If you’re a high income earner, you may soon be asked to pay an extra 15% tax on the amount of concessional contributions that exceed the $250,000 threshold. What is Division 293 tax?Division 293 tax is an additional 15% tax that is payable when your income and concessional contributions exceed $250,000 in 2023/24. To recap,…

Are you concerned about protecting your child’s inheritance from a future divorce or relationship breakdown? The truth is that you are not alone – many parents share the same concern. Tough times Many young people struggle to save a deposit to buy a home. By contrast, parents may be in better position to give their…

It is possible to receive amounts that are not expected by the ATO to be included as income in your tax return. However some of these amounts may be used in other calculations and may therefore need to be included elsewhere in your tax return. The ATO classifies the amounts that it doesn’t count as…

Many of us wonder about the best vehicle to use for our extra savings. Is it better to direct extra savings to your mortgage or superannuation? As with most financial decisions, there is no one-size-fits-all approach as it depends on a number of factors for each individual.  Paying extra off the mortgage The priority for…

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…

Following the ATO’s claims that nine out of ten residential rental property investors who have been audited have been getting their returns wrong, it might be worth touching on some of the tax traps and pitfalls to be wary of. In no particular order, these include: Apportionment of rental income and deductions Where a rental…

The most cost-efficient benefit an employer can give an employee is one that is both deductible for income tax purposes and exempt from Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT).   One such type of benefit is the ‘work-related item’ FBT exemption.   Like all concessions, there are some requirements that must be met to take advantage of it. What…

The recent ATO crackdown on trusts will no doubt have some business owners (and even some advisors) asking themselves the question: Is this structure for business purposes still worth it? To recap, trust distributions have been under the ATO microscope in recent years. The latest ATO crackdown was in February 2022 when it updated its…

The new financial year can be a time where business owners look at their operating structure and consider whether it still meets their needs. Choosing a structure is not simply about minimising tax, rather a range of factors should be considered as such as asset protection, establishment and ongoing compliance costs, succession planning, and your…

For the first time in three years, the superannuation contributions are set to increase from 1 July 2024.  Contribution caps to increase Due to indexation, the contribution caps will increase on 1 July 2024 as follows: What are concessional contributions? Concessional contributions (CC) are before-tax contributions and are generally taxed at 15%. This is the…