16 September 2011

Are you paying too much tax?

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pam dean

You go to work every day. You work long hours and you end up losing most of your pay in tax. Australians are among the highest taxed people in the world and its getting worse every day. The average Australian works more than six months of the year just to pay the tax man! Not only do you pay income tax but there are all those hidden taxes as well: GST applies to almost every purchase and there are additional taxes on petrol, cigarettes, alcohol, cars, etc. In fact, up to 69% of the average Australian’s income goes in tax. And now the flood levies and possible carbon taxes too. We are hurting!

Whether you agree that the country could be run better or not, the fact is that most Australians are concerned with accumulating sufficient wealth to enjoy life and fund a comfortable retirement. There are only two ways to increase wealth: increase your income or reduce your outgoings.

If you are a typical Australian, taxation represents one of your most significant outgoings—most likely your largest, in fact.

There are all kinds of ways to create genuine, legal tax deductions while actually spending more to improve the quality of life… and having lots more fun.

Fortunately, tax is an outgoing that can, in most cases, be readily reduced with a little knowledge and strategic planning, resulting in big savings. Being a poor man who controls wealth is far preferable to being rich and over-taxed.

How do I know this stuff?? I’m a former ATO Tax Fraud Investigator. I have seen many illegal ways to reduce tax. And I’ve seen many of those people jailed or made bankrupt by the ATO.

I figured there had to be a way to reduce my tax too, but do so legally – after all, the rich do it. It’s your right to minimise your tax, just make sure you do it honestly and legally.

For example, I travel extensively. Even though I am a PAYG wage-earner, many of my travel costs — both domestic and international— are tax deductible. The ATO helps me to fund my reading, attendance at training seminars and the purchase of certain CDs and DVDs. You just need to know the rules.

He helps fund my electricity and telephone services; household maintenance, my internet connection and computer costs; and dozens of other comforts I can purchase with tax free income! I can even claim the interest on my home loan. Can you?

In certain circumstances, the ATO will subsidise the cost of caring for and feeding the dog. Tradies love this one when they use their guard dogs to guard their tools and trucks when left unattended.

Certain gifts to friends and family can result in tax savings, and yes, even your wine and toys for adults…

Protect yourself from being sued or from failed relationships – business or personal. NSW is said to have the third highest number of lawsuits per capita in the world and Victoria is close behind. California tops the list. A Californian resident is likely to be sued at least four times in a lifetime so figure out the chances of a suit if you live in NSW or Victoria!

The divorce rate is currently at 40% and second and third time marriage and relationships are now the ‘norm’. It sounds cynical but think about locking your assets away before losing another house!

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you are an unlikely target. Our legal system makes it far too easy for people to mount dishonest attacks on anyone with assets. They manufacture a grievance, find a lawyer to take their case on a ‘no win, no pay’ basis, and sue.

Poor men are rarely sued. You can’t lose your wealth in a predatory legal battle if you have none to lose! Controlling income-producing assets — rather than owning them — protects you from those predatory law suits.

Avoid the mistake of thinking you don’t earn enough to bother with tax saving strategies. The only people who don’t need to pay attention to tax minimisation strategies are those who feel a moral obligation to pay more than their fair share of tax!

The world’s wealthiest citizens pay minimal tax and secure their assets in entities that provide security and tax benefits. You can too, if you know how.

Learn the benefits of working in company and trust structures, learn to negatively gear and reduce capital gains tax. Live in your investment property and make the loan deductible against your PAYG. Yes, you can do it and it’s all 100% legal.

Travel the world as a tax deduction and claim self education expenses. Getting an 18% to 45% off sales fare each time you travel sounds good to me. That’s not only on your flights, it’s also on your accommodation, meals, course costs, taxis and other relative bits and pieces. I do – and all as a tax deduction!

You can too. You just have to know how and how to do it legally. Tax can be fun. Like anything else, you just have to learn how to play the game properly.

To learn more, download two free chapters from Pam’s book Tax Secrets of The Rich.

Update : You can purchase Pam’s new book or download the first couple of chapters from Pam’s website here

Pam Dean is the owner of http://taxsavings.com.au/ where she provides up to date tax minimisation tips and resources that the Australian Tax Office does not want you to have.

