships for the first time.

Due to these changes, if you hold land in a trust, due to higher trust land tax rates, you may find your Land Tax Assessments are significantly higher than the previous year. Please contact our office should you require assistance, as we may be able to assist with reducing this assessment.

Please note exempt land, such as your main residence will appear on your Land Tax Assessment, although it remains exempt and excluded for calculation purposes.

Continue reading “Land Tax Assessments 2020/21” →

6 March 2020

For most family businesses as well as private groups, succession planning (sometimes known as transition planning) involves considerations around the eventual sale of your business, or the passing of control of it to other family members when you retire. Depending on your circumstances, this may include realising assets and making other changes to ownership, but is certainly tied up with retirement planning and estate planning.

Adopting a sound tax governance framework can help you manage tax issues around succession planning before they present a problem. Though succession planning may not have an immediate tax impact, it’s important to include tax considerations in your plan. This will avoid unexpected tax issues arising down the track when you implement your plan.

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26 February 2020

From bushfire relief groups, sporting clubs, environmental groups, charity associations and many more, volunteers are an indispensible workforce and support network for many organisations. For most, if not all, having volunteers ready to lend a hand is pivotal in them being able to function or survive.

Given that there are many hundreds of volunteers propping up all sorts of good works throughout the nation, and in the spirit of thorough tax planning, an important practical consideration for many may be if payments to volunteers constitute assessable income and whether their expenses are tax deductible.

Continue reading “Tax issues when dealing with volunteers” →

11 September 2019

When you have plans for starting a new business, one of the central decisions is which business trading structure will work best for your venture.

The general problem however can be that there are both pros and cons with the main options available, so considerations need to be given with regard to the overall situation as well as the specific conditions presented with any business venture. To explain the options, we can look at one example that has typical conditions found in many businesses.

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28 August 2019

It is important to understand the differences between a hobby and a business for tax, insurance and legal purposes among other things. For one thing, there will be certain tax and other obligations that start once you are in business.

However it’s a myth that there is a dollar threshold to be in a business (some people can have very expensive hobbies). What matters is whether, as a whole, your activity is “commercial”, with an aim to make a profit. Once you are in business, there are dollar thresholds that can affect what you can claim for tax purposes.

Continue reading “Keeping busy — but is it just a hobby, or are you in business?” →

17 August 2019

An essential starting point for consideration of trust income and how that income is to be distributed is to look at the trust deed. This very central document sets out the rules and expectations for the governance and operation of the trust and the powers that can be exercised by the trustee.

Although it can be commonly assumed that the trust deeds of similar types of trusts (such as family trusts, fixed trusts, public unit trusts and so on) are generally alike, the reality is that each deed is unique and can have important differences.

There is a certain level of external regulation of trustees, in that each state and territory has its own trustees’ act, however in a practical sense such legislation generally tends to apply in circumstances where a trust deed is silent on specific areas that are relevant to operational and governance matters. And unlike companies, which operate under the regulations of the Corporations Act 2001, there are no “replaceable rules” available (whereby a company can choose to not spell everything out in a constitution and use the act’s replaceable rules instead).

Continue reading “What you need to know about trust distribution resolutions” →