Serving Sydney’s Inner West
When many people think of fringe benefits tax, most automatically think Entertainment – boozy lunches and tickets to the corporate box. But entertainment includes a very wide variety of activities – from free movie tickets to junkets to foreign destinations. But as with all tax related matters, not all entertainment is taxed equally. Continue reading “When is entertainment a fringe benefit?”
By far and away the largest category of fringe benefits provided in Australia are cars. In the 2016 year, the Australian Taxation Office indicated that the total taxable value of all cars provided to employees in the year was $1.3 billion. This makes car benefits a significant contributor to tax revenue in Australia. But just because you have provided your employee with a motor vehicle does not automatically guarantee that there is fringe benefits tax (FBT) to pay.
So let’s go through an overview of when your business might be liable for FBT on the vehicles they provide. Continue reading “Cars, cars, cars and fringe benefits”
It’s hard to imagine, but there was a time in Australia when a boozy business lunch, an employer provided car and a free trip to the Grand Prix were common ways of doing business. Some might accuse the Tax Office of being fun police, but as 31 March draws closer, I thought it would be a good time to remind every one about fringe benefits tax (FBT). Nowadays, I think we all know that employers can’t give you benefits that aren’t taxed. But how does FBT work? What’s included? And does FBT mean that there’s no point to employers giving their staff non-salary perks? In this first post, I’m going to try and answer some of the common FBT FAQs. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll look at some of the more common benefits in depth. Continue reading “FBT FAQs”
Last week I attended the Roadshows for both Xero and MYOB (they were on consecutive days at the same venue – coincidence?). This is when the software providers spruik their current product and showcase the shiny new developments that you can expect for the coming year. Think Steve Jobs launching a new iPhone but a whole more accounting-ish!
The other week I received an email threatening to shut down my website unless I sent Bitcoin. I’m pretty sure you’ve all seen something similar. While this one was just a scam and easily fixed by upgrading my security, it got me thinking about how a small business could easily be crippled by a random act – either malicious and intentional or a natural disaster. Big business will always have a business continuity plan (I’m old enough to remember the doom and gloom doing the rounds way back in 1999 with the potential disruption from Y2K), but what about small businesses like us?
Every so often I get asked about discretionary trusts – should I have one, does it mean I pay less tax, are they only for rich people? Continue reading “To Trust or not!”
Want to sort out your Assets from your Accruals? Here are some commonly used accounting terms so you can talk like an accountant! Continue reading “Sorting through the accounting jargon”
We all know that our employer must contribute 9.5% of our wages into superannuation on our behalf. But I often get asked whether it will be enough to comfortably retire. In this post, I’ll go through the ways you can boost your superannuation balance. Continue reading “How to boost your superannuation balance”
You probably started your small business because you’re passionate about your industry or product and want to take control of your future.
You probably didn’t start your small business to become a tax collector, bookkeeper, debt collector and cash flow manager but by now you’ve realised these roles come with the small business territory!
So, what can you do about having to juggle all of these components of your business when they’re not part of your skill set or experience? (Hint, it’s using the services of an accountant) Continue reading “Do I need an accountant?”