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Avoid Losing Money Due to a Lost Business Trust Deed

There are a lot of ways to lose money through business contracts, and stamp duties are a big factor. People lose huge amounts of money every year, and it is often due to the “traps” that they commonly fall victim to. One of these involves losing a business trust deed, and failing to follow the best course of actions to rectify the problem. If you want to try and avoid excessive fees, it pays to be aware of what to do. This article deals with some of the most common ways that people can deal with a lose business trust.

Losing Your Business Trust Deed

If the times comes when you want to make changes within your business, losting your trust deed can be a disaster. This includes if you must change your trustee, modify beneficiaries, sell assets or business, or carry out other dealings with the trust.

If You Have a Stamped Copy

If you have a copy of the trust deed that is stamped, you should be perfectly fine. For a nominal fee, you should be able to have a replica trust deed stamped. This is the best possible outcome in the above situation.

Unstamped, Unsigned, or Photocopied Trust Deed

But what if you are only able to find a copy of the trust deed that is not stamped or signed? This is not as desirable, but it can also work out well. You can lodge a statutory declaration with evidence of the trust’s “settlement sum”, at the time of declaration, along with your copy of the trust deed. There will be a penalty along with the duty for this, but it should not be overly expensive. Even if you are only able to locate a photocopy of the trust deed, you can stamp that in accordance to the Duties Act 1997 (NSW). Please be aware that if the trustee and settler sign this new copy of the trust deed, ad velorem stamp duties are likely to trigger.

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Behaviour Debt Collectors Must Not Engage In for Personal Debts

If you have been following the news, it should come as no surprise to learn that debt is high in Australia. With more people owing money, and also having less money to pay back their debts, there’s a good chance that you have some debt of your own. Otherwise, many people are on the other side of the money lending. When dealing with people who owe you money, or those you are in debt to, there are ways to behave. More importantly, there are some types of behaviour that creditors or debt collectors are to avoid.

Debt collectors are not to harass someone who owes them money. This includes physical threats, of course. But it also expands into the realm of contacting someone more than needed, or doing so during odd hours. The Competition and Consumer Act 2010, as well as other laws, actually make this type of behaviour illegal. Even if someone owes you money, it is against the law to harass them in any way.

Debt collectors must avoid any behaviour that would be considered unconscionable. That basically means that they must act in a fair manner. For example, suppose someone is ill, ignorant of their rights and the laws, has impaired judgement or abilities to discuss matters properly, or no experience in this area, and the other party takes advantage of one, or more, of these things. That would be considered unconscientious behaviour, and it is against regulations.

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Employment and Tax Law Changes for Financial Year 2014/2015

The financial year beginning in 2014, and ending in 2015, brings some relatively major changes. These relate to minimum wages, tax rates, and thresholds laws around Australia. Below is a summary of the more significant changes, which all employers should pay particular attention to. For some people, action might need to be taken immediately. Others will want to keep an eye on their compliance in the future. Please note that this is not an exhaustive report about all the new changes.

Minimum Wage Changes

The Fair Work Commission’s decision in the annual review in 2014, means that these changes will now take effect. It is a good time for workers to request an annual review for their pay, to make sure that their employers are following the laws regarding minimum wages.

Minimum wages in Australian states and territories will go from $622.20 per week, to $640.90. This is the amount for a full time employee, above the age of 18, working 38 hours each week.
Modern award rates have gone up by three percent, and this will flow through to annual salaries, as well as minimum hourly wages.
The minimum hourly wage in Australia has gone from $16.37 to $16.87 an hour. This equates to 50 cents more an hour.
For people employed on a casual basis, the loading on their pay has gone from 24 percent to 25 percent. Casual employees with a modern award rate will still receive a 25 percent loading rate.

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Rights of Consumers when Unhappy with Products

Just about everyone has bought something that was not quite what they wanted. This will have often been due to the seller’s guarantee that the item could fill certain needs. Many people could probably give numerous reasons for being unhappy with their various purchases. It has also come to people’s minds to try to fix the situation. After all, there are rules in place to stop suppliers from taking advantage of their customers.

Consumers in Australia are protected by the Australian Consumer Law, which is also known as the ACL. The provisions of this law afford buyers a number of courses of action, should they buy something that isn’t what was promised. And these courses of actions can be taken against suppliers of goods, manufacturers, and even providers of credit. The following relates only to actions against suppliers.

What Can Consumers Do?

This largely depends how major the problem is. If it is a minor incident, and the seller is willing and able to provide a new product, it is good enough for the law. If the failure of the seller isn’t major, the customer in Australia might not even be able to ask for a refund and reject the goods. In case of a major failure on the part of the seller, the customer might be able to totally reject the product, and get a full refund of their money.

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What Happens When Someone Dies Without a Will?

A legal will makes it easier to distribute the assets of the departed individual, and is based on a person’s own preferences. Therefore, it is always best to see either a good family lawyer that specialises in Wills or a commercial lawyer to have it made. The will determines which family member will inherit what property, which saves everyone from conflicts later on. In the situation where there are no family members to inherit the property, the will outlines the name of a relative, a friend, a charity or any chosen person that the departed wanted to give away their property to.

