Blog list (148)
1. Background Foreign purchaser additional duty applies to acquisitions of residential land by foreign persons, and surcharge land tax applies to foreign persons who are owners of residential land in Victoria. Foreign purchaser additional duty and surcharge land tax (together, the foreign surcharges) are payable in addition to any other duty or land tax payable. Where an interest in a property is acquired directly or indirectly by or held through a discretionary trust, the trustee of the trust may be liable for foreign surcharges if any one of the potential beneficiaries is a foreign person. Each beneficiary in a discretionary trust is deemed to have the maximum percentage interest in the income or property over which the trustee may exercise a discretion to distribute. If the trust intends to purchase land now or in the future, 'foreign persons' can be excluded from receiving distributions of income and capital by including a Foreign Beneficiary Clause which prevents distributions being made to that particular person. 2. The relevant surcharge rates of duty and land tax, relevant to 'foreign trusts’ In Victoria, the total stamp duty surcharge rate is 13.5% (5.5%, plus an additional 8%). Regarding land tax, additional land tax of 2% is payable on top of the land tax already payable. In the Australian Capital Territory, additional land tax of 0.75% is payable on top of the land tax already payable. 3. When might a discretionary trust be considered a 'foreign purchaser' or 'foreign person' or 'foreign trust'? In some jurisdictions, a 'foreign trust' or 'foreign purchaser' will be any trust in which a foreign person may be entitled to receive a distribution of more than 50% of the capital of the trust estate: this would apply in respect of any discretionary trust where, for example, a foreign natural person falls within the class of eligible beneficiaries. In other jurisdictions, a trust will only be a foreign trust where, for example, a foreign person is named as a specified beneficiary, or would take distribution from the trust as a taker-in-default (that is, where the trustee fails to validly exercise his discretion). To avoid being a foreign trustee, the discretionary trust must meet both of the following requirements: • no potential beneficiary of the trust is a foreign person (the "no foreign beneficiary requirement"); and • the terms of the trust must not be capable of amendment in a manner that would result in a foreign person being a potential beneficiary (the "no amendment requirement"). The “no foreign beneficiary requirement” can (and will usually) be satisfied in respect of a person if the terms of the trust prevent any property of the trust from being distributed to or applied for the benefit of the person. 4. Foreign Beneficiary Clause To be exempted from foreign surcharges, the trust must be amended to exclude any foreign beneficiaries and the amendment must be irrevocable. If the trust has been established but has not yet entered into any binding arrangements to acquire the relevant asset, then the deed could be amended at that time. Deed of Variation A Deed of Variation is a legal document that “varies” or changes one or more clauses of a former contractual agreement which in this case, can be used to vary the trust deed to exclude ‘foreign persons’. However, a Deed of Variation might be out of context if the trust has already named beneficiaries who are ‘foreign persons’ or where a 'foreign person' is involved in decisions regarding the administration or conduct of the trust, for example, the appointor, trustee or director/shareholder of the trust is a 'foreign person'. In this case, legal advice is recommended. Chang Accounting Advisory Pty Ltd, we are CPA practice and tax agent. If you or your families or friends need our services, please feel free to contact our team for any assistance. This article is for informational purposes only and does not form part of our advice. This article is based on Victoria State Revenue Office guidelines. Please contact our team if you need any assistance. Claire Chang, 0497 131 419, claire.chang@changadvisory.com.au, wechat: clairechang26 Michelle Cui, 0433 539 870, michelle.cui@changadvisory.com.au, wechat: michellejc
