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By Simon Terry LLB BCom CA, Director, Porters CA. As at 23 September 2026. From 1 July 2027, the 50% CGT discount for Australian resident individuals and trusts is replaced by indexation of the cost base, and resident individuals will pay at least 30% tax on their real capital gains. Assets you already own are treated as sold and reacquired just before 1 July 2027, and the gain to that…  Read more

By Simon Terry LLB BCom CA, Director, Porters CA. As at 23 September 2026. For many family businesses, the answer may still be yes. A discretionary trust retains useful for succession, asset protection and deciding who receives income. It is still worth checking whether those benefits outweigh the tax and administration costs for your particular group with any change in structure triggering a large volume of legal, tax (State and Federal)…  Read more

You’ve no doubt been bombarded with budget summaries, hot takes, economists, talk back radio, winners and losers lists, headlines and opinions as to whether Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese are our saviours or should be voted out at the earliest opportunity. This is the most significant budget for tax planning in many years. The government claims to be targeting intergenerational fairness by shifting the tax burden from workers to capital…  Read more

From 1 July 2026, the new Payday super rules for employers requires paying employees’ Super Guarantee (SG) in line with each payday (your normal pay cycle), replacing the current quarterly obligation. Key changes include: SG remains 12%, but the earnings base shifts from the current Ordinary Time Earnings to Qualifying earnings (QE). The two are very similar and for standard wages subject to super likely no impact however review closely…  Read more

Your Business Activity Statement (BAS) is a form submitted to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) by registered businesses to report their GST obligations, Pay As You Go (PAYG) withholding (PAYGW) and Pay As You Go (PAYG) instalments (PAYGI). Many business owners and their bookkeepers do a good job of preparing and lodging their own BAS, however recording the BAS payment back into the accounts is where things go astray. When…  Read more

We regularly try to explain to clients the concept of a franked dividend – what are they, why do they matter, what does it mean for your tax and how can they work to your benefit. Some understand franking credits, some nod wisely but still feel confused, and some dream about doing something else, anything else apart from tax. We get that the concept is a challenge, so we’ll try…  Read more