On the other hand, when an individual dies without a will, the condition is called as intestacy. There are laws made for dealing with such situations which outline the distribution of the deceased’s properties, personal belongings, and money. You can opt for the documents mentioned below to settle the matter in such a scenario.

Letters of Administration

A grant of the Letter of Administration is applicable, in the situation of intestate, instead of probate. The property of the deceased will then be given to the relatives who are entitled to it as the Succession Act 2006 states.

Letters of Administration Grant Application

A Letter of Administration is a court order. In the situation where no will is present or no executor is stated in the will, the Letter of Administration permits the administration of an estate. An eligible relative can apply for Letter of Administration if the investigation results have stated the absence of any will. Applying for this grant is similar to that of a probate grant; but there are additional documents that are required to file it in the Supreme Court:

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Sole Trader or Limited Company? The Pros and Cons

Plenty of people reading this will have thought about leaving their nine-to-five job, and starting their own business. It’s common to view this as a means of escaping the drudgery that so often makes up the work day. And then there is the freedom, and ability to be your own boss, and to do whatever you like. However, after moving beyond this initial stage of optimistic fantasy – it quickly becomes apparent that being your own boss is an awful lot of work. It is also hard to decide whether to start a company, or become a sole trader.

The following discussion outlines some of the primary pros and cons of being a sole trader, or creating the common “Pty Ltd” company.

Decision Making

A Pty Ltd company will need to run all decisions through its directors, in accordance the the Corporations Act. A sole trader can simply make decisions as they see fit, without worrying about what other parties think (within the law, of course).

Loan Security

A limited company can use its own assets as security for loans. However, directors are sometimes asked to give personal guarantees. Sole traders often need to use their own personal assets to secure loans, which can include their family homes.

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Steps To Lease Your Business Premises

Having suitable commercial premises at an ideal location is an investment decision which can either propel your business to new heights of success, or just doom it to the life of obscurity. To make sure that your business sees foot traffic, you need to make sure that you buy or lease the ideal place to set up your new enterprise.

Do you know the steps to leasing the property of your choice? Since a leasing contract is legally binding, it signifies that any errors on your part can prove to be problematic and may even lead to any legal actions against you. It would be hard for you to plead ignorance of any vital step in the leasing process later. That is why it is crucial for you to know how to lease a business premises in Australia in the right way.

There are seven main steps which help you lease premises as your commercial property, according to the legal acts binding in Australia. These 7 steps are,

Carefully consider all your leasing needs
Do research and also inspect the premises
Obtain all forms of outlined preliminary documentation
Opt for expert legal advice
Know how to negotiate the property lease
Prepare the final lease documents
Rules about fit out projects on the premises

Every step is essential and needs to be followed as outlined, and you can also download the following detailed guide Leasing business premises – a commercial and practical guide (3rd edition).

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How to Select the Best Business Structure for Your Company

Are you thinking of setting up your own business? If so, have you decided on the business structure which will be ideal for your new firm? The business structure of a company should be the first thing to be decided and confirmed, before you start putting your business plan into action. Your tax liabilities and payments, management of the business operations, legal identity in the market and consequent success depends on the structure you choose for your new entrepreneurial venture or company in Australia.

If you have decided to take the Australian industry by storm, then decide on the best structure for your business.

There are four main types of business structures which you can choose from in Australia, which are,

Partnership
Sole trader
Trust
Company

Each type has a distinct business structure and style, with linked legal requirements and liabilities which a company has to fulfill, or risk facing a legal action against them in court. It is therefore important that you learn everything about a business structure option before you select it.

Sole Trader

It is when an individual operates and trades his own company. In such a business, the sole owner is wholly responsible legally, for all aspects involving the operations of his business in the market. He has to take care of all the debts and losses of the business, and this responsibility cannot be legally shared with others.

It is a simple and affordable business structure to start off a company in Australia. The sole trader makes all the decisions about the running and the starting of the business but can hire employees to help him out.

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Tax Issues You Need To Watch Out For

Have you set up a business and want to know about the tax liabilities you will be responsible for? To assess the exact tax liability you will be held accountable for, you need to know what factor affects your tax the most. The answer is the business structure of your company.

The business structure you choose will make you liable for a set of taxes, which you will need to pay in order to avoid a legal action in court. The tax liabilities for each business structure is different, therefore it is important that you decide very carefully about your business, and know about all the taxes that will be charged to your company as they will need to be paid in time.

You need to have sufficient knowledge about your tax liabilities under the heads of the business structure, and payoff taxes if you want to avoid any tax issues in the future.

Take a look at how some of the business structures are taxed as per the legal statutes of Australian law;

Business Structures and Tax Liabilities

The tax liabilities differ from one business structure to another as per the law

A sole trader business structure uses an individual TFN tax file number. All the income of the business is included in the account, along with all other incomes like salary, investment income and wages, and an individual tax return is filed and paid by the sole owner.

In a partnership structure, there is a separate tax file number and a partnership tax return is lodged. But the partnership does not pay the tax. The partnership tax just details which partner is entitled to which share of the business income or loss. Every partner is liable to declare their partnership loss or profit in their individual tax returns.

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