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Grail said :

TSI said :

Hmmm, we haven’t experienced this type of problem before. Can you please check your spam box? If you still can’t download, please let me know.

Okay, first two chapters came through to my GMail spam folder. That was a good read, I bought the book, and that’s a good read too.

I’ll talk it over with my accountant, but it does look like there is room here to pay your kids to mow the lawn and claim that as an expense, just like you said 🙂

Thanks Grail. Out of curiosity, what part interested you the most?

Grail said :

TSI said :

Hmmm, we haven’t experienced this type of problem before. Can you please check your spam box? If you still can’t download, please let me know.

Okay, first two chapters came through to my GMail spam folder. That was a good read, I bought the book, and that’s a good read too.

Thank you so much and I really appreciate your comments. So glad you finally got to download the errant chapters.
I’ll talk it over with my accountant, but it does look like there is room here to pay your kids to mow the lawn and claim that as an expense, just like you said 🙂

troll-sniffer10:02 am 06 Sep 11

I’ve been to all manner of seminars, advisers and have researched what it takes to minimise tax and you know what? I can’t be bothered! At the moment I have a reasonable portfolio that costs me about $8,000 pa in extra tax, after I complete a simple spreadsheet each year of all obvious expenses that I can claim. It’s quite probabble that I could reduce that to $4,000 or even less with a clever application of all the tricks. But I would have to spend most of my waking hours assessing everything I do against possible tax implications.

Added to that would be the constant worry that the ATO would decide my claim for a home office or a business trip didn’t make the grade and all the savings I had generated for years would disappear in a poof of penalty smoke.

Seriously, if it’s your thing, if you have time to waste on a worry trip, go for it! It’s your right after all. But this little black duck prefers to live a less complicated life.

DermottBanana said :

So this is what the ATO’s tax fraud investigators get up to huh?
Explains why I reported (and provided documentary evidence of) a former employer not paying their appropriate taxes, superannuation and other obligations, and nothing’s been done.

Nah. I’m an ex tax fraud investigator. To give the guys still there their due, they have much more work than they do staff and given the complexity of much of that work, some investigations can take many months to complete. Your complaint could be still in the pipeline. Why don’t you call and ask?

DermottBanana4:42 pm 02 Sep 11

So this is what the ATO’s tax fraud investigators get up to huh?
Explains why I reported (and provided documentary evidence of) a former employer not paying their appropriate taxes, superannuation and other obligations, and nothing’s been done.

TSI said :

Hmmm, we haven’t experienced this type of problem before. Can you please check your spam box? If you still can’t download, please let me know.

Okay, first two chapters came through to my GMail spam folder. That was a good read, I bought the book, and that’s a good read too.

I’ll talk it over with my accountant, but it does look like there is room here to pay your kids to mow the lawn and claim that as an expense, just like you said 🙂

Grail said :

Site advertises “NO SPAM” in a huge blinking banner, and requires you to sign up for some kind of mailing list in order to check out the two chapters.

No chapters have arrived.

Smells like scam.

Hmmm, we haven’t experienced this type of problem before. Can you please check your spam box? If you still can’t download, please let me know.

TSI said :

I don’t avoid my taxes – I just minimise them. Avoiding is illegal.

“Avoid” was actually your word (post #39), not mine.

I buy clothes and electronic items from overseas so I’m doing my bit for paying less tax.

Site advertises “NO SPAM” in a huge blinking banner, and requires you to sign up for some kind of mailing list in order to check out the two chapters.

No chapters have arrived.

Smells like scam.

The_TaxMan said :

Ah Watto I understand your argument.

The issue though really is a simple one, if the Gumbyment reduced overall tax rates everyone would pay less and therefore less revenue would be collected and it indeed impact everyone and everything.

By making it more cumbersome only a select few chose to go to effort to claim what we are ALL rightfully entitled too and thereby reduce their tas burden.

Dear Tax Man. I could not have said that more elequently myself. Thank you. 🙂

Sleaz274 said :

I’m still amazed at how many people just don’t get it and are too lazy/stupid/jaded to bother helping themselves even when the information is put right in front of them. Some days I just hate people.

Wanna be poor all your life and then whinge and bitch about it? Great do exactly what you are doing now. Well done, congratulations you are a tool.

