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Tax Advice and Planning

AWTS can provide you with the tax advice and support you need to help you manage your tax liabilities effectively. We’ve helped many businesses and individuals in Sydney work through complex tax issues and ultimately benefit from our knowledge and expertise. Our services include:

  • Tax advice.
  • Tax planning.
  • Capital Gains Tax (CGT).
  • Goods and Services Tax (GST).
  • Australian Business Number (ABN).
  • Business Activity Statements (BAS).
  • Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT).
  • Imputation Credits.
  • Foreign Tax and Credits.
  • Salary Sacrifice.
  • Small business entity concessions.
  • Payroll Tax
  • Land Tax.
  • Capital Allowances.
  • Tax Audit Assistance.
  • Tax office private rulings.
  • Taxation structure and advice.
  • Tax due diligence on purchase and sale of business.
  • Small business capital gains tax concessions.
  • Business restructure.
  • Superannuation Guarantee.
  • Preparation of annual financial accounts.
  • Self managed super fund compliance.
  • Business plan preparation.
  • Budgeting and cashflow.
  • Eligible Termination Payments.
  • Taxation Planning.
  • 221D Variations.
  • Prepare and Lodge: – Individual, (sole traders), partnerships, companies, trust and self managed super funds.

Bookkeeping

  • Record keeping and bookkeeping.
  • Ledger Set up and data processing.
  • Bank and Credit card account reconciliations.
  • Month end accounts and year end review.
  • Inventory records maintenance.
  • Receivables and payables.
  • Invoicing and month end statements.
  • Tracking Debtors/Creditors.
  • Employee set up and maintenance.
  • Weekly or monthly payroll processing.
  • Year end Payment Summaries – Group Certificates.
  • PAYG & Super.
  • Bank Reconciliations, NEW access for accountants to your bank account.
  • Job profitability.
  • Budgeting and cashflows.
  • Profit and Loss.
  • Balance Sheet.
  • Customise reports to suit your needs.

ASIC Compliance

We can help with all your corporate secretarial duties, from a tax and financial planning perspective including:

  • Personal.
  • Business.
  • Company.
  • Trusts.
  • Partnerships.
  • Super.
  • Fringe Benefits Tax.
  • Payroll Tax.
  • PAYG.
  • Business Activity Statements.
  • GST/IAS.


TAX PLANNING

When taxpayers lawfully organise their tax dealings to minimise their taxation obligations it’s called tax planning!  AWTS can provide effective tax planning strategies for the benefit of our clients.

We can help you to plan your tax affairs for the  tax years to com and optimise your tax savings for future years. You cannot tax plan for years that are in the past! We provide:

  • Tax advice for individual(s), partnership(s), trust(s) and company(s).
  • Tax advice in setting up a new business structure, and incorporation of the above entities.
  • Tax advice for GST (Good and Services Tax) and Input tax credits.
  • Advice on tax liability and receive benefits provided under the taxation ruling(s) relating to your investment activities.  
  • Proper tax planning that helps you minimise taxes in accordance with the taxation ruling(s), which will help you avoid interests and penalties charges faced by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

If you are in doubt about previously lodged tax returns talk to us. We’ll amend any tax returns that have been incorrectly lodged.

CAPITAL GAINS TAX

Asset purchase after 19 September 1985 is subject to Capital Gain Tax. The difference between the cost of an asset when you purchased it or what it was worth when you received it and its value when you sale or dispose of it, is the gain you make on these assets. Noncompliance with CGT requirements can cause critical issues for an individual or firm. Our advice will help you in minimise your Capital Gains Tax liability before you purchase or sell your asset. There are many ways of minimising the gains made on assets, stock shares, collectables and non-collectables. Superannuation is one vehicle we can use to minimise our tax payments.

