It's Melbourne in June, and being outdoors is a bit chilly, but nothing as chilly as forgetting to do your distributions before the end of the financial year out of your trust.  Trust distributions are only effective for tax purposes if the trustee resolution is made this financial year.

You need to consider now with your accountant or with us, what is the best way to distribute the income out of your family discretionary trust, and do the distribution resolutions before the 30th of June. One thing that some of our clients have fallen foul of in the past is making distributions to beneficiaries that aren't truly beneficiaries. Sometimes you think, "Oh, I've got a company over here that's got some losses. I'll take the income out of the trust and I'll push it over here." Only to find out after a few months when you look at it closely that that company is technically not a beneficiary for some reason.

Watch the video to avoid being caught out.

In this short sharp video, I share what is a life plan.  Plus the five areas that smart, wealthy people make sure they have covered. 

When should your dispute antenna come up? Last week I had a call from someone who had a dispute but failed to seek legal help early enough causing them enormous stress and money.  In this video, I share the common signs when it's time to seek legal advice.

Some believe going to your lawyer will cost more money.  It's like trying to fix your car yourself.  If you want to be safe, you go to a mechanic.  If you want to make safe, commercially smart decisions and continue sleeping at night, get a legal opinion.

If you have a situation that may turn into a dispute,  whether this is business or personal reach out for a quick chat

Hi. I realized the other day that some of our clients don't understand if they're entitled to an exemption for stamp duty when they buy a property. This came about because we had a husband and wife purchase a property, and naturally they wanted it in both of their names, that's the normal thing. And we inquired and we found out that the wife had never owned a property before, she was a first home buyer. And so we pointed out that if they bought it together they wouldn't qualify for the first home buyer's exemption or concession, whereas if they just bought it in the wife's name, then they would get that, and then later on a husband, or in this case the wife, can transfer the property free of duty to the husband and wife jointly without any further stamp duty. So we were able to save our clients quite a lot of money and they didn't have to pay the duty.

So there are lots of exemptions and concessions you can apply for. Pensioners can get an exemption. Also, if you're transferring a property out of a trust over to beneficiary of the trust, provided you tick all the boxes, you can get that stamp duty exempt. We've also done farm transfers where a property is coming out of a partnership or a trust, or some other structure like that, out to the actual farmer, and in that case there are also exemptions. So don't pay too much duty. If you're in doubt, give us all the details, we can analyze the situation for you, and we can let you know whether you're entitled to stamp duty exemptions when you purchase properties.

So I'm Ross Millen from Millens, and if you've got any questions about buying property or stamp duty concessions or exemptions, don't hesitate to contact us. Thank you.

Recently I had a client call after the tax office kept chasing her up for the tax return for a trust. She said she didn’t understand why they were chasing her because the trustee had been deregistered last year.   I told her that the trustee and the trust were two separate things. It reminded me that there is sometimes confusion out there around trusts and trustees.

In this short video, I give you a simple understanding of the role of trust and trustee and the two types of trusts.  Also I discuss the role of the important person the “appointor “ and what happens if this person dies. This video will help you understand if a trust is the right way to structure your business and boost asset protection.

Do you find you are great at looking after your physical assets like buildings and stock but neglect your soft assets like your intellectual property?  Things like websites and social media accounts need to be protected.  Did you realize it is relatively straightforward to register your brand name, your logo or what is called a device as a trademark?  We give a lot of advice about registering trademarks.  In this video, I share the simple test – Can your brand be trademarked?

I don’t know if it's a sign of changed economic times, but we are seeing an increase in tenants not paying their rent. In this video, I give some practical tips to deal with tenants who aren’t paying. If you are a tenant, I have some advice to help you negotiate with your landlord.

Are you paying more land tax than you should?

There is a tax that is becoming a real burden on people -  it's land tax.

We recently had a  client who was paying $25K then $40K now it has been reviewed to $80K a year.

Here are some strategies that people don’t realize can legitimately minimize your land tax.  Watch the video below to find out more. 

Feel like you could be paying too much land tax? Send us your recent land tax assessment so we can give you a quick opinion.

Important developments in retail leasing from VCAT.  Today in this video I explain in plain English if your existing rent review clause may be void and if you may be entitled to a market rent review. 

Have you updated your PPSR  (Personal Property Securities Registration) recently?  In this short important video I address your PPSR and ASIC details and what should be done.  These are two common areas where we see our clients time and time again, get caught with their pants down. 

Today I talk about Corporate Governance.  What not to do with your processes and controls?

Described as the most unprecedented lack of corporate governance, the train wreck collapse of the 2nd largest Crypto Trading Company.

Plus what do you need to do to make sure you are doing it properly?  I  share the 2 most important tips to ensure you have the right processes and controls in place to meet the requirements of the Corporations Act in Australia. 

With the DIN compliance date looming by November 30, I talk about how to apply, the circumstances where you may not need one and whether you should apply for an extension.

Today I have my trusty feather duster to outline what needs cleaning this Spring in your business. I talk about DIN dates, your ASIC registered office, workers' compensation and payroll tax.  Are they up to date?