On The Money Archive

If you bought or sold an investment property in the past year, pocketed some of those resource stock profits or continued to make losses on your rental property then there is every chance you will receive a letter from the Australian Taxation Office. Between now and October the Tax Office will be writing to people it thinks might need ‘help’ complying with the law when preparing their tax returns.

If you use your car for income producing purposes, you could be entitled to claim a tax deduction for motor vehicle expenses. Once you have established your entitlement to claim your motor vehicle expenses, you can then select one of four methods and apply the one that provides the highest possible tax deduction.

​A recent study suggests Australia has the second highest rate of start‐up businesses in developed countries behind the United States. According to research compiled by the Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship (ACE) in partnership with the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), one in ten of all Australians are involved in an early stage enterprise.

Technology can give your business a competitive edge and there are a number of web based tools available to help business owners. Most of the tools listed below are designed to help you develop, manage and grow your business.

​Let’s face it, most small business owners are time poor. It’s no surprise given you need to juggle the management of staff, bookkeeping, invoicing, marketing and daily business operations. You also need to monitor the economy, industry trends and technological change.

​It’s no coincidence that interest in self­managed superannuation has skyrocketed since the global financial crisis (GFC). The loss of investor confidence in superannuation fund managers combined with the lure of controlling your own financial destiny has seen an explosion in the number of Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF) in this country.

​The Government will provide Australian small businesses with an instant tax write­off of the first $5,000 of any motor vehicle purchased from 2012/13. For example, a tradesman on a 30% marginal tax rate, buying a new $33,960 ute would receive an extra tax benefit of $1,275 in the year he purchases the vehicle. The remainder of the purchase value can be transferred into the general small business depreciation pool, which is depreciated at 15% in the first year and 30% in later years.

If you’re like most small business owners, you want to build a business without spending a fortune on advertising and promotion. Instead, you want to cultivate repeat business and maximize referrals from satisfied customers. ​Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company suggests that it costs 6 to 7 times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing customer.