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View Full Version : Tax, Gst, Etc



collingwood
04-10-2006, 05:51 PM
KURA ALL,

I've been slowly doing all the paper work etc in setting up my own lawnmowing business. I'm not starting until early 2007 in Beechboro, Perth (after my honeymoon!!). I've been chefing for the past 12 years & now want to be my own boss, so the harder i work the more rewards I GET. To start with i'm going to mow etc as much as possable while still chefing casual...........So any way the reason i'm writing this is to ask everyone that when you first started out from scatch did you start straight away with an ABN? when you had know or very little clients to start with. Or did you wait till you had it least 50 to 70 clients & then get a ABN? What would be the best way?? ALSO is it true you dont need to pay GST until your earning $50,000 plus a year? And in the second year in business do you then pay your TAX & GST evey three months. If so do you need a business a/c or can you just use a savings a/c???
Keen to here from every one.

Cheers!!

KIWI
:i dunno:

Hustler
05-10-2006, 07:52 AM
Just do the right thing from the start A.B.N etc as i have been going three years there are still new things to learn .I had a visit from the tax department last week i rang and asked some questions and they have a free service that they will come to you and advise you how to go about things . They do not advertise that they do this but it was a great help . its made it easyier to do a lot of things regarding book work . if you do the right thing they will leave you alone.

collingwood
05-10-2006, 12:17 PM
Cheers Nev, this info will help!

administrator
05-10-2006, 05:37 PM
Thats correct if u are going to stay under the 50 thousand dollar threshold then you will not have to collect gst :aus-flag:

twin_cities_lawncare
07-10-2006, 01:05 AM
Kiwi
I agree with Nev - it's best to get your ABN up and running from the very beginnining. Some companies only deal with registered businesses, so it pays to be registered, and also insured, for the very same reason.
The GST issue is a bit gray - we bought our business in September last year and were told it was likely to bring in $52k p.a., meaning for the first year, we mightn't reach the GST threshold. Thankfully we opted to charge/remit GST from the beginning tho, as we went over the magic $50k and would've had to pay the GST out of our own pocket from what I hear. GST can be paid optionally - most pay it monthly/ quarterly, but it can even be done annually I think. (We pay it monthly, so it doesn't accumulate into too much of a debt.)
If you can set up a special bank account for your business earnings and have a cheque book attached to it, it will be easier to keep the paperwork in order. We have a separate account off our main account without having established a business account per se, so money is paid to us personally, even tho we also have a *t/a Twin Cities Lawncare* tag-on phrase as well. We have been encouraging most of our non-cash customers to deposit their payments into our bank account directly, adding the invoice number/s for reference, and this saves us having to physically bank their cheque and add extra time to the overall payment process.

All the best for the new venture/s (marriage being the biggest of all) :russ:
Christine

administrator
07-10-2006, 08:33 AM
Collingwood invest some good Aussie dollars and find a good accountant answers on these matters are best to be answered by experts as Nev has pointed out .They may even set you up with a computer programme so at the end of the month u email the details to them .Yes i know how great is that .
Forums are a good place to get ideas of what to do but not all suggestions are fact.

Tax legislation is changing every hour.

Accountants have trouble keeping up . :frightene

Also if u are starting up from scratch i would test the market part time as a hobby if u like to see if you will be suitable for this line of work no point in spending thousands of dollars chucking in your job and finding its not for u and the same applies if you are going to purchase a round . Lawnmowing Landscaping is a tough demanding beast .
Common sense is the best business partner u can have



TIP
THE ONLY PARTNERSHIP IS A SINKING SHIP
:i dunno:

Tim from HMS
07-10-2006, 10:49 AM
I Kiwi,

We just recently set up the business too and we decided to register for an ABN. You can just get the ABN without registering for GST as we figured we would be unlikely to hit the $50K in the first year starting from scratch.

You can always go back on-line and register for GST later. Just note that if you don't register for GST then you are not allowed to issue a Tax Invoice. We just do sales receipts which state our ABN as part of the company logo and most businesses are happy with that.

We have found that the commercial businesses we do definately insisted we have an ABN.

We are about to start a marketing campaign to Body Corporate Management companies and they all want to know an ABN.

collingwood
09-10-2006, 02:08 AM
Kura To All You Aussie Boyzzz..& Girlzzz!...


All this info has been really helpful..!

BUT>> To the ADMINISTRATOR...I,ll see you at the Finish Line!!...
:wave-hi:
:i dunno: :russ: :wave-hi: :laughing:

administrator
09-10-2006, 11:26 AM
lololol Collingwood I HAVE YOUR NO 1 RIBBON READY

Go the pies :aus-flag:

ian
20-08-2007, 10:33 PM
the gst option is now $75000 as of ist july 2007

administrator
10-09-2007, 05:03 PM
More money in your pocket ian

Great government

administrator
12-09-2007, 09:27 AM
Kiwi
I agree with Nev - it's best to get your ABN up and running from the very beginnining. Some companies only deal with registered businesses, so it pays to be registered, and also insured, for the very same reason.
The GST issue is a bit gray - we bought our business in September last year and were told it was likely to bring in $52k p.a., meaning for the first year, we mightn't reach the GST threshold. Thankfully we opted to charge/remit GST from the beginning tho, as we went over the magic $50k and would've had to pay the GST out of our own pocket from what I hear. GST can be paid optionally - most pay it monthly/ quarterly, but it can even be done annually I think. (We pay it monthly, so it doesn't accumulate into too much of a debt.)
If you can set up a special bank account for your business earnings and have a cheque book attached to it, it will be easier to keep the paperwork in order. We have a separate account off our main account without having established a business account per se, so money is paid to us personally, even tho we also have a *t/a Twin Cities Lawncare* tag-on phrase as well. We have been encouraging most of our non-cash customers to deposit their payments into our bank account directly, adding the invoice number/s for reference, and this saves us having to physically bank their cheque and add extra time to the overall payment process.