Capital Gains Tax (was introduced on) came into existence from 20th Sept 1985

  • Any capital asset you acquire on or after this date and make a gain on the disposal of the item, you are liable for Capital Gains Tax.
  • Assets acquired before 20 September 1985 are called pre-CGT assets. These assets are ignored for CGT.
  • Capital gain is the difference between your asset’s cost base (purchase price) and capital proceeds (sell price).
  • An asset’s cost base mainly consists of the costs incurred in acquiring, holding and disposing of the asset.
  • Capital Gains Tax refers to the income tax you pay on any gain made from the disposal of your capital assets this is included as income in your income tax return, and taxed at a progressive rate.
  • Assets include collectables (jewellery, paintings, antiques, coins, books and postage stamps).
  • If you made a capital gain from collectables, you are only entitled to offset this gain against the other collectables and vice-a-versa.
  • Non-collectables includes land, shares, leases, units in unit trust, licenses, goodwill, contractual rights and foreign currency.
  • Also, non-collectable gains are only entitled to offset against non-collectable assets and vice-a-versa.
  • Capital losses cannot be offset against income, but can be carried forward.

AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS NUMBER

An ABN is essential when starting your business.  Partnerships, trusts, superannuation, sole traders and companies are entitled to apply for ABN. Seek our advice to setup your ABN and to check whether you are entitled to it or is it mandatory for you to have an ABN.

BUSINESS ACTIVITY STATEMENTS

  • Business Activity Statements are used to report their taxation obligations to the Australia Taxation Office.
  • We lodge business activity statements on a monthly, quarterly and yearly basis that are full audit proof.
  • BAS includes Pay as you Go Withholdings (PAYG) and GST remittance.

We will guide you thoroughly to your best needs for Business Activity Statements (BAS).

FRINGE BENEFITS TAX (FBT)

Employers are liable to pay the tax on the benefits that has been given to the employees in terms of motor vehicles, housing loans, any personal expenses ,or it may be services. FBT registration is required when you have established that you have to pay FBT.  You must lodge an FBT return if the entity in question has an FBT liability during an FBT year.  Our aim is to provide you with the best advice, and help you in your FBT obligation.

  • Financial year 1 April – 31 March.
  • Important for employers.
  • FBT rate is 46.5%.
  • Fringe benefit is a payment other than salary and wages provided by the employer in respect to employment.
  • Fringe benefit can be a kind of indirect benefit. It can be provided to employee’s family member. (For example, school fees paid for an employee’s child).
  • Fringe benefits provided by an employer can be:
    • Work car for private purposes.
    • Provide an inexpensive loan.
    • Providing entertainment (food and drink).
    • Salary sacrifice arrangement.
  • Calculation of FBT is carried out in two ways.
  • With GST Component and
  • Without GST component.

SALARY SACRIFICE

When you decide to sacrifice part of your future income or wages in return for yours employer providing benefits of a similar value, it is called Salary Sacrifice. It requires certain requirements to be fulfilled in making a Salary Sacrifice arrangement. An individual can sacrifice his/her salary or wages into numbers of benefits such as super, car fringe benefits, expense payment fringe benefits, etc.

IMPUTATION CREDIT

Imputation systems come in to place when dividends are taxed, which is paid to the shareholders by Australian resident companies. In this system, the tax the company pays is imputed, or attributed, to the shareholders so the tax paid by a company is allotted to shareholders in terms of franking credits, attached to the dividends they receive. In simple terms, when resident individuals receive franked dividends, this includes both the dividend and franking credit in their assessable income. You are entitled to a franking tax offset equal to the amounts included in your income.

Refunds

  • Franking credits are attached to the franked dividends received by the shareholders, i.e. certain Australian resident companies distribute their after tax profit to their shareholders in the form of franked dividend.
  • Franked dividends received by the following organizations can be refundable.
  • Entities that are endorsed as exemption from income tax.
  • Deductible gift recipients.
  • Developing country relief funds.
  • Exempt institutions that are eligible for refund under a commonwealth law.

FOREIGN TAX AND CREDITS

If you’re an Australian resident, you are taxed on World Wide Income, therefore Foreign Tax may be paid in overseas countries, if Australia and the country you have worked in or have an investment in, has a double tax treaty, you the taxpayer are entitled to foreign tax credits in your tax return for the amount of tax paid in that country, all monies paid must be translated to Australian Dollars.

