• Selling a Property in Australia (including foreign resident vendors)

• Sale, cancellation, surrender or redemption of investments (such as shares, units, etc)

• Becoming a non-resident for tax purposes

• Loss or destruction of an asset

Yes, there are ways.

If you are eligible, capital gains tax (“CGT”) general concessions, small business concessions and/or other CGT concessions may apply to partially or fully reduce the capital gain made on sale of your Australian business. For Australian individuals, there may also be strategies using superannuation depending on their own circumstances. We recommend getting tax and financial advice as early in the sales process as possible so that issues such as whether to sell shares or business assets can be included in negotiations.

It is important nonetheless to set up your business structure right at the beginning in order to maximise any tax concessions or exemptions which should be available to you when you eventually sell your business. To restructure your business, CGT rollovers or small business restructure relief may be available to you.

You can claim expenses relating to your rental property, but only for the period your property was rented or available for rent. For example, advertising for rent, bank charges, body corporate fees, cleaning, council rates, gardening, insurance, interest, land tax, and property agent fees.

Taxpayers often miss out on maximising their negative gearing benefits by not being aware or not claiming tax deductions for items such as depreciation on building and/or new fixtures/fittings. The Australian Taxation Office (“ATO”) actively audits rental properties to ensure capital works and depreciating assets are claimed correctly.

The taxation treatment of ESS shares and options can be complex.

If you are an employee, your employer should provide you with an annual statement showing the value of any discount you received from the grant of ESS shares and/or options to you during an income year. Depending on the ESS terms and conditions, you may be able to defer paying tax on the discount until the shares / options are fully vested in you (or in the case of a start-up company, until they are sold).

If you are an employer, we can calculate the discount on ESS shares and/or options and determine the taxing points for purposes of preparing your employees’ annual statements, and annual report for lodgement with the ATO.

Payroll tax is a monthly tax levied on business if its monthly wages exceed a tax-free limit for the relevant State.

When paying wages across multiple States, the tax-free limit is apportioned across the different States. You need to register for payroll tax in each State where wages exceed the tax-free threshold.