From 1 July 2008, the definition of ordinary time earnings will apply to all employer contributions in the calculation of the 9% contribution level......

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Employee share ownership schemes can be an important part of corporate remuneration and at the same time help to foster executive and employee loyalty and focus on the bottom line.....

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31 March marks the end of the 2008 Fringe Benefits Tax year. As such, it would be timely to ensure you are aware of any reporting obligations for the current FBT year, as well as to consider any FBT planning for the next year.....

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The CGT implications of earnout arrangements. The Commissioner of Taxation has issued an important draft ruling on earnout arrangements. An earnout applies typically where a business is sold and the seller is paid so much on settlement but receives an additional amount,....

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Anti-Avoidance and Share "Wash Sale" Arrangements. With the recent volatility in the share market, no doubt many investors have been considering disposing some of their share investments to mitigate their losses and perhaps offset these against previous realised gains....

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Divison 7A - Amnesty. Division 7A of Part III of the ITAA 1936 is an integrity provision aimed at preventing private companies from making tax-free distributions of profits to shareholders (or their associates)....

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SMSF's Can Now Borrow! As if the Simpler Super laws did not bring in enough exciting changes, the government recently enacted laws allowing a SMSF Trustee to borrow where it wants to acquire an asset. Importantly the borrowing possibilities are wide, the rules broad and with a good asset base in an SMSF the opportunities for leverage is significant.....

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Amendments to the Family Trust Election Rules. The family trust election rules were initially introduced to stop, amongst other things, the trafficking of trust losses. The rules however went well beyond this and placed significant restrictions on the ability of trusts to recoup losses and utilise franking credits.....

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Spouse Contribution Splitting - Are There any Benefits? The superannuation contribution splitting measures have been in place since 1 January 2006. These measures effectively allow spouses to split or allocate part of their contributions made to a superannuation fund for the benefit of their spouse. When introduced, this was considered to be of significant benefit....

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At the same time as the government's far reaching Simpler Super reforms came into existence on 1 July 2007, SMSFs celebrated their 13th birthday. It was only just over a decade ago that the SIS Act 1993 enabled small employer superannuation funds to choose to become SMSFs. In so doing, the trustees of these funds were provided with exemptions from a range of regulatory reporting...

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With respect to the recent increase of minor benefit thresholds from $100 to $300 effective 1 April 2007, the Commissioner has issued the Draft Ruling TR2007/D6 to set out his view on the application of the minor benefits.

This Draft Ruling clarifies that a minor benefit that satisfies the "less than $300" threshold criterion is not necessarily an exempt benefit and that other criteria must be considered before it can be concluded that the minor benefit is an exempt benefit....

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One of the benefits of having your own superannuation fund is the protection it offers to your retirement savings against potential creditor claims.

Proposed amendments to the bankruptcy rules will see the Bankruptcy Act 1966 allow bankruptcy trustees to recover superannuation contributions that are made prior to bankruptcy with the intention to defeat creditors...

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Millions of retirees, small business owners and employees are expected to reap a bonanza with the implementation of the government's new superannuation reforms from 1 July 2007. However, for those that don't get their affairs in order before 30 June 2007, a big opportunity may be missed...

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