5th Annual Small Business Tax Essentials
The vast majority of businesses in Australia are small businesses, so you better be prepared to provide up to date and expert advice when a small business client comes to you for help. That means being across the game changing developments stemming from the budget, the election and the Banking Royal Commission. Eleven experts working on small business advisory will give you the latest updates and cutting edge strategies on all of the key issues your small business clients will expect you to know.
Description
Attend and earn 7 CPD Points/Hours
Chair: Vanessa Priest, Partner, Baskin Clarke Priest
LATEST TAX UPDATES
9.00am to 10.00am: OPENING ADDRESS: Phoenix Activities: Costs and Consequences
- The elements of phoenix activity and how to spot it
- Understanding the costs of phoenix activity
- How the ATO (and others) combat phoenix activity
- The consequences and some practical takeaways for your practice
Presented by Aislinn Walwyn, Assistant Commissioner, Integrated Compliance, ATO and Michael O'Meara, Barrister, Sixth Floor Selborne/ Wentworth Chambers
10.00am to 10.45am: Company Tax Changes: Implications to Your Clients
Presented by Vanessa Priest, Partner, Baskin Clarke Priest
10.45am to 11.00am: Morning Tea
11.00am to 11.55am: Dealing with Historical Loans and Unpaid Present Entitlements in the Changing Division 7A Landscape
The long-awaited amendments to Division 7A are proposed to start on 1 July 2019. They represent a significant change to how taxpayers will need to manage their Division 7A loans and unpaid trust present entitlements (UPEs), and in particular quarantined loans and pre-2009 UPEs. Examine the impact of these changes and explore practical case studies demonstrating potential strategies going forward.
Presented by Bernadeene Cangelosi, Director, Family Enterprise Advisory, Deloitte Private
11.55am to 12.50pm: Small Business Restructuring: Practical Guidelines
As a business grows, owners find themselves restrained by structures that are no longer appropriate or meet their needs. Explore ways to restructure your client's business and ensure they are best placed to maximise growth opportunities.
- The availability of rollover relief to facilitate a move to a more appropriate business structure whilst managing tax consequences
- Using the small business concessions to restructure
- Tips and traps which often arise when restructuring
Presented by Stuart Le Cornu, Partner, Fordham Group
12.50pm to 1.35pm: Networking Lunch
PRACTICAL TAX SOLUTIONS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
Chair: Chris Ardagna, Partner - Tax Consulting, Pitcher Partners
1.35pm to 2.30pm: Tax Effective Structuring Strategies for Asset Protection: Managing Business Owner Risks
- Main business structuring choices available
- Key factors to consider when business structuring: it's not always about tax!
- Key asset protection principles
- Tax effective restructures to fix heritage issues or to get to a more appropriate structure
Presented by Morris Maroon, Principal, Head of Tax, Argyle Lawyers
2.30pm to 3.20pm: Tax Strategies for Small Property Developers
- The common mistakes made by property developers: learning from them to ensure your client's next property development doesn't fall into an unexpected tax-trap
- Is your client carrying on a business of renovating properties for tax-purposes? Or perhaps a one-off profit-making transaction? The tax implications
- GST issues faced by small property developers: Is registration required? claiming GST credits on development, GST on sale of the property and using the margin scheme
- Structures to consider for small property developers
Presented by David Shaw, Founder and CEO, WSC Group
3.20pm to 3.35pm: Afternoon Tea
3.35pm to 4.25pm: Dealing with ATO Enquiries, Audits and Tax Disputes
- Practical tips for effectively dealing with ATO audits or disputes
- Best practical and strategic approaches for responding to ATO enquiries
- Responding to information requests and formal notices
- Outline of the important procedural and practical steps in the audit and disputation processes
- How to maintain a relationship of cooperation with the ATO throughout this process
- Examples of the current focus areas
Presented by Rimma Miller, Special Counsel, MinterEllison
4.25pm to 5.15pm: INSIGHTS FOR ACCOUNTANTS FROM A FAMILY LAW EXPERT: What Accountants Need to Know about Small Business Owners and Family Law
- Why do you need to keep updated with your client's personal situation?
