As a small business owner we wear a lot of hats:
The busy season is here, and we are meeting our clients everyday to help with preparing their tax returns, business and tax advisory and bookkeeping queries. Very often during our conversations they raise some interesting questions, let’s have a look at some of them here.
One question we are often asked by clients who are setting up a new business as a sole trader is “Do I need to setup a new bank account for the business?” Legally, the answer is “No” as there is no legal difference between you as an individual and you as the business if you are a sole trader.
However, there are some very good reasons why it is better to keep your business banking separate from your private banking.
It’s tax time and everybody is in a hurry to get their tax returns lodged for a nice little surprise refund from the new Low & Middle Income Tax Offset that has recently passed the Parliament and became law.
For those who worked as an employee in the 2019 financial year, you may notice that your employer did not provide you with a PAYG Summary (or Group Certificate). Before storming off to the payroll manager and questioning them, it is nice to know that the law has changed: Single Touch Payroll may now apply to your employer’s business. (What is Single Touch Payroll, or STP?)
It is (again) time to pay (or vary) your quarterly PAYG Instalment. A lot of us have received the “pink form” in early July or have received a notification from MyGov that their quarterly PAYG Instalment is available on MyGov.
Some of us would ask:
What is PAYG Instalment, why do I need to pay it?
How did the ATO work out the amount?
Why this quarter’s instalment is much higher than others?
Can I “dial it down” a bit?
Let’s have a look at the What, Hows and Whys.
