What a difference a year makes. In recent months, Australian shares hit a record high, the Aussie dollar dipped to levels not seen since the GFC and interest rates were cut to historic lows. Towards the end of 2018, shares were in the doldrums and while experts agreed the Aussie dollar would go lower most tipped the next move in interest rates would be up. All of which goes to show that when it comes to predicting financial markets, the only sure thing is uncertainty. There's no avoidin...

Positives and negatives of gearing Negatively gearing an investment property is viewed by many Australians as a tax effective way to get ahead. According to Treasury, more than 1.9 million people earned rental income in 2012-13 and of those about 1.3 million reported a net rental loss. So it was no surprise that many people were worried about how they would be affected if Labor had won the May 2019 federal election and negative gearing was phased out as they had proposed. With the Coali...

Don't lose your life insurance in super! You may have recently received a letter from your super fund, suggesting that your insurance may be cancelled. This is a result of new Federal legislation passed earlier this year. The objective of this legislation is to ensure that people are not paying for insurance that they do not need. The assumption is that people who are no longer contributing to a super fund, most likely also no longer need the insurance available through these funds. ...

With the uncertainty of the federal election now out of the way, we can look forward to some significant reforms to Australia's existing tax system. The Morrison Government went into the election with a comprehensive suite of tax proposals and these are now likely to pass swiftly through Parliament, as the Opposition has indicated it will support the legislation. So just what are the changes we are likely to see when it comes to both our personal tax and the taxes that apply to small ...

What could change for taxpayers after the Federal Election? With the Federal election only weeks away, both major parties have set out their plans for taxation of superannuation, especially as it relates to SMSFs.  There are also new taxation plans for individuals and trusts.  But it can be hard to wade through all the policy speeches and interviews, so here is a quick summary of the current law and the possible changes to come after the election: Comparison of policy areas...