Read Advisory BAN TACS Accountants Mackay

Read Advisory BAN TACS Accountants Mackay Chartered Accounting firm and member of BAN TACS National Accountants Network We will always treat our clients with courtesy, sensitivity and confidentiality.

Read Advisory, Chartered Accountants are an accounting firm that are more than Accountants. Our team provides a range of accounting, taxation and advisory services to individuals and businesses throughout Australia. We invest the time required to understand our client’s individual circumstances, needs and concerns and provide our clients with a full range of services to deliver positive outcomes f

or individuals and businesses alike. In addition to our accounting and taxation service, we also offer assistance regarding Self Managed Super Funds as well as property purchase advice through to buying or selling a business, cashflow and financial management. Our commitment is to provide outstanding personalised service and quality advice, with a strong focus on integrity and professionalism. Read Advisory are part of BAN TACS National Accountants, drawing on a network of independently owned accounting practices with an expert in every field.businesses alike. We offer face to face appointments as well as phone and virtual face to face appointments for individual tax return service and business appointments. If you would like to experience our services, please call or email our team for a complimentary initial consultation.

15/06/2026

Just Saying:

If the 50% CGT discount created the housing crisis why did we not have a housing crisis pre 1985 before CGT was introduced and houses were not taxed at all. Let’s think of a few things that have changed since those days mmm GST, mind blowing stamp duty and first home owner subsidies.

You know back when we used to have indexation inflation was high. The 50% discount was a simplification not a concession/tax break for investors. And Howard must have know that because he removed indexation from that date forward. If you chose indexing you could only index up to the change date.

15/06/2026

Monday Money Talk with Noel Whittaker

Many people reach a stage in life when they start thinking about legacy. They don't want a lifetime of hard work, achievement and experience to simply vanish when they die. One way to leave a mark on the world is through the lives you touch, the family you raise, the business you build or the causes you support. But there is another strategy that can create a lasting and meaningful legacy, provide the pleasure of giving while you're alive, and potentially reduce a capital gains tax bill at the same time.
Let’s look at an example. John and Julie are aged 75 and are considering selling a property they purchased for $2 million several years ago, and which is now worth $3 million. The latest changes to capital gains tax have made them wary of what may happen in the future, and they feel now is the time to act. After adjustments, including the 50% discount, the net capital gain will be $500,000. This will be apportioned at $250,000 to each of them. They earn about $30,000 each from their investments, which means that each person's taxable income will be $280,000 in the year the sales contract is signed. At 75, they are no longer able to mitigate the CGT through superannuation contributions. The tax bill for each of them will be about $100,000, including the Medicare levy. After taking advice, they discover there are two options available.
The first option is to pay the $200,000 tax bill. The money disappears into government coffers, where they have no say over how it is spent. While it’s true that some of that money will fund vital services, given the regular headlines about wasteful spending and projects that run over budget, many taxpayers take little comfort from that prospect.
