From 1 July 2018, new laws come into effect allowing first home buyers to use their super to help buy a home, and at the other end of the spectrum, downsizers to contribute proceeds from the sale of their home to super without many of the normal restrictions.
On 1 July 2018 Super concessions for downsizers come into effect. If you are over 65, have held your home for 10 years or more and are looking to sell, you can contribute a lump sum of up to $300,000 per person to superannuation without being restricted by the existing non-concessional contribution caps - $100,000 subject to your total superannuation balance - or age restrictions.
An analysis by Industry Super Australia submitted to the Economics References Committee into Wage Theft and Superannuation Guarantee Non-compliance, indicates that employers failed to pay an aggregate amount of $5.6 billion in SG contributions in 2013-14
The Turnbull government is seeking to crackdown on phoenix companies and as a result, each Australian company director will be assigned a unique identification number to prevent them being able to deliberately scuttle their companies to avoid paying creditors and then reappearing phoenix-like - debt-free.
ASIC is in the midst of a concerted campaign targeting private companies that have outgrown the reporting exemptions.
Every vendor selling a property needs to prove that they are a resident of Australia for tax purposes unless they are happy for the purchaser to withhold a 12.5% withholding tax. From 1 July 2017, every individual selling a property with a sale value of $750,000 or more is affected.
The wide ranging superannuation reforms originally announced in the 2016-17 Federal Budget have passed Parliament.
As the majority of the reforms start from 1 July 2017, it’s important to consider how these might impact on you and whether you need to take any action before then.
In the Federal budget handed down in May 2016, the government heralded significant changes to superannuation that will come into effect from 1 July 2017.
Although the government is still to finalise the exact details, it is a good idea to plan ahead, and to be aware of the major changes that will apply from next year.
The sly, underhanded activities Australia’s illegal phoenix and tax avoidance schemes are being exposed and systematically shut down by a new alliance that involves the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
So…you are thinking about getting into the property investment market, but you haven’t quite worked out what the strategy is. Everyone else is doing it so maybe I should. There are a lot of people that spruik rental property purchases but they focus heavily on the tax benefits. Is that a good reason to buy or is there something else? What does negative gearing mean and why has there been so much talk in the media about it.