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BAS Lodgement Date Extended For Quarterly lodgers
The December BAS lodgement date has been extended to 28 February rather than the traditional 28 days after the end of the quarter. Clients lodging quarterly BAS therefore have until 28 February 2006 for lodgement of their December 2005 BAS.
Monthly Business Wisdom
For each month in 2006 we will be providing a quote from a successful business person. Whilst we will refrain from homilies, we will attempt to provide you with something that is thought provoking in respect of your business and reflects on an area where our business skills can be matched with your knowledge of your business to open dialogue to enable us to help you make 2006 a great year for your business.
In the area of business management, the following quote is particularly relevant:
“a good manager is a man who isn’t worried about his own career but rather the careers of those who work for him. Take care of those who work for you and you’ll float to greatness on their achievements”.
We would be pleased to work with you in helping you build a performance management system that enabled you to measure the achievements of your staff and build appropriate rewards for that achievement to enable your business to be built upon the “greatness” of the achievements of your staff. As many clients will know, good measurement leads to good management and in this area we can help. If you would like to discuss this opportunity with us without obligation please get in touch with a partner at the firm.
Reverse Mortgages
Accessing some funds to live on for an aged relative or just to provide extra cash following retirement has changed substantially in recent years. It is now possible to obtain a mortgage against a property not withstanding that no ability to service that loan exists. Instead interest capitalises with the loan cleared upon ultimate sale of the property following its vacation. Macquarie Bank, Commonwealth Bank and a number of other non bank institutions offer this product and if this is of interest to you, please get in touch with your usual contact at the firm.
Business Opportunities
It is a challenge for most business people to try to think of what will be “the next big thing”. If any of us had had the vision of Alexander Graham Bell and identified the telephone as the business opportunity it became how different would things be for us! According to Phil Ruthven, Chairman of IBS World, a strategic business information provider, new business opportunities will be found mainly through the outsourcing of activities from homes, businesses and overseas country’s, particularly services. It is estimated that in 2006 about $115 billion will be expended by business or households on services. Services such as car washing, house cleaning, tourism, meal preparation, child minding, home maintenance and similar activities that were once before performed by the owner will be acquired from some service provider. If your business is in these areas, great. The issue will be how to access your fair share of the growth in these areas and how to plan affectively for the cash flow and other resource constraints that may impact your business. If you are not in these industries, but feel that opportunity may exist, perhaps now is the time at the start of a new calendar year to think about these types of business opportunities.
As your business adviser, we would be more than happy to sit down and talk about a plan for a new business opportunity that you might be contemplating. The start of a new year is a common time for clients to assess where they are going with their business and we would be only too happy to chat through these issues with you.
Superannuation Co-contribution
The government through the taxation system is able to provide to certain contributors of personal funds to a superannuation fund, a matching contribution of up to $1,500 per annum. Where the criteria are met, a client contributing $1,500 personally to a superannuation fund may have that contribution matched equally by the Australian Government. This is equivalent to a 100% return on the funds invested.
To access this concession you must have a taxable income below $28,000 and some co-contribution remains available up to a taxable income of $58,000.
If you are in this band of taxable income for the 2006 financial year, you should speak to us before 30 June 2006 to take advantage of this opportunity.
GST and Barter
With the GST system now more than 5 years old, most clients are relatively comfortable with straight forward transactions. It is important to know however that where a non cash transaction occurs, typically a GST obligation will still exist. For example if a clothing retailer exchanges some clothes in stock for mechanical services provided by a mechanic, each party in the transaction would have an obligation to remit GST in respect of the market value of the goods or services provided. This is an area where the ATO have issued rulings and tax payer alerts. If you are involved in non cash or barter transactions, and feel that this area may be of concern to you, please get in touch with us.
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The “If Something Happens” File
Whilst few of us wish to contemplate our demise, contemplation of the needs of those left behind is worthwhile. We have found that many spouses or children are not aware of some of the intricacies of the affairs of a spouse or parent. Often is the accountant or the financial adviser that has the greatest knowledge of the client’s financial position. We can help by having a document prepared that summarises what to do in the event of your death or permanent incapacity and would be pleased to discuss the revision of this service with you. Ensuring your will is up to date, appropriate powers of attorney are held and similar matters are also things you can discuss with your financial adviser. Please let us know if this is an area where you require our input.
Superannuation Splitting
As discussed previously, at long last the superannuation splitting rules are law. With effect from 1 January 2006, it is possible for contributions made by an employer to a superannuation fund to be directed to the account of a spouse. This means that for clients that are close to or in excess of their RBL, that the RBL of their spouse can now be used in maximising the level of concessional superannuation benefits available to the family group. This is an excellent (if long overdue) opportunity for clients to better plan their retirement tax position.
If you have any questions at all in relation to this important initiative, please get in touch with us.
Super Fund Assets Must be in Trustee Name
A reminder to clients that self managed super fund (SMSF) assets must now be recorded as being held on trust for the beneficiaries of the SMSF, as required by the ATO.
Superannuation Trust Deeds
With so many changes to superannuation rules and the opportunities created by those changes, it is good practice for client to regularly review their superannuation trust deeds. If the trust deed for your superannuation fund is more than 5 years old, you should contact us to arrange an appropriate update.
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