If you are doing a cosmetic reno only, then no, you can't claim any GST, and you don't remit any GST on the sale.

If you are doing a substantial reno, you could be creating a 'new' building for GST purposes, and you would have to remit GST on the sale of this building. THis is because it would be deemed a new building under the GST Act. With a…[Read more]

There's nowhere you can 'hide' assets.

However, a discretionary trust can provide asset protection. The family courts have in past cases 'looked through' the trust t osee the beneficial owners of the assets, rendering the trust (in that particular case) next to useless.

The best advice I can give is don't get divorced.

Agree with Scott, if only you had this in place before signing the contracts. Setting up trusts and transferring now means you will incur two sets of stamp duty, per property.

CGT in trusts is determined by the beneficiary. If the benfisiary of the capital gain is a company, then no discount is available. If it is distributed to individuals, then…[Read more]

As Terry stated, they can't take money out of their superannuation unless they meet a condition of release.

If they created an SMSF, they wouldn't even be allowed to buy the property from the individuals, as this would breach the related party rules.

We last moved 15 months ago, to the 'forever' house. Or maybe the 'forever until we retire and move to the beach' house.

I'm ashamed to say we still have books and other bits and pieces in boxes!

Manos, don't let the comments about Strata holdings put you off. Our first purchase was a small unit in a coastal town, and it is still our best decision. The strata don't bother us, and it is handled professionally and it has never been an issue.

A little later after buying this, we looked at a strata unit in the city, and decided against it,…[Read more]

I see you wrote that you don't want to own the units, instead a company would hold them. IN that case, then you won't get any tax deductions. As Terry pointed out, the tax deductibility of interest in a unit trust is because the individual has borrowed to buy units in the unit trust. The unit holder gets to claim the deduction.

Purchasing the…[Read more]

Is the trust registered with a tax agent? If not, the date for lodgement could be as early as 31 October.

If you are registered, it could be as late as 15 May. Check with your accountant if you are registered, and he/she will be able to tell you your lodgement date.

Points 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and possibly 6 are not unique to this type of arrangement. Item 2 is available in standard unit trusts.

It's always hard to tell, but from the information you have provided, it looks as though you have been overcharged.

The trusts and company could easily be done for half of what you paid, and the SMSF for a third of your bill. It does depend though, as Jac said, on how good your record keeping is.

Where are you and your accountant located?

Hi Silicon,

As you had another PPOR, my first post is correct.

Yes, you can, but as Terry points out, you will pay CGT on the sale.

And you can't sell it at a discounted rate, as the CGT will be calculated on the market value at the time of sale.

I agree with Terry, it's not worth it.

Hi Silicon, Just re-read your post.

If you had another PPOR, you are liable for CGT only for the rented out portion, as I mentioned above.

If you didn't buy another property, this property can still be your PPOR, and no CGT calculations are required.

In this instance, it might be better if it was not your PPOR, as it looks like yo uwill trigger…[Read more]

As Joint Tenants, everything is split 50/50.

In your situation, the cost base for CGT purposes is actually the value of your property at the time it ceased being your PPOR.

Yes, you should have had a valuation done at the time the property was rented. You would need to speak to a valuer / real estate agent to see if they can do a retrospective valuation for you.

If the valuation is higher…[Read more]

An initial; building / pest inspection is actually a cost of buying the property, and is not tax deductible. Instead, it forms part of the cost base for CGT purposes. You could claim the depreciuation schedule cost

Here's the relevent legislation; s118-145 ITAA 1997 (2) If you use the part of the dwelling that was your main residence for the * purpose of producing assessable income, the maximum period that you can treat it as your main residence under this section while you use it for that purpose is 6 years. You are entitled to another maximum period…[Read more]

Were you living in the unit before you bought the country house? I was told that by using the equity to buy house I would still be able to keep the pension.Was it someone at Centrelink who told you that? That doesn't sound right to me, as what matters to Centrelink is the ASSETS, not how they were financed. Changing the loans, from my knowledge,…[Read more]

learning curve2 wrote:
Thanks TerryI was just after clarification on the CGT aspect. Great news to hear that I can leave the property vacant and not have to move back in myself after the current tenants leave and still bequalify for the exemption when I eventually sell it.Thanks again for the advice

Sorry to burst the bubble but that's not…[Read more]

learning curve2 wrote:
To leave it untenanted for less than the 3mths. For example, tenants out by early January, leave it vacant for say a month and then start to re-advertise for new tenants, so all up it is left vacant for say 6 weeks (saying that it would take 2 weeks to find new tenants). Would that be seen as being a sufficient amount of…[Read more]