Federal Court provides clarification on the PSI rules
The Federal Court recently handed down two decisions relating to the personal services income ('PSI') rules. Income is classified as PSI when more than 50% of the income received under a contract is for a taxpayer’s labour, skills or expertise. The PSI rules are...
Strategies to improve your Recruitment process
One of the most expensive aspects of running a business is paying employees. But just as great employees can be a real asset, underperforming employees can be a real drain on resources. Hiring employees is all about choosing people who are going to add value to your...
Using a Family Trust in your Business structure
Family trusts are among the most useful, flexible and often underutilised entities, especially in business structures. While many will consider holding investment assets in a trust, they overlook the fact that for an SME business owner the business is usually the...
Directors at risk of being publicly examined by Liquidators
Public examinations In investigating the affairs of a company, one of the processes available to a liquidator is to conduct a public examination. This usually involves a liquidator or eligible creditor (“Examiner”) briefing a barrister or solicitor to summon the...
Strategies to minimise fraud in your Business
Fraud can disrupt business continuity, reduce the quality and effectiveness of critical services or products, and threaten financial stability. Fraud will also damage an organisation’s public image and reputation. The keys to minimising the incidence of fraud and its...
Shareholders Agreements – why are they important?
Shareholders disputes can be a serious disruption to any business operation and costly for all involved. This is why it is important to put in place appropriate governance documents from the start of any business arrangement. What are shareholders agreements?...
Protecting assets without triggering tax liabilities
Overview Risk is a critical consideration for all modern business owners. In many ways, the level of risk associated with operating a successful and compliant business in Australia has never been higher - particularly if we consider the relative weakness of the...
Company Directors Beware: The Sting in the Tail of ATO Payment Plans
The ATO have adopted a firm approach to debt collection in recent years. Particularly in the SME space, there has been a surge in ATO debt recovery activity, including the use of garnishee notices, director penalty notices and applications to wind up companies. The...
Critical clauses in Employment Contracts
As business owners, most of you will have basic standard employment contracts or letters of offer that you use for new employees. These basic documents are generally sufficient when it comes to covering the obvious things like remuneration, hours of work, basic duties...
Small Business Restructure Rollover Bill Introduced
The Government is currently considering the implementation of the “Small Business Restructure Rollover”. This new income tax rollover, it if becomes law, will present many new opportunities for businesses to change their operating structure without adverse tax...