Small Business entity concessions

There are number of tax concessions available for the Small Scale businesses such as PAYG instalments, GST, CGT, FBT and income tax concessions and other tax concessions.

Seek our assistance to see what criteria fits your business when it comes to concessions whether small or large business, and what kinds of concessions are available for it.

  • Special exemptions for small business owners regarding Capital Gains Tax.
  • 15 years exemption from CGT if selling business due to retirement (must be over 55 years).
  • Small business retirement exemption:

I.         If you under 55 years of age and want to sell a business, CGT is paid into a superannuation fund rather than paying on net capital gains.

II.         Lifetime limit of $500,000 on this exemption.

PAYROLL TAX

  • Payroll tax differs from states to states.
  • We tell you that if you are eligible for payroll tax.
  • Effective rates and thresholds from 1 July 2010 to 31 Dec 2010:
    • Payroll tax is 5.5%.
    • The threshold is $658,000.

Each monthly payment is due seven days after the end of each month.

LAND TAX

At midnight on 31 December of each year, the owners of land are taxed under “Land Tax”.  An individual can be liable for Land Tax if he/she owns or part owns:

  • A holiday home.
  • Vacant land, including vacant rural land.
  • Land where a house, residential unit or flat has been built.
  • Investment properties.
  • Company title units.
  • Residential, commercial or industrial units, including car spaces.
  • Commercial properties, including factories, shops and warehouses.
  • Land leased from state or local government.

For more information about rates and threshold, exemptions and concessions, land valuations, interest and penalties, come to us and we will guide you thoroughly.

CAPITAL ALLOWANCES

Different assets have different depreciating rules and rates. We will assist in you getting the capital allowance schedule correct the first time. The rates are provided by the tax office, where assets in the past have been self-assessed, it should be reported in your income tax return as that, most taxpayers forget to include such information. Avoid getting this schedule wrong, as it may lead to complications when selling the assets or purchase.

TAX AUDIT ASSISTANCE

The ATO may initiate a tax audit if your tax return does not fall within the benchmark that has been set for small and medium enterprises in different industries. It may because someone is hiding income or claiming fraudulent deductions. One may be penalised and the ATO may ask you to pay outstanding taxes and interest on the amount if ATO discovers any under-reported income or fraudulent deduction(s). Potential impact can be minimised, if you have got notification of tax audit, by consulting a professional accountant. Voluntary disclosures will assist you in minimizing any penalties imposed by the ATO.

TAX OFFICE PRIVATE RULINGS

Under the Taxation Administration Act (Cth.) 1953 Private Rulings, are issued by the Commissioner of Taxation. It can be determine effectively through Private Rulings whether a taxpayer’s arrangements will be successful in legitimately minimising liability to income taxation, CGT or GST. The taxpayer has the opportunity of adopting alternative taxation arrangements without necessarily attracting taxation liabilities, if the Ruling is unfavourable to the taxpayer.

TAXATION STRUCTURE AND ADVICE

Sole traders, partnerships, discretionary trust unit trust, companies and self-managed super funds are the common types of entity. The reporting criteria, tax levels, establishment and annual fees, etc. depend on what type of entity you choose. To find out the best option for your situation, we will assist you in getting the structure correct from the start, which will avoid spending more time and money than required in the future. Most people think that a company is the only way of operating a business, thus failing to realise, when they come to sell the business, or its assets, what key feature are attracted at this time with regard to CGT and key person decisions, is normally not that favourable in these type of situations.

TAX DUE DILIGENCE ON PURCHASE AND SALE OF BUSINESS

At the time of purchasing a business, the buyer always wants to know everything possible about the business before signing the agreement. In this way the buyer can reduce potential risks that have been attached with the business. Due Diligence will benefit in many ways. It will help to discover the appropriate purchase price for the business, Bad financial situations, Bad management, any pending lawsuits, contingent liabilities and more.

Learn more about AWTS services.

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