All the best for the new venture/s (marriage being the biggest of all) :russ:
Christine


Threshold is now 75000 smackers

twin_cities_lawncare
14-09-2007, 01:40 AM
$75,000 should be a better threshold for the smaller operator to work with, options-wise...

ian
29-09-2007, 12:21 AM
Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today.[ Herman Wouk]

twin_cities_lawncare
29-09-2007, 06:34 PM
Only a month to go before all the paperwork needs to be done for last financial year's tax...unless you are using a professional to do it for you.
It helps to have all your documentation (receipts, etc) saved in case the taxman asks for the facts eh? I think they prefer that to fiction.

cadase
29-09-2007, 09:09 PM
Does anyone or everyone pay PAYG tax instalments quarterly, i know you have to when your GST registered, i am not. The ATO are giving me the option to pay quarterly or annually.
Any pro's or con's ? :i dunno:

ian
29-09-2007, 10:50 PM
if you pay annually you will get a big bill at the end of the financial year [middle of winter] so you need to plan for this, the down side to paying quarterly is you can't put the money on the housing loan and get tax free interest benefit

twin_cities_lawncare
06-10-2007, 03:50 PM
We pay quarterly PAYG instalments, which prevents a big-bang at end-of-financial year, but it depends if you are prepared to put aside the tax throughout the year to cover a one-off payment or if have a re-draw facility that you can access to cover the tax bill when it comes. We leave submitting our tax go til late in October so any extra owing isn't in the lean winter months.

bb1
13-10-2007, 07:10 PM
When doing your tax make sure you tick the box for STS, as this gives you benefits for Depreciatoion, as well as gives you the oportunity for the entrepenaurs 25% tax rebate, dame a big difference for me.
Check with your accountant, but definitely go STS, I cannot see any short comings. :) :) :)

geoff
28-04-2011, 07:16 PM
so glad i do my BAS online to the tax office . as you probably know you get an extra couple of weeks after the deadline..phew.... so i can go back to watching the footy with a glass and leave the bas till weekend hehehehe..and no David i cant afford a bookkeeper

C.O.R.Y.S
28-04-2011, 09:14 PM
..and no David i cant afford a bookkeeper
lol "you cant afford not to!" lol
seriously though I know everyone makes spelling mistakes but i literally laughed out loud when i worked out old mate collingwood, who called himself kiwi, was trying to say kiora at the begining of his posts. when i first read it I was like, whats a kura?

back to the post though, i mailed my very first BAS of today! gotta love getting it all back on my purchases coz i hadnt collected any yet! one question, if you get a return do you leave it in your tax account for futher instalments or do you put it back into your bus account to play with?

edbeek
11-06-2011, 12:32 PM
This question might seem trivial, but with the ATO very fussy about getting their GST exactly correct, this might cause problems.

When I buy fuel, I get the tax invoice. No probs
Then I take that invoice to my IGA grocery shop, and I get an 8c/l discount. The fuel invoice just gets an IGA stamp, and the discount only appears on the shopping docket.

When doing my BAS, should I submit that I paid $1.42c/l or the $1.50c/l as shown on the tax invoice?
That gets messy, and even messier when I buy 100 litres/week, but IGA only gives the discount up to 80l.

I tend to think that I submit what is shown on the fuel Tax Invoice, and any discount is actually a 'shopping discount', rather than a 'fuel discount'.
It only amounts to about $8 discrepency in GST paid/quarter, but I'd rather have it correct than getting a black mark over something trivial.

This is different to the coles/woollies system where I think the fuel invoice is actually made out at the discounted price.

MowerRob
11-06-2011, 07:01 PM
This question might seem trivial, but with the ATO very fussy about getting their GST exactly correct, this might cause problems.

When I buy fuel, I get the tax invoice. No probs
Then I take that invoice to my IGA grocery shop, and I get an 8c/l discount. The fuel invoice just gets an IGA stamp, and the discount only appears on the shopping docket.

When doing my BAS, should I submit that I paid $1.42c/l or the $1.50c/l as shown on the tax invoice?
That gets messy, and even messier when I buy 100 litres/week, but IGA only gives the discount up to 80l.

I tend to think that I submit what is shown on the fuel Tax Invoice, and any discount is actually a 'shopping discount', rather than a 'fuel discount'.
It only amounts to about $8 discrepency in GST paid/quarter, but I'd rather have it correct than getting a black mark over something trivial.

This is different to the coles/woollies system where I think the fuel invoice is actually made out at the discounted price.

Put exactly what the tax invoice states when u buy the fuel

glassngrass
11-06-2011, 08:10 PM
The expense to the business is what you PAID.
Consider keeping the discount vouchers for your private use vehicles.

Consider also registering for the fuel subsidy.
Keep tabs on the number of litres used in your machinery (NOT vehicle) separately, then you can claim a fuel subsidy with each BAS lodged.

edbeek
12-06-2011, 07:40 AM
Thanks Rob & David.
Dave, I've been keeping my machinery/vehicle fuel purchases separate, but not recording the litres. I'll note that in future too. Thanks.
The accountant probably has the fuel subsidy sorted.