The second option is to contribute $240,000 each to a tax-deductible giving fund. The contribution is fully tax-deductible in the year it is made. The fund itself is tax-free, and the only withdrawals permitted are donations to registered charitable organisations. Under current rules, the fund must distribute at least 4% of its balance each year. By contributing $240,000 each, John and Julie retain influence over $480,000 of capital, from which at least 4% of the balance can be directed to charitable causes annually.
In effect, they have converted a large tax bill into a legacy that can continue making a difference long after they are gone. If we assume the fund earns 7% a year and distributes 5% of its balance annually, it would grow to about $613,000 by year 15, when they are aged 90, while having donated a total of $433,000 to charity along the way. Just as importantly, each year provides an opportunity to involve their children and grandchildren in deciding which organisations should benefit from the family foundation.
The mathematics are compelling. One option is to pay $200,000 in tax and have the story end there. The other is to contribute an additional $280,000 and gain stewardship of nearly half a million dollars in charitable capital, which could still be worth more than $600,000 in 15 years after distributing $433,000 to worthwhile causes. It truly is the gift that keeps on giving.
I speak from experience. In January 2018, I wanted to minimise a CGT bill and made a tax-deductible donation of $400,000 to a giving fund in the Australian Philanthropic Services Foundation (APS). I enjoyed the tax deduction immediately and also created a fund with $400,000 of capital. APS manages all the administration and investments, and the only requirement is that our family withdraw at least 4% of the balance each year as a gift to an approved charity. Eight years have passed, during which time the fund has enabled us to make charitable donations totalling $200,000, and we still have a balance of $485,000 – significantly more than we started with.
The numbers speak for themselves, but what they don't capture is the deeper reward. There is something quietly profound about directing money to causes that you genuinely believe in. Rather than a passive transfer of wealth, a charitable foundation turns philanthropy into an active, ongoing conversation – one that can span generations.
Consider what John and Julie now have at their disposal. Each year they can sit down with their children and grandchildren and ask big questions. What matters to us? Is it food relief, medical research, education for disadvantaged youth, environmental conservation, or something else? Which organisations are doing work that aligns with our values? These are not abstract questions. They become the framework through which a family defines itself, year after year. The children who participate in those conversations grow up understanding that wealth carries responsibility, and that lesson is arguably worth more than any inheritance.
It is also worth noting that you do not need to be selling a multi-million dollar property to make this strategy worthwhile. A business owner approaching retirement, someone receiving a large redundancy payout, or an investor with a significant parcel of shares carrying a hefty embedded capital gain all face similar choices. Giving funds within a public ancillary structure such as the APS Foundation can be established for $40,000, bringing this kind of philanthropic planning within reach of many people.
The question worth sitting with is not simply how much tax you can save. It is what kind of story you want your money to tell once you are gone. A well-structured charitable foundation does not just reduce a tax bill. It creates a legacy that can keep giving for generations.