Want to help out yourself, your family and your community by keeping more of your own money rather than let it be constantly whittled away by a system designed to keep you poor? Great, read, learn, invest, save.

The government doesn’t need your help making money and in fact it’s over reliance on personal income tax/land taxes is scary. The government spends incredibly inefficiently and I’d prefer 1,000,000 people saved $1 in tax rather than the government spending $1,000,000 on a “feasibility study” paying an already rich and successful business to re-write a brief they produced 12 months ago.

In addition let’s remember you are taxed before you pay for GST hence you are using post-tax dollars to purchase a further tax. Rich people aren’t, they get to use pre-tax dollars to spend & invest then tell the tax man how much is left to tax (as little as physically possible).

Financial intelligence in Australia is sub-human level, it really amazes me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! How nice it is to hear someone who thinks intelligently.

2604 said :

TSI said :

You are extremely lucky if you can afford to salary sacrifice your pay to that extent. How many others, particularly those with young families and mortgages can do that? Very, very few, I would think. And how many of them may want a life now, instead of waiting until they are in their 60s and able to retrieve their super to do the things they want to do?

With respect, how many people with “young families and mortgages” are in a position to follow your strategy of taking out a second mortgage and purchasing an investment property? Assuming a purchase price of $500,000 (less than the average Canberra house price) and a 10% deposit, they’d need around $72,000 to get in to the market once transaction costs were included (stamp duty, mortgage application fees, conveyancing, inspection fees). I don’t know too many young families with that sort of cash lying around.
Even if they did, your fictional family would be far better off putting the $72,000 into a high-interest savings account, having one person salary sacrifice the maximum $25,000 per year into super (reducing his/her after-tax income by about $600 per fortnight) and drawing down $600 from the $72,000 deposit each fortnight to live off. My back of the envelope calculation tells me that the $72,000 would last for nearly five years, enough time to contribute $125,000 to super. And that’s before investment earnings.
As for having a life “now”, all of the people I know who’ve bought an investment property in the past few years complain about how all their spare cash is getting eaten up by rates, land tax, body corporate fees, landlord’s insurance, maintenance, the inevitable 2-3 weeks of vacancy between tenants, and the shortfall between the rent they receive and mortgage payments. What a burden!

TSI said :

Please, can you tell us how you avoid paying GST each time you purchase an item or a service and how you get out of paying Excise on your fuel every time you fill your car? I would love to learn how because I certainly don’t know. GST and Excise are certainly taxes and very costly taxes at that. They cannot be ignored.

They aren’t income taxes and I never claimed to be able to avoid them. If you don’t know how to avoid them either, why bring them up?

I don’t avoid my taxes – I just minimise them. Avoiding is illegal.

TSI said :

You are extremely lucky if you can afford to salary sacrifice your pay to that extent. How many others, particularly those with young families and mortgages can do that? Very, very few, I would think. And how many of them may want a life now, instead of waiting until they are in their 60s and able to retrieve their super to do the things they want to do?

With respect, how many people with “young families and mortgages” are in a position to follow your strategy of taking out a second mortgage and purchasing an investment property? Assuming a purchase price of $500,000 (less than the average Canberra house price) and a 10% deposit, they’d need around $72,000 to get in to the market once transaction costs were included (stamp duty, mortgage application fees, conveyancing, inspection fees). I don’t know too many young families with that sort of cash lying around.
Even if they did, your fictional family would be far better off putting the $72,000 into a high-interest savings account, having one person salary sacrifice the maximum $25,000 per year into super (reducing his/her after-tax income by about $600 per fortnight) and drawing down $600 from the $72,000 deposit each fortnight to live off. My back of the envelope calculation tells me that the $72,000 would last for nearly five years, enough time to contribute $125,000 to super. And that’s before investment earnings.
As for having a life “now”, all of the people I know who’ve bought an investment property in the past few years complain about how all their spare cash is getting eaten up by rates, land tax, body corporate fees, landlord’s insurance, maintenance, the inevitable 2-3 weeks of vacancy between tenants, and the shortfall between the rent they receive and mortgage payments. What a burden!

