The Square Orange Blog

If you run your business through a company, what are your responsibilities? Many of our readers may be operating Family Trusts, with what is called a "corporate trustee", that is a company that is the trustee of the Family Trust. Others actually operate their business through a company directly. In either case there are responsibilities under the corporate legislation under which these companies were incorporated, and there may be some tax implications. Let's run through them here. (more…)...

As we approach the close of the 2016/17 financial year and the opening of the new financial year, here is our checklist of things to do for tax and business "common-sense". (more…)...

Sometimes, it seems like you are paying a tax bill all the time! We know it can be frustrating, but that's the tax system that we are in! Let's try to reduce the frustration by at least, getting to understand why there are so many tax "bills" and what it all means. We can't reduce the frequency for you, but at least let us explain what they all are. First let's start by acknowledging that everyone in Australia has to pay tax if they earn above certain limits. And by everyone, we also mean certain non-individual "entities" being companies, corporations, superannuation funds, and sometimes, trusts. All of these entities, and you, are "taxpayers" under the system. So, unless you cheat on your taxes, you will be paying something. The more you earn, the more you will pay. That's the system. However, because of the frequency of when you pay tax bills, it sometimes seems you are paying more than your fair share. To explain the different payments, we need to split the different tax bills between your BAS payments and your income tax payments. Let's first take the BAS payments. If you are registered for GST or PAYGW (Pay As You Go Withholding) you will be...