12/06/2026

Newsflash 396 Out Now
Lots if budget details and interesting askbantacs questions as well as information about making a superannuation contribution before year end.
https://www.bantacs.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Newsflash-396.pdf

08/06/2026

Monday Money Talk with Noel Whittaker

Death tax is the hot topic of the moment, but it means different things depending on where you live. In Britain, for example, estates above £325,000 face inheritance tax of 40%, subject to various concessions and exemptions.
Australia does not have death duties, estate taxes or inheritance taxes. But for years our tax system has achieved much the same result by other means, and the 2026 budget proposes another layer. None of these measures is a death tax in the traditional sense. Collectively, however, they take an ever-larger slice of what people leave behind.
The best-known example is superannuation left to a non-dependent. Leave your super to someone outside the ATO’s definition of a dependent and death benefits tax of up to 15% applies to the taxable component, rising to 30% on life insurance proceeds held inside super. These taxes are deducted before payment, so families often only discover them when administering the estate.
The budget also proposes changes targeting testamentary trusts. A testamentary trust is created under your will, so an inheritance is managed for a beneficiary rather than paid directly to them. Most families should consider one, not for tax reasons but for protection against divorce, creditors, poor decisions, family disputes, or an eighteen-year-old who is not ready to inherit outright.
A testamentary trust also allows the trustee to distribute income earned on an inheritance among beneficiaries on lower tax rates. That can sound like clever tax planning, but look at who often benefits: a child still at school, a young adult not yet earning, or a relative living with a disability.
Unlike a family trust created during life, a testamentary trust allows income distributed to a child under 18 to be taxed at ordinary adult rates, with up to $22,000 a year effectively tax-free rather than at punitive rates that can reach 47%. For a child whose parent has died, that seems entirely appropriate.
The budget proposes to change that. From 1 July 2028, income distributed from a testamentary trust would be taxed at a minimum of 30%, regardless of the recipient's personal tax rate. Presented as a crackdown on income splitting, the measure will mainly affect beneficiaries whose tax rate would otherwise be below 30%. Many advisers expected a broad exemption for children, but current indications are that relief will be limited to "vulnerable" minors.
The law has always distinguished between trusts created during life and those created on death. A family trust may be used for tax planning. A testamentary trust is different. It is created because someone has died, and another person must exercise the judgment they no longer can. The concession recognises that role. The proposed 30% minimum tax does not.
Estate planning lawyer Rachael Rofe, founder of Rofe + Co, is blunt about who will be affected. "These are not necessarily the wealthy," she says. "They are students, spouses caring for children, young adults just starting out, and children not yet earning. They are the very people the estate plan was designed to protect."
The government has suggested fixed testamentary trusts as an alternative, exempting them from the proposed new tax. But a fixed trust requires you to decide, on the day you sign your will, exactly how much each beneficiary is entitled to receive and in what proportions for the life of the trust. In effect, you are being asked to predict their circumstances decades into the future. You cannot know which beneficiary may end up in a difficult marriage, run into financial trouble, develop a dependency, or simply need more protection than another. A fixed entitlement is also there for all to see, including lawyers, creditors and former spouses, making it more vulnerable to the very risks the trust was designed to guard against.
A discretionary trustee can respond to events as they unfold, delaying or redirecting distributions to help keep an inheritance beyond the reach of beneficiaries who cannot manage it themselves, and others who would try to claim it. That flexibility is the whole point of a testamentary trust, and it is precisely what a fixed trust removes. The proposed legislation is drafted with a narrow focus on tax collection and little apparent consideration of the broader consequences for ordinary families.
None of this makes discretionary testamentary trusts redundant. They remain valuable for asset protection, control and flexibility, and the proposal touches none of that. So the smart move is to build the option into your will now. That does not mean your family must use it. your executor can choose whether to use it based on the law and each beneficiary's circumstances at the time of inheritance. What you cannot do is add one after death. Put it in, and your family keeps the option open. Leave it out, and the door is closed.
The proposed testamentary trust changes are not the only example of tax policy spilling into estate planning.
The dreaded Division 296 is another example. The tax on super earnings increases once balances exceed $3 million and rises again for balances above $10 million. The catch is where the bill lands: if your super passes directly to one person under a binding nomination but the Division 296 liability falls to the estate, the person who gets the super may not be the one who pays the tax. The money can go one way, and the tax bill another. That is not just a tax problem: it is a family fight waiting to happen.
With all the moving parts, Rofe's advice is to get the order right. "Good estate planning starts with the goals: getting the right assets to the right people, in the right structure, with the least chance of a fight. The will, super nominations, tax consequences and family dynamics must be considered together. That is where the real planning happens," she says.
We do not call any of this a death duty, but the effect can be much the same. Some budget measures, including the proposed CGT and negative gearing changes, are still before parliament, and the final shape of the testamentary trust rules remains uncertain. But estate planning does not have time to wait.
Whatever happens to the tax rules, the will, super nominations and structures that protect an inheritance can all be reviewed now. The job is to keep calm and review the plan while you can. Once you're gone, your family has to live with whatever you left behind.

Noel Whittaker is the author of Retirement Made Simple, Wills Death and Taxes and numerous other books on personal finance. Email: [email protected]

04/06/2026

No Indexing for Expats, even when they come home

A warning to expats and would be expats. As the proposed 2026-2027 budget changes to CGT currently stand, if at any time at all after 1st July 2027 you become a non resident of Australia for tax purposes any property you own in Australia will not be entitled to indexing. Not even once you return to Australia. Mmm maybe time to come home and stay home.

