Hong Kong, the British Virgin Islands, and Panama have the largest numbers of registered International Business Companies (IBCs). Jointly these three countries are home to over 1.5 million IBCs. The main difference between offshore companies and IBCs is that IBCs are not taxable in the country of incorporation as long as they don’t engage in…
Average weekly pay: $900 Employment size: 163,700 Future growth: Very strong Skill level Certificate II or III Aged and…
Tax Savings for 201 Employee Occupations details tax saving strategies and ideas for 201 different employee occupations. It doesn’t matter what the occupation is, there are tax strategies that commonly apply to that occupation. Often employee taxpayers are unaware of all the tax saving strategies that are available. This is understandable as the Australian taxation…
Bottom of the harbour tax avoidance schemes involved stripping a company of its assets and leaving it with unpaid tax liabilities. The company was then sold to someone else (often the criminal elements of Melbourne dockworkers), who subsequently destroyed the company records and disappeared. The term ‘bottom of the harbour’ was coined by members of…
Multinational businesses often finance their Australian business investments with large amounts of overseas debt instead of equity as it is more tax effective for the following reasons: Subject to compliance with the thin capitalisation rules the interest expense is deductible against the Australian business’s profits. Each $1.00 of interest expense saves $0.275 or $0.30 in…
Since 1985 Australia has had a capital gains tax that taxes residents on their capital gains made on property and share investments. Various exemptions apply, with the main one being the primary residence exemption. In contrast, non-residents investing in Australian only pay capital gains tax on Australian property. Taxable Australian property includes: A direct interest…
Objectives: Robert is a plumber and has recently lost tools due to theft at the building sites he works on. Robert purchases a dog to take to work for companionship, and to also protect his tools. Facts: Incurs $900 buying the dog and $600 training fees. Incurs $1,200 per year for food and…
A captive insurance company is where a parent group creates its own licensed insurance company to provide coverage for itself. The benefits of this include reduced costs, ability to insure difficult risks, direct access to reinsurance markets, and increased cash flow. In addition, when a company creates a captive they are indirectly able to evaluate…
This strategy involves selling your business and paying no tax. This strategy only applies to businesses that pass either the $2 million turnover test or the $6 million net assets test. The three tax strategies that can achieve this are listed in the order of their attractiveness: 15 Year Small Business CGT Exemption. Retirement Exemption…
Double taxation is the levying of tax by two or more jurisdictions on the same declared income, asset or financial transaction. It may occur where a business or individual who is resident in one country makes a taxable gain in another country. Most countries, including the US and Australia, tax their residents on their worldwide…
"You’d be stupid not to try to cut your tax bill and those that don’t are stupid in business"
- Bono: U2