discretionary trust?

Hi O

you could set up your trust online yourself from as little as $175 – but if you don't know what you are doing you could get into trouble, so it may be wiser to go to an accountant for some advice.

Many pros for setting up a trust – the main one being superior asset protection and flexibility in distributing profits and saving tax. Trust assets also do not form part of your estate at death, so there are succession benefits too.

Cons, not many, but the main one maybe that you could pay more land tax. but this would depend on the state you are in and the value of the trust's total land holding.

Lenders generally don't have issues with lending for companies or trusts – some have restrictions on products or packages. eg ANZ will not lend for trusts or companies on a Low Doc basis. This is the only restriction i can think of.

Companies pay a flat rate of tax – 30% atm. Trusts don't pay tax if all the profits are distributed. It is the beneficiary that pays tax. So if there is a capital gain and the 50% discount is available a person will end up paying a max of 24% tax. better than a company. Having a trust may mean you pay much less by distributing to the lowest income earner first.

Existing assets will need to be sold to the trust. So there may be stamp duty issues and CGT issues there.

If you are running a business you should def not run it under the same entity. This is because business carries a risk and if the business is sued you don't want your assets to be at risk.