TSI said :

Please, can you tell us how you avoid paying GST each time you purchase an item or a service and how you get out of paying Excise on your fuel every time you fill your car? I would love to learn how because I certainly don’t know. GST and Excise are certainly taxes and very costly taxes at that. They cannot be ignored.

They aren’t income taxes and I never claimed to be able to avoid them. If you don’t know how to avoid them either, why bring them up?

Holden Caulfield2:53 pm 26 Aug 11

watto23 said :

My point is, if we all minimised our tax the government would have less money to pay for things…

No, they’d introduce a Great Big New Tax™.

I’m still amazed at how many people just don’t get it and are too lazy/stupid/jaded to bother helping themselves even when the information is put right in front of them. Some days I just hate people.

Wanna be poor all your life and then whinge and bitch about it? Great do exactly what you are doing now. Well done, congratulations you are a tool.

Want to help out yourself, your family and your community by keeping more of your own money rather than let it be constantly whittled away by a system designed to keep you poor? Great, read, learn, invest, save.

The government doesn’t need your help making money and in fact it’s over reliance on personal income tax/land taxes is scary. The government spends incredibly inefficiently and I’d prefer 1,000,000 people saved $1 in tax rather than the government spending $1,000,000 on a “feasibility study” paying an already rich and successful business to re-write a brief they produced 12 months ago.

In addition let’s remember you are taxed before you pay for GST hence you are using post-tax dollars to purchase a further tax. Rich people aren’t, they get to use pre-tax dollars to spend & invest then tell the tax man how much is left to tax (as little as physically possible).

Financial intelligence in Australia is sub-human level, it really amazes me.

Ah Watto I understand your argument.

The issue though really is a simple one, if the Gumbyment reduced overall tax rates everyone would pay less and therefore less revenue would be collected and it indeed impact everyone and everything.

By making it more cumbersome only a select few chose to go to effort to claim what we are ALL rightfully entitled too and thereby reduce their tas burden.

My point is, if we all minimised our tax the government would have less money to pay for things. But I also mentioned that this is how the system works, but would be happy if they changed it to reduce all these expenses you can claim.

My issue is with the attitude people have about not paying tax and then wanting free health and education. It a very common attitude in australia right now. We all want to help everyone, until it costs our own pocket.

The_TaxMan said :

Wow you open with

watto23 said :

lets all minimise our tax to nothing and wonder why the government doesn’t fix ropads and provide more hospital beds.

obviously calling Pam a goose and then this clanger

watto23 said :

admittedly, I see an accountant to minimise my tax as well as thats how the system works.

So you do think we should all minimise our Tax or not? did you think at all before you posted?

Tax minisation is practiced by every high wealth individual in Australia, it is also practiced by every intelligent Business owner in the country. If you are happy to pay the tax rates you currently incur then good on you but if not then having a resource to help reduce that impost seems like a valuable tool to me. But hey what would I know I’m only the Tax Man.

Holden Caulfield1:48 pm 26 Aug 11

The_TaxMan said :

But hey what would I know I’m only the Tax Man.

Should five per cent appear too small,
Be thankful I don’t take it all.

Wow you open with

watto23 said :

lets all minimise our tax to nothing and wonder why the government doesn’t fix ropads and provide more hospital beds.

obviously calling Pam a goose and then this clanger

watto23 said :

admittedly, I see an accountant to minimise my tax as well as thats how the system works.

So you do think we should all minimise our Tax or not? did you think at all before you posted?

Tax minisation is practiced by every high wealth individual in Australia, it is also practiced by every intelligent Business owner in the country. If you are happy to pay the tax rates you currently incur then good on you but if not then having a resource to help reduce that impost seems like a valuable tool to me. But hey what would I know I’m only the Tax Man.

Classified said :

2604 said :

TSI said :

You are completely missing the point. You have proven in your remarks here that you are one who certainly does need to read the book and learn something.

Feel free to point out any inaccuracies in what I wrote.

The fact is that we pay an overall income tax rate of 15% without employing any of the expensive, complicated and high-risk strategies that you advocate.

One of the big risks with extreme tax planning is one change to law can leave you up the creek without any visible means of propulsion.

What I do is not extreme tax planning. It is safe and secure and 100% legal. Have you read my book? Do you even know what is in it?