- The issue of using retained company earnings to pay out a spouse in a family law settlement and the tax consequences
- Payments to spouses who do not work in a business but still claimed as a salary expense, particularly post separation of the parties
- The ability of the Family Court to make orders in family law proceedings transferring tax or other debts between spouses
- How the binding order made by the Family Court could adversely affect a third party to the marriage such as a business partner, co-director or shareholder, etc.
Presented by Rose Lockie, Partner, Gadens
5.15pm: Closing Comments by the Chair
Venue
Cliftons Sydney
Level 3, 10 Spring Street
Sydney 2000
NSW
Australia
Presenters
Chair: Vanessa Priest
Vanessa Priest is a partner at Baskin Clarke Priest with more than 20 years experience as a tax specialist, and has an interest in the tax and succession issues faced by privately owned enterprises and family groups. She has extensive knowledge in areas such as tax structuring, cross border issues, asset acquisitions and divestments, and tax issues arising for trusts. She has written and presented many papers for key professional associations, such as the Tax Institute of Australia. Vanessa is a Chartered Accountant and has degrees in Teaching, Commerce (majoring in Accounting and Economics) and a Masters in Tax Law. She is a member of the Taxation Institute of Australia, Westminster Tax Discussion Group and a representative member of the ATO Small Business Tax Working Group.
Aislinn Walwyn
Aislinn Walwyn is an Assistant Commissioner in the Australian Taxation Office, Integrated Compliance business line, leading the ATO's, involvement in the Phoenix Taskforce, a whole of government taskforce, comprising 34 member agencies to combat illegal phoenix activity. The taskforce harnesses the capabilities of the various Federal and State, member agencies to take coordinated enforcement action against high risk, phoenix operators and their facilitators as well as a range of education and, engagement strategies. Aislinn has been involved in a number of cross, agency initiatives domestically and internationally, including Project, Wickenby and the Trusts Taskforce. She previously led the client, engagement and case leadership areas in Private Wealth and Aggressive, Tax Planning. Aislinn is interested in improving transparency and simplifying, interactions with regulators. She has conducted a peer review of Hong Kong's legal and regulatory framework as part of the Organisation for, Economic Cooperation and Development's Global Forum on Transparency, and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes and have reviewed, international transparency standards for legal arrangements in Australia. Aislinn holds BA LLB degrees and is a practising solicitor and member of, the Law Society of New South Wales. Before joining the ATO, she was a partner at Bowmans, a large overseas law firm.
Michael O'Meara
Michael O'Meara was called to the Bar in 2005. Prior to coming to the Bar, he was a Senior Associate at Minter Ellison. Michael graduated from the , Australian National University as a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of , Laws (Hons) in 2000, winning the University Medal in Law and the , Supreme Court Judges' prize. He graduated from the University of Sydney , as a Master of Laws in 2006. Michael practises in all areas of commercial , law and public law and regularly appears in the Federal Court of Australia, , the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia. , He regularly appears for and against the Commonwealth and its regulatory , agencies, including the Commissioner of Taxation, the Australian Securities , and Investment Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer , Commission. He has particular specialisation in the areas of tax, , corporations law, banking and insolvency, civil liability of public authorities , and representative proceedings.
Bernadeene Cangelosi
Stuart Le Cornu
Having worked in tax and accounting since 1997, Stuart Le Cornu has a wealth of experience with helping business owners to achieve their financial and business goals, including acquisitions and sales transactions. He also assists companies to meet their objectives with strategic planning initiatives, financial planning and taxation planning, with a keen focus on international tax. Being one of our Tax Advisory specialists, he is of course also an expert in assisting with ATO audits and risk reviews! In fact, Stuart is so good at what he does, that he presents on taxation of trusts, Division 7A and small business Capital Gains Tax matters. Stuart's approach to tax planning commences from day one. He takes the time to thoroughly review existing structures, interrelationships between entities, location of assets, liabilities and IP, history, capital gains cost bases, loan accounts, previous tax strategies and future plans. By June in every year, there are no surprises. Just a simple reassurance that everything remains on track.