1. 背景 海外购买者附加税适用于海外人士购买住宅用地，附加土地税适用于在维多利亚州拥有住宅用地的海外人士。除了应缴纳的有关税款和土地税外，还应缴纳附加海外购买者税和附加土地税（统称外国附加费）。 若任何潜在受益人是海外人士，且财产权益由全权信托直接或间接获得，或通过全权信托持有，则信托的受托人可能需要承担海外附加费。 全权委托信托中的每位受益人都可以在受托人酌情分配的收入或财产中拥有最大百分比的权益。 如果信托打算现在或将来购买土地，“海外人士”可以通过信托海外受益条款可防止向该特定人分配收入， 被排除在接受收入和资本分配之外。 2. 与“海外信托”相关的附加税和土地税附加率 在维多利亚州，总印花税附加率为 13.5%（5.5%，再加上 8%）。关于土地税，在已缴纳的土地税的基础上，还需缴纳 2% 的额外土地税。 在澳大利亚首都领地，除已缴纳的土地税外，还需缴纳 0.75% 的额外土地税。 3. 全权委托信托何时被视为“海外购买者”或“海外人士”或“海外信托”？在某些司法管辖区，“海外信托”或“海外购买者”是指海外人士可能有权获得超过信托财产资本 50% 的分配的任何信托。例如，海外普通人士属于合格受益人类别的全权委托信托。 在其他司法管辖区，信托只会是海外信托。例如，海外人士被指定为指定受益人，或将作为违约接受人从信托中获得分配之代表人（即，受托人未能有效地行使他的自由裁量权）。 为避免成为海外受托人，全权委托信托必须满足以下两个要求： • 信托的潜在受益人没有海外人士（“没有海外受益人士要求”）；和 • 信托条款不得以导致海外人士成为潜在受益人的方式进行修改（“不得修改要求”）。 如果信托条款阻止将信托的任何财产分配给该人或为该人的利益，则可以（并且通常）满足“无海外受益人士要求”。 4. 信托海外受益条款 要免除海外附加费，必须修改信托以排除任何海外受益人士，并且该确保该改修是不可撤销的。 如果信托已经成立，但尚未达成任何具有约束力的安排来收购相关资产，那么届时可以修改契约。 变更契约 变更契约是一份法律文件，它可以“改变”或更改先前合同协议的一个或多个条款。在这种情况下，可用于改变信托契约以排除“海外人士”。 但是，如果信托已经指定了“海外”的受益人，或者“海外人士”参与了有关信托管理或行为的决策，例如委托人、受托人、董事/股东等是“海外人士”，在这种情况下，建议寻求法律意见。 CHANG会计师事务所是注册会计师协会会员，同时也是税务代理，如果您，或您的家人或朋友需要我们的服务，请联系我们的团队。 本文仅供参考，不构成我们建议的一部分。本文基于维多利亚州税务局指南。如果您需要任何帮助，请联系我们的团队。Claire Chang, 0497 131 419, claire.chang@changadvisory.com.au, wechat: clairechang26 Michelle Cui, 0433 539 870, michelle.cui@changadvisory.com.au, wechat: michellejc
If you're a new business or are unsure whether you need WorkCover Compensation insurance, this information is for you. 1. What is WorkCover Compensation Insurance? WorkCover compensation insurance is a compulsory insurance arrangement to provide businesses with insurance coverage for the cost of workers compensation entitlements if any of the workers are injured or become ill because of their work. Entitlements may include: Replacement of lost income; Medical and rehabilitation treatment costs; Legal costs, or; Lump sum compensation in the event of a serious injury. Sole-traders or partners to a partnership are not considered to be employees for insurance purposes. However, directors and executive officers of a company who are paid wages are considered to be employees. 2. Why is WorkCover compensation insurance needed? WorkCover compensation insurance is to cover the amount payable to any worker who suffers a work-related injury or compensable industrial disease. It’s certainly not an area to neglect. 3. The threshold for WorkCover compensation insurance Generally, business owners must register for WorkCover compensation insurance if they or the company employs any workers in Victoria. When a business is owned through a family discretionary trust or a company and they receive income in the form of profits distributed to them each year, or they can pay themselves a wage, he or she is a worker of their own company and need to register. Exemptions One doesn't need to register if he or she, or the company has no apprentices, and pays, or is liable to pay, less than $7,500 a financial year in remuneration. Sole traders, partnerships and trusts: Sole traders, an individual in a partnership or an individual trustee of a trust who do not employ any other people as workers do not need to register. Companies: Companies who do all contract works for the company’s one and only business client do not need to register. 4. Request a Certificate of Currency for your WorkCover compensation insurance A Certificate of Currency can help business owners prove that they are an employer registered for WorkCover. The Certificate of Currency verifies that one is currently registered for WorkCover compensation insurance. Only employers required to register for WorkCover compensation insurance will have a certificate. Some government grants application require business owners to provide the certificate of currency to verify that the business registered for WorkCover compensation insurance. A certificate might be required when negotiating a labour hire contract. Business owners might be called on to prove that they are registered for WorkCover compensation insurance in which the certificate will serve this purpose. Chang Accounting Advisory Pty Ltd, we are CPA practice and tax agent. If you or your families or friends need our services, please feel free to contact our team for any assistance. This article is for informational purposes only and does not form part of our advice. This article is based on WorkSafe Victoria’s guidelines. Please contact our team if you need any assistance. Claire Chang, 0497 131 419, claire.chang@changadvisory.com.au, wechat: clairechang26 Michelle Cui, 0433 539 870, michelle.cui@changadvisory.com.au, wechat: michellejc
