Salary sacrificing your super
By Westcourt Blogger Contributing extra to your superannuation is a good way to boost your retirement funds. One of the ways you can add more to your super is through salary sacrificing. Salary sacrifice is an arrangement with your employer to forego part of your salary or wages in return for your employer providing benefits […]
Common GST mistakes
By Westcourt Blogger Despite the Australian Tax Office’s education campaign on GST reporting, many small business owners continue to make errors when claiming GST credits in their GST returns or Business Activity Statements. The vast majority of errors are easily unavoidable and relate to the over-claiming of GST credits. Here are the top ten common […]
Improving your accounts receivable
By Westcourt Blogger Freeing up working capital can help businesses fund growth, reduce debt levels and lower costs. One way to improve working capital is by managing your accounts receivable. Many businesses fall into the trap of poor accounts receivable management – from extending credit to customers to ignoring payment terms to guarantee a new […]
Guide to tax-deductible gifts
By Westcourt Blogger Giving to charity this Christmas is a great way to give to those less fortunate while receiving some extra tax perks. Charitable donations are tax deductible which only adds to the incentive to be generous this holiday season. Here are some tips for maximising your tax breaks on charitable donations: The charity […]
10 Reasons why you should not cross collateralise your loans
We often find that for a family in business, the cross over between business loans and investment loans is blurred. If your family has several real estate assets, and business assets, all offered as security for one loan you are “cross collateralised”. Sadly having loans “crossed” rarely helps a family. In fact it mainly helps […]
Are you short-changing your employees on super?
By Westcourt Blogger A new report has revealed around 2.4 million or almost one third of Australian workers are missing out on some or all of their super entitlements and little is being done about it. Under the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) employers must contribute 9.5 per cent into the super account of every worker over […]
ATO provides further guidance on SMSF related party arrangements
By Westcourt Blogger The ATO has provided further guidance regarding limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs) and when non-arm’s length income (NALI) rules apply to a related party LRBA. The Tax Office recently released a Taxation Determination (TD 2016/16) and updated their Practical Compliance Guideline (PCG 2016/5/) to provide further clarification concerning the circumstances where a […]
What to consider before signing a personal guarantee
By Westcourt Blogger Personal guarantees are a standard business practice in commercial transactions, however, they are often misunderstood and can pose significant financial risks. A personal guarantee is an agreement of one party to answer for the debt, default or miscarriage of another. Director guarantees are a common type of guarantee, where the director of […]
Government passes’fairer’ super changes
By Westcourt Blogger The Australian Government has recently passed what it is calling the’most significant superannuation reforms in a decade’. The reforms include the introduction of a $1.6 million transfer balance cap, which places a limit on the amount an individual can transfer into the tax-free earnings retirement phase and the introduction of the Low […]
When to Charge GST
By Westcourt Blogger If your small business is registered for GST (Goods & Services Tax), most of your sales in Australia will include GST. Sales which include GST (taxable sales) are: – made for payment (monetary or other) – made in the course of operating your business (including any capital assets sold) – connected with […]