Heading into the 2022 tax planning season, the ATO have come out with a "curve ball from out of left field" (to use baseball vernacular) by drafting legislation targeting - or as many in the accounting profession have termed "attacking" - discretionary trust distributions to adult children, where the amount sits as an unpaid present entitlement and could be taxed at the highest tax rate of 47% irrespective of the child reporting it in their tax return and paying tax on it themselves!

Louie welcomes SCBA Senior Client Manager Nihit Mittal back on the podcast to discuss this game-changing legislation, as well as the changes also being proposed to unpaid present entitlements made to corporate (a.k.a. company) beneficiaries.

Certainly one not to be missed!

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Disclaimer: Shooting for the Stars Podcast is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, or other professional advice. Listeners should not act upon the content or information without first seeking appropriate advice from an accountant, financial planner, lawyer or other professional.

Words cannot begin to describe the devasation and distress of the recent record flood events occurring in South East Queensland and in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. As individuals, families, businesses, community organisations and Local Government Area councils do their best to pull through and start to rebuild and recover, the Commonwealth Government - together with the Queensland and New South Wales State Governments - have announced financial support packages to help assist with (and try as best as possible to help fast-track) the rebuild and recovery in those affected LGAs.

Louie takes you through the key important announcements made at recent press conferences, and also gives you a high level overview of what each of the payments and grants are and the eligibility criteria for the federal funding (as well as the "likely" eligible criteria for the state funding).

NOTE: At the time of publication of this episode, no formal Guidelines have been made available for the state-based grant programs. Any references to Guidelines in this episode are in relation to equivalent grant programs made available in previous similar flood events in Queensland and New South Wales, and are not guaranteed to be the same for the upcoming grant programs.

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E: [email protected]

P: (03) 5018 6444

Disclaimer: Shooting for the Stars Podcast is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, or other professional advice. Listeners should not act upon the content or information without first seeking appropriate advice from an accountant, financial planner, lawyer or other professional.

Being able to manage your team is a fundamental aspect of running an employing business. But when a one-in-a-100-year event like COVID-19 is thrown into the mix, it becomes even more than that - it becomes paramount.

Louie welcomes SCBA Managing Director Noel Costa back to discuss the key statistics around employee satisfaction and needs while working under COVID-19 conditions, and how businesses can continue to not only navigate their way through the pandemic, but also build on the lessons learned and adopted for sustained success in team management and development post-COVID.

Contact us:

E: [email protected]

P: (03) 5018 6444

Disclaimer: Shooting for the Stars Podcast is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, or other professional advice. Listeners should not act upon the content or information without first seeking appropriate advice from an accountant, financial planner, lawyer or other professional.

After a delayed start to 2022 due to falling ill to COVID-19 in January, Louie is back to bring more invaluable content to our clients, subscribers and other listeners alike.

On this episode, Louie has the utmost pleasure of talking with the Owner/Director of the Global Training Institute, Anne Botting, about the Commonwealth Government's current 50% wage subsidy (up to $28,000). This subsidy is targeted at fast-tracking Australia's economic recovery by encouraging businesses to take on new apprentices and trainees, with some limited ability to allow existing employees to benefit also.

Contact us:

E: [email protected]

P: (03) 5018 6444

Disclaimer: Shooting for the Stars Podcast is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, or other professional advice. Listeners should not act upon the content or information without first seeking appropriate advice from an accountant, financial planner, lawyer or other professional.

For our final episode of 2021, Louie speaks with Southern Cross Property Advisers Property Projects Specialist and Licensed Estate Agent Clem De Rosa about how the property market fared overall in 2021 around Australia (with specific focus on Mildura). Louie and Clem also discuss the future of apartments, and predict whether 2022 will see the bubble get bigger or - as some media outlets are speculating - burst.

Contact us:

E: [email protected]

P: (03) 5018 6444

Disclaimer: Shooting for the Stars Podcast is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, or other professional advice. Listeners should not act upon the content or information without first seeking appropriate advice from an accountant, financial planner, lawyer or other professional.

From 1 November 2021, all company directors (including directors of corporate trustees) are now required to hold a Director Identification Number issued by the Australian Taxation Office, via the Australian Business Registry Services. This is a new mandate introduced by the Australian Commonwealth Government to help prevent the use of false or fraudulent director identities.

Louie takes you through how to apply for a Director ID (via myGovID, via phone and via post), with help from the online ATO TV explanations provided by the Deputy Registrar of the ABRS, Michelle Crosby.

Contact us:

E: [email protected]

P: (03) 5018 6444

Disclaimer: Shooting for the Stars Podcast is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, or other professional advice. Listeners should not act upon the content or information without first seeking appropriate advice from an accountant, financial planner, lawyer or other professional.

From 1 November 2021, whenever an employer/business hires a new employee (or engages with a contractor who is subject to employer superannuation based on the nature of the work performed). there is an extra step required in determining the relevant super fund for the employee/contractor should they not provide the employer/business with a completed Superannuation Choice Form stating the super fund they wish for their contributions to go into. No longer can the employer/business automatically select their default fund - they now need to find out from the Australian Taxation Office to see what "stapled" super fund is attributable to that employee/contractor.

Louie looks into the concept of stapled super funds, and shares insights from the ATO's "Your Future, Your Super" Project Director Katie Constance to assist employers/businesses with meeting this new super obligation.

Contact us:

E: [email protected]

P: (03) 5018 6444

Disclaimer: Shooting for the Stars Podcast is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, or other professional advice. Listeners should not act upon the content or information without first seeking appropriate advice from an accountant, financial planner, lawyer or other professional.

With so many state-based grant programs announced across all states and territories in Australia to assist and support businesses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, now that there appears to be a glimmer of light of "normality" at the end of the tunnel the question now turns to: will there be any tax to pay on these grants? Well, the answer is not universal; that is, some of these grants are tax-free, while others are still subject to income tax.

Louie takes you through the legislation that provides for the tax-free status of certain COVID-19 business grants, and gives his best explanation as to the belief of why other grants that were for the same purpose are not tax-free.

Contact us:

E: [email protected]

P: (03) 5018 6444

Disclaimer: Shooting for the Stars Podcast is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, or other professional advice. Listeners should not act upon the content or information without first seeking appropriate advice from an accountant, financial planner, lawyer or other professional.

Due to major announcements occurring just before this episode was due to be published regarding changes to both New South Wales and Victoria's COVID-19 business support programs, the scheduled "Managing People Through COVID-19" episode has been postponed.

In this episode, Louie takes you through the specific changes to NSW's JobSaver and Micro-Business grant payments lasting until the end of November, as well as the specific changes to VIC's Business Cost Assistance Program and Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund payments lasting until mid-November. Louie also addresses the largely unadvertised NSW Accommodation Support Grant, the one-off VIC Business Costs Assistance Program payment for the construction industry, and the extra $600million allocated to the VIC Small Business COVID Hardship Fund to help push through the backlog of unprocessed applications.

Finally, Louie touches on the major changes to the Commonwealth's COVID-19 Disaster Payment for each state and territory as they close in on the targets set out by the National Plan.

Contact us:

E: [email protected]

P: (03) 5018 6444

Disclaimer: Shooting for the Stars Podcast is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, or other professional advice. Listeners should not act upon the content or information without first seeking appropriate advice from an accountant, financial planner, lawyer or other professional.