DR ADRIAN RAFTERY has over 33 years of experience as an award-winning accountant and tax expert. As one of Australia’s leading tax and finance commentators, Adrian regularly appears on TV and contributes to magazines and newspapers. Find out more at www.mrtaxman.com.au.

About the author xi

How to use this book xiii

Introduction xv

PART I YOU AND YOUR FAMILY 1

1 Marriage 2

2 Income splitting 4

3 Dependant (invalid and carer) tax offset 6

4 Children 8

5 Payments for new parents 10

6 Child care 12

7 Low-income earners 15

8 Senior and pensioner tax offset 17

9 Other government benefits 19

10 Family breakdown 23

11 Death 25 12 Family trusts 27

PART II YOUR EMPLOYMENT 31

13 Car usage 33

14 Methods to claim car travel 35

15 Travel 37 1

6 Uniform 39

17 Home office 41

18 Other work-related deductions 44

19 Keeping those receipts 46

20 ATO hit lists 49

21 Redundancy 52 22 Working a second job 54

23 Salary sacrifice 55

24 Fringe benefits 57

25 Living-away-from-home allowance 62

PART III YOUR EDUCATION 67

26 Claiming self-education expenses 68

27 Student loans 72

28 Austudy and ABSTUDY 78

29 Scholarships 81

30 School building funds 83

31 Education savings plans 85

PART IV YOUR INVESTMENT PROPERTY 89

32 Negative gearing 91

33 Interest 93

34 Depreciation and low-value pooling 96

35 Repairs and maintenance 100

36 Borrowing and legal expenses 102

37 Other rental property deductions 106

38 Foreign investment properties 108

39 Capital gains tax 110

40 PAYG withholding variation 113

41 Co-ownership of your investment property 115

PART V YOUR SHARES 119

42 Dividends 120

43 Shares owned by low income earners 126

44 Borrowing to buy shares 129

45 Other share deductions 131

46 Capital gains tax on shares 132

47 Realising capital losses 134

48 Inheriting share portfolios 136

49 Share traders versus share investors 138

50 Rights and options 140

51 Employee share schemes 142

52 Share portfolios within self managed superannuation funds 144

53 Cryptocurrency 146 54 Non-fungible tokens 150

PART VI YOUR SUPERANNUATION 153

55 Contribution limits 156

56 Transfer Balance Cap 159

57 Downsizer Contribution 162

58 Compulsory employer contributions 165

59 Salary sacrifice 167

60 Division 293 tax 170

61 Super co-contribution 172

62 Transferring foreign super 175

63 Self managed superannuation funds 177

64 Buying property within SMSFs 180

65 Gearing through a super fund 182

66 Accessing your super 184

67 Transition to retirement 187

68 Account-based pensions 189

69 Death benefits 191

70 Lost or unclaimed super 192

PART VII YOUR BUSINESS 197

71 Choosing the right business structure 198

72 Tax obligations 203

73 Record keeping 206

74 Deferring tax 208

75 Trading stock 210

76 Bad debts 211

77 Home-based businesses 213

78 Sharing Economy 215

79 Employing people 217

80 Single touch payroll 220

81 Tax concessions and offsets 223

82 Selling or closing down 228

83 Personal services income 230

84 Non-commercial losses 231

85 Division 7A loans by private companies 233

86 Franchising 235

87 Crowdfunding 236

88 Loss carry back tax offset 238

PART VIII MISCELLANEOUS 243

89 Overseas income 243

90 Getting a great tax accountant 246

91 Lodging your tax return 248

92 Amending returns and objecting to assessments 251

93 ATO data matching 253

94 Problems paying your tax 257

95 Estate planning 258

96 Private ancillary funds 263

97 Levies 266

98 Zone and overseas forces tax offsets 269

99 Tax-effective investments 271

100 Tax planning as a 365-day process 273

101 Just do it! 274

Glossary 277

Bibliography 295

Index 297

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