很多新建的企业主对劳工灾害补偿保险（以下简称“WorkCover 保险”）不是很了解，经常会咨询我们什么情况下需要购买这个保险。 为了让大家更好的了解这个政府强制要求的保险，我们写了此专栏。如果您是新企业或不确定是否需要 WorkCover 保险，此信息适合您。 1. 什么是 WorkCover 保险?WorkCover 保险是一项强制性保险安排，如果任何工人因工作受伤或生病，此费用保险则为企业提供工人赔偿权利。 权利可能包括： 弥补收入损失； 医疗和康复治疗费用； 法律费用，或； 发生严重伤害时的一次性赔偿。 根据本保险的目的，个体经营者或合伙企业的合伙人不被视为雇员。然而，领取工资的公司董事和执行官仍然被视为雇员。 2. 为什么需要 WorkCover 保险？WorkCover 保险是支付给遭受工伤或可补偿工业疾病的任何工人的金额。这不是一个可以忽视的领域。 3. WorkCover保险的门槛 一般来说，如果企业主或公司在维多利亚州雇用工人，他们必须注册 WorkCover 保险。当企业通过家族全权信托或公司拥有时，企业主以每年分配给他们的利润形式获得收入，或者他们可以支付自己的工资，那么他们是自己公司的工人，也需要注册。 豁免 如果公司没有学徒，并且支付或有责任支付低于 7,500 澳币的财年薪酬，则无需注册。 个体经营者、合伙企业和信托：个体经营者、合伙企业人或信托的个人受托人不雇用任何其他人作为工人不需要注册。 公司：为公司唯一的商业客户完成所有合同工作的公司不需要注册。 4. 为您的 WorkCover 保险申请Certificate of Currency（“现时性证明”） 货币证书可以帮助企业主证明他们是注册 WorkCover 的雇主。现时性证明书可以证明一个人目前已注册 WorkCover 保险。只有需要注册 WorkCover 保险的雇主才有证书。一些政府补助申请也要求企业主提供现时性证明，以验证企业是否注册了 WorkCover 保险。 谈判劳务雇佣合同时可能需要此证书。企业主可能会被要求证明他们已注册 WorkCover 保险。该证明书将用于此目的。 CHANG会计师事务所是注册会计师协会会员，同时也是税务代理，如果您，或您的家人或朋友需要我们的服务，请联系我们的团队。 本文仅供参考，不构成我们建议的一部分。本文基于 WorkSafe Victoria 的指南。如果您需要任何帮助，请联系我们的团队。 Claire Chang, 0497 131 419, claire.chang@changadvisory.com.au, wechat: clairechang26 Michelle Cui, 0433 539 870, michelle.cui@changadvisory.com.au, wechat: michellejc
1. What is Single Touch Payroll Phase 2 Single Touch Payroll (“STP”), is an Australian Government initiative to reduce employers' reporting burdens to government agencies. With STP, you report employees' payroll information to Australian Tax Office (“ATO”) us each time you pay them through STP-enabled software. Payroll information includes salaries and wages pay as you go (“PAYG”) withholding and superannuation. The expansion of STP, or STP Phase 2, significantly increases the data required to be reported to the ATO. It is hoped that this additional reporting will assist in ensuring employees are paid correctly as well as reducing the need for employers to report information about employees to multiple government agencies. 2. Single Touch Payroll Stage 1 to Stage 2 conversion STP started on 1 July 2018 for employers with 20 or more employees and 1 July 2019 for employers with 19 or fewer employees and is a mandatory obligation. And the mandatory start date for Phase 2 reporting is 1 January 2022. 3. Benefits of STP Stage 2 Employers’ benefits Do not need to send employee's TFN statement to ATO. Tell ATO by declaring the type of income, if employers use a preferential declaration, such as for closely held payees or inbound transferees. Employers will not need to provide your employee with a lump sum E if they make a lump sum E payment. Tell ATO the solution if employers change their software or employee's payroll ID. Employers may no longer need to provide proof of separation when their employee leaves. Employees’ benefits Make it easier for employees to file their tax returns. Over time, the information in the new report will enable ATO to tell employees that if they provide incorrect information to their employer, it may result in them receiving a tax bill. ATO will also share STP information with the Service Australia so they can streamline their interactions with customers. 4. Next step Employers’ Digital Service Provider (“DSP”) which seeks to protect Taxation, Accounting, Payroll and Superannuation related data and the integrity of the Taxation, Business Registry and Superannuation systems that support the Australian community will update its STP-enabled software to provide Stage 2 reporting. When your STP-enabled solution is ready, your DSP will let you know what you need to do. You can now do several preparatory tasks, such as.(1) Review the STP Stage 2 employer reporting guidelines. (2) Consider how some of the information you have already reported through the STP has changed.(3) Identify any new information you need to report and consider where you should access and store this information if it is not in your payroll system. (4) Review your business and payroll processes and plan how and when you need to do this. Chang Accounting Advisory Pty Ltd, we are CPA practice and tax agent. We provide STP software consultation, set up and management for business. If you or your families or friends need our STP services, please feel free to contact our team for any assistance. This article is for informational purposes only and does not form part of our advice. This article is based on ATO Australia guidelines. Please contact our team if you need any assistance. Claire Chang, 0497 131 419, claire.chang@changadvisory.com.au, WeChat: clairechang26 Michelle Cui, 0433 539 870, michelle.cui@changadvisory.com.au, WeChat: michellejc