Chair: Chris Ardagna
Chris Ardagna is a partner in the tax consulting group of Pitcher Partners Sydney and has been advising on tax issues affecting large privately-owned businesses and listed companies for over 15 years. Chris re-joined the firm in December 2018, having previously been a partner from 2007 – 2011. Prior to re-joining the firm, he was a tax partner at a boutique law firm for a number of years. Chris has experience in advising clients on a broad range of tax issues, including tax efficient structuring for investing in and out of Australia, corporate reorganisation strategies and cross-border employment issues. In addition, Chris has considerable experience dealing with disputes with the revenue authorities, including managing reviews and audits, seeking private rulings, objecting to assessments, appealing objection decisions and settling disputes with the revenue authorities. Recent examples of engagements include: Structuring of property development projects; Structuring of a proposed merger between Australian and US businesses in the IT industry; Capital gains tax and tax consolidations implications of corporate restructures; Structuring of property financing arrangements; Resolution of long-running dispute with the Commissioner of Taxation involving various international tax and administrative law issues. Chris has also been working with high wealth families and privately held groups in relation to business succession and estate planning matters for almost 10 years. His problem-solving skills and practical approach, together with his tax knowledge, enable him to quickly understand the needs of his clients and provide them with commercially focused and tax efficient solutions. Having been involved in a number of family disputes arising from both a lack of planning for generational change and poorly drafted estate plans, Chris draws from that experience to ensure the appropriate estate and succession plans are in place for clients. This experience extends to: Structuring and managing inter-generational wealth transfer during the principal’s lifetime; Structuring new and updating existing estate plans including the use of testamentary trusts ; Business succession planning including structuring buy-sell agreements, shareholder/unitholder agreements, and employee equity arrangements; General asset protection strategies; Resolving disputes involving trust and estate assets and entitlements both through negotiation and litigation.
Morris Maroon
David Shaw
David Shaw is the CEO of WSC Group. Under David's directorship, WSC Group is focused on delivering remarkable value to clients across Australia. With over 25 years of business experience, David has been instrumental in developing a team culture built on excellence. David has many years of accounting experience with extensive knowledge in commerce, industry and public practice accounting. During his accounting career, he has held senior accounting roles with Deloitte, Pacific Dunlop, Boral and National Foods. Prior to starting the WSC Group, over 10 years ago, David was a Director and CEO of the Pickles Auctions Group. Specialising in establishing financial systems and management controls, David offers his clients strategic planning and growth assistance. David has also developed an extensive property expertise from the property investor level to the corporate property development of both new developments and second-hand property refurbishments. David has a degree in Business (Accounting Major with the University of Technology Sydney), is a CPA with a Public Practice Certificate and a Registered Tax Agent. David will assist his clients, whether it's at board level, sole trader or individual investor level with their business, wealth building strategy, superannuation, taxation and accounting needs.
Rimma Miller
Rimma Miller is a Special Counsel with the Tax Controversy team at MinterEllison and has 17 years experience in assisting clients in taxation disputes and litigation as well as relevant experience in areas of administrative law and debt litigation. Rimma represents both government and private clients in all stages of taxation disputes including audits, reviews, objections and litigation. She is experienced in alternative dispute resolution processes and conducts litigation matters in the various jurisdictions including Federal Court and High Court of Australia. Most recent leading tax cases that Rimma has been involved with include Oswal v FCT and Blank v FCT. Prior to joining the Tax Controversy team, Rimma worked as a senior litigation lawyer at the ATO.
Rose Lockie
Rose Lockie is a recognised Family Law Specialist (since 1989) who practises in all aspects of the field and serves on a number of influential committees and boards dealing with Family Law and who is named as a "Leading Family Lawyer" in Doyle's Guide. She is past Chair of the Family Law Accreditation Advisory Committee, current Member of the Specialisation Board, and past Chair and current member of the Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the Law Institute of Victoria. She additionally holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Family Law. Rose has been practising Family Law for the last 30 years and became a Partner of Gadens heading up that firm's Family Law Team as well as the firm's Private Client team when she joined the firm in 1995. Her experience extends to all aspects of Family Law with particular expertise in complex property division matters, tax-effective property and maintenance settlements and acting for third parties to a marriage or de facto relationship who have become involved in Family Law proceedings. Another area of Rose's expertise is the interaction between Bankruptcy and Family law. She is a regular speaker at seminars for clients, accountants and other lawyers, and has been the author of a Family Law chapter of a Butterworths loose leaf service previously published on Trusts Law in Australia, in respect of the power of the Family Law Act to deal with and affect trusts.