01/06/2026

Monday Money Talk with Noel Whittaker

Today I’m going to give you a refresher course on how capital gains tax (CGT) works. Understanding it could save you heaps. Sadly, despite it involving one of the largest amounts of money you could pay in your lifetime, most people don’t understand how the CGT system works.
CGT is the tax you pay when you sell an investment asset, such as property or shares, that has gone up in value since you bought it. It's important to get expert advice, because the dates are critical. Under existing law, your profit (which is your taxable capital gain) is halved — that's the 50% discount — provided you have held the asset for at least a year and a day. And the relevant date for CGT calculations is the sale contract date, not the date of settlement.
There is currently no special rate of tax on capital gains. The taxable capital gain, after adjustment for the discount, is simply added to your taxable income in the year the contract was signed. How much tax you pay then depends on what the rest of your taxable income is. That's why this column is timely, given we're now only about a month away from 30 June.
One way to reduce CGT is to time the sale for a year when your taxable income is likely to be lower. A common example is selling an investment property in the year after you retire. Another strategy is to make tax-deductible superannuation contributions, including catch-up concessional contributions where available.
CASE STUDY Jack and Jill are in their early 70s and do not receive the age pension because the investment property they own is worth $1.2 million, which takes them over the assets test cut-off. Jack has $700,000 in super and Jill has $200,000 in super. Given their ages and the latest kerfuffle about CGT changes, they consider biting the bullet and selling the property now. Their only concern is CGT.
But they get a pleasant surprise when their financial adviser tells them they may be eligible to make tax-deductible catch-up superannuation contributions. These are contributions designed to compensate people for concessional contributions that their employer, or they themselves, did not make in previous years. Neither has made any deductible contributions since retiring at 65, so each may be eligible to make tax-deductible contributions of up to $175,000 in the next financial year. This is made up of $142,500 in catch-up contributions, plus $32,500, which is the standard concessional contribution cap for next financial year.
There are two important criteria that Jack and Jill must meet. Their total superannuation balance at the previous 30 June must be under $500,000, and they must be able to pass the work test to make deductible contributions between ages 67 and 75. This involves working 40 hours in 30 consecutive days in the financial year they make the contribution.
This is where the planning and advice come in. On their adviser's advice, Jack withdraws $250,000 from his super before 30 June 2026 and contributes it to his wife's super as a non-concessional contribution. Neither the withdrawal nor the deposit has any tax implications. As a result, their superannuation balances at 30 June become $450,000 each. They have now passed the first test.
Some people get a bit shy about the work test. But Jack and Jill are from the vintage where people are used to coping and making the best of what they have. Both feel there would be no trouble at all getting some sort of part-time work to qualify, given the size of the sum involved. They could get some work through Grey Army, drive for Uber or work at Bunnings.
Let's do the calculations. The property cost $500,000, which means the capital gain will be around $700,000 if they achieve close to $1.2 million for it. They qualify for the 50% CGT discount, which reduces the taxable capital gain to $350,000. That means $175,000 will be added to the taxable income of each of them in the year the contract is signed.
They then make tax-deductible superannuation contributions of up to $175,000 each, which is taxed at 15% within their super funds. Their taxable income drops to zero and the CGT liability effectively disappears. All they need to do now is give notice to their super fund that they intend to claim a tax deduction for the contributions. Their adviser will help them with the fine-tuning, because there is no point making a tax deduction that takes taxable income below $18,200, where the zero-tax threshold ends. The purpose of this example is to show you what is possible, and the importance of getting advice and planning early.
Over the next two years, many people with investment assets will be taking advice, reviewing their affairs and deciding whether to bite the bullet and sell before 30 June 2027, when the CGT rules are proposed to change. But tax is only part of the equation. The bigger question is what you would do with the proceeds, and whether the asset still has strong long-term potential.
The proposed changes also make superannuation even more attractive from a tax perspective. If access before age 60 is not an issue, super may become one of the best long-term homes for investment money. Just remember that your balance each 30 June affects your ability to make future after-tax contributions.
If you have owned an asset for a long time, keeping it after 30 June 2027 may still make good sense if it is a quality asset, because the capital gain is apportioned over the entire ownership period, and the portion caught under the new rules may not be significant. Once again, this is an area where expert advice and careful planning could save you a fortune.

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