Investment Implications of franking credit changes. The proposed changes announced by the Federal Opposition to the way franking credits operate will have significant implications for some investors; but will have little to no impact for the majority of investors. Under the existing framework, franking credits exist to ensure that the dividends paid by companies to shareholders are effectively taxed at the marginal rate of the shareholder. As such, credits are passed through to the shar...

January 2019 Review - Share markets bounce back strongly A strong recovery on global equity markets over January saw approximately half of the December quarter decline reversed. Highlights for the month were as follows: A significant bounce back occurred across all major world share markets. Bond yields continued to drift lower as the U.S. Federal Reserve appeared to soften its stance. Lower bond yields resulted in significant gains on listed property and infrastructure marke...

The retail sector is experiencing a dramatic shake up with massive growth in online shopping indicating a shift in how consumers interact with products, sales and spaces. Recent figures speak for themselves. Domestic online sales represented more than 50% of 2017 total retail sales growth in Australia as opposed to three years ago when they accounted for less than 10%.i This rapid growth is staggering in a sector that has otherwise been sluggish of late. But what does it mean for consumers?...

From July 1, 2018, new legislation has come into effect that imposes GST on goods that are deemed to be Low Value. This means any product, such as books, jewellery, electronic devices, sports equipment, cosmetics, or clothing will incur a 10% GST on the price of the item, regardless of its value, when imported into Australia. Prior to this legislation, imported goods worth less than A$1,000 were GST free. Read on to find out more about what low value goods are and if you are a su...

Another year another ATO crackdown! It seems each year, the ATO chooses a theme to focus its attention on when it comes to work related expenses. In years past, we've seen crackdowns on laundry, travel and self-education. This time round, the focus could fall on car expenses. Many small-medium businesses work on the principal that if the business incurred an expense, then it must qualify as being a deductible. Our response to this is may be, may be not! Let's first look ...