Baloo,

It is generally a landlord that either doesn’t have pets or thinks that they will destroy a property. Of all the properties we have owned we have always allowed pets but obviously most tenants haven’t had them. Of the 5 or so tenants who have had pets we have never had problems. We also requested that the carpets be steam cleaned and…[Read more]

Baloo,

No i don’t feel bad at all. In fact it is a landlords responsibility to know the body corporate laws and ask the relevant questions. We were never asked if we had pets. I think they assumed a couple with no children renting a $1,000 per week apartment would not have any “extras”. Well thats there problem. In fact we are excellent…[Read more]

Monopoly,

Spot on. There was also a clause for that but unfortunately my wife and I have good vision. Well being a man I usually miss the toilet seat so I was instructed to sit down many years ago but I don’t think that would wash with the body corporate. But you are right a landlord would be in huge trouble with the anti discrimination…[Read more]

Im currently renting an apartment in Sydney (having sold all my properties) and my wife and I wanted to bring our lovely Bishon Frise with us. Anyway the landlord was furious they found out we had a pet. But being the diligent people we are we read the body corporate laws and there was a clause allowing animals for people with hearing…[Read more]

GreatPig,

You are correct. Broadly speaking, any strategy directed at avoiding wastage of imputation benefits by directing the flow of franked distributions to members who can most benefit from them to the exclusion of other members, may amount to dividend streaming. When it applies, such benefits are treated as unfranked unrebatable dividends…[Read more]

Lizzy,

Your examples are correct but I think Mortgage Advisor was talking about keeping your tax levels BELOW the 30% rate. In both of your examples this is achieved.

Note however that the $ 7,350 remaining in the company is the vehicle you will need to use for investing. For some people this is not suitable as they want access to the…[Read more]

MortgageAdvisor is correct. This strategy will only work if you generate income through a company. Personal Services Income (such as most PAYG) would not be open to this strategy as the income is treated as assessable in the hands of the taxpayer earning the income. Basically to disinguish between PSI income and non PSI income you need to meet…[Read more]

Yes increased demand will lead to demand pull inflation. However this assumes that future demand would exceed current demand. I would argue that the current level of demand would remain constant however the funding for that demand would be through savings rather than through debt. Increased equity in property prices has already fuelled demand…[Read more]

SetMeFree,

I empathise with you and your wife’s situation. Unfortunately there are many people in a similar situation to yourself and there are many players who are responsible.

Firstly I agree that it is a tragedy that our government taxes those who earn a high wage soo much (as I have said before I am not against streaming income from the…[Read more]

redwing,

that is exactly what I have done. I have sold all my Australian property including my PPOR. I did this about 8 months ago now with the view that the Australian property market had peaked and I would take my gain (pay capital gains tax – except on my PPOR) and then wait for prices to fall and reinvest.

At the moment I am living in a…[Read more]

If a taxpayer acquires a dwelling that is to become the taxpayer’s main residence and the taxpayer still owns an existing main residence, both dwellings are treated as the taxpayer’s main residence for up to six months (ITAA97 sec 118-140 ). However, this rule only applies if the taxpayer’s existing main residence was the taxpayer’s main residence…[Read more]

I use Littlejohn Frazer for my UK property dealings. They are based in Canary Wharf, London. Contact number is 0011-44-20-7369 4524 and ask for Ted Brew. Hope this helps.

One of the risk areas in adding a corporate beneficiary is triggering a resettlement. If the coroporate beneficiary is already named as a beneficary under the trust deed, then clearly there is no resettlement issue to consider. However, it is not so obvious where the company must be nominated or the trust deed altered.

Generally the ATO will…[Read more]

If you purchase the property in your name then you will be on title deeds and any trasfer will result in stamp duty being payable.

It will also trigger a CGT event but given that you would probably transfer the asset for the same price then this would not be an issue.

However stamp duty will be payable on the transfer. Make sure you get the…[Read more]

Either way those who have overstated their income on those low doc home loans could be hit both ways. The Tax Office could firstly issue an amended assessment based on the income you stated in your low doc loan application (and it is up to the taxpayer to dispute that assessment).

Then if the taxpayer does prove that the income was overstated…[Read more]

The fundamental difference is between purchasing an investment and purchasing a good or service. If I borrow for investment purposes and the investment decreases significantly in value (and the costs of servicing the investment do not exceed the income) then it is a poor investment.

What difference does it make as long as people keep repaying…[Read more]

The best vehicle for a negatively geared property depends on your taxation status. But generally it is best held by the higher income earner and therefore the higher income tax payer. Some people will try to make things highly complex with trusts, companies, etc. but if the property is negatively geared and you are not in a high liability risk…[Read more]

Also meant to mention that negative gearing is generally not recommended as a strategy for discretionary trusts as the losses are trapped at the trust level and imputation credits (from any dividends from shares – if you are using the same trust) could be lost. Discretionary trusts for property investment are mainly desgined for positively geared…[Read more]

Not quite sure where you got 15% CGT through a trust but a discretionary trust can access the 50% CGT discount and, in addition, is able to distribute the tax-free amount to beneficiaries. As TerryW claims this could mean that your CGT liability is nil depending on the beneficiaries that it is distributed to. Capital gains in a superannuation…[Read more]

I cant speak for other people but I think most of us are looking for self-funded retirement and the ability to be able to maximise the funds we receive from our labour and ensure that it is invested to provide us with a passive income stream for the future. For one person this may be a passive income stream of $10K while for another it may be a…[Read more]