You are extremely lucky if you can afford to salary sacrifice your pay to that extent. How many others, particularly those with young families and mortgages can do that? Very, very few, I would think. And how many of them may want a life now, instead of waiting until they are in their 60s and able to retrieve their super to do the things they want to do?

Please, can you tell us how you avoid paying GST each time you purchase an item or a service and how you get out of paying Excise on your fuel every time you fill your car? I would love to learn how because I certainly don’t know. GST and Excise are certainly taxes and very costly taxes at that. They cannot be ignored.

2604 said :

TSI said :

You are completely missing the point. You have proven in your remarks here that you are one who certainly does need to read the book and learn something.

Feel free to point out any inaccuracies in what I wrote.

The fact is that we pay an overall income tax rate of 15% without employing any of the expensive, complicated and high-risk strategies that you advocate.

One of the big risks with extreme tax planning is one change to law can leave you up the creek without any visible means of propulsion.

TSI said :

You are completely missing the point. You have proven in your remarks here that you are one who certainly does need to read the book and learn something.

Feel free to point out any inaccuracies in what I wrote.

The fact is that we pay an overall income tax rate of 15% without employing any of the expensive, complicated and high-risk strategies that you advocate.

2604 said :

All this stuff was done by Kiyosaki, and then comprehensively refuted, many years ago.

Negative-gearing real estate strategies are absolute suicide in a falling property market. Also, the transaction costs are horrendous, yields are currently extremely low, and you have the hassle of dealing with tenants.

The idea of structuring your affairs so that your assets are housed in a company or trust is also not viable for someone on an average wage. The supposed tax benefits only kick in when your income is very high and are far outweighed by the compliance costs associated with these structures. My wealthy friends (persons holding $1m+ in assets) all hold their properties in their own names and none of them uses a company or trust (other than SMSFs, which become viable when you have more than ~$300k invested in them).

If you want to get rich, then do the following: get out of debt and stay there; save and invest at least 10% of your gross income; buy used cars; live in the same house for 20 years and don’t upgrade or upsize every five years; and limit the amount you pay for designer clothing, fancy watches, and other luxuries. The Millionaire Next Door confirms that the vast majority of millionaires made their money this way.

If you want to pay less tax, then salary sacrifice as much as you can into super. Thanks to SS we pay $25k income tax per year on a combined salary of $160k, or an effective overall tax rate of just over 15%. (SS incurs a contributions tax too admittedly, which adds another couple of percent). It is a much lower-hassle, lower-risk method of reducing tax than negative gearing.

You are completely missing the point. You have proven in your remarks here that you are one who certainly does need to read the book and learn something.

The front cover resembles a guide on the meaning of life.

I have a copy of Pam’s book and found it useful, interesting and well written. Very understandable. And for those at the cashing in of the Superannuation stage, even more advantageous! Good job …

TSI said :

PantsMan said :

cross said :

“and toys for adults…” Really

Depends what line of work you’re in.

Not at all. A business can buy thank you gifts and those gifts are not specific to the line of work they are in. Many businesses buy a case of wine or beer as a gift. That doesn’t mean the recipient has to work in a brewery or a pub.

I’ll ask my work to buy everyone ‘end of year dildos’ then.

All this stuff was done by Kiyosaki, and then comprehensively refuted, many years ago.

Negative-gearing real estate strategies are absolute suicide in a falling property market. Also, the transaction costs are horrendous, yields are currently extremely low, and you have the hassle of dealing with tenants.

The idea of structuring your affairs so that your assets are housed in a company or trust is also not viable for someone on an average wage. The supposed tax benefits only kick in when your income is very high and are far outweighed by the compliance costs associated with these structures. My wealthy friends (persons holding $1m+ in assets) all hold their properties in their own names and none of them uses a company or trust (other than SMSFs, which become viable when you have more than ~$300k invested in them).

If you want to get rich, then do the following: get out of debt and stay there; save and invest at least 10% of your gross income; buy used cars; live in the same house for 20 years and don’t upgrade or upsize every five years; and limit the amount you pay for designer clothing, fancy watches, and other luxuries. The Millionaire Next Door confirms that the vast majority of millionaires made their money this way.

If you want to pay less tax, then salary sacrifice as much as you can into super. Thanks to SS we pay $25k income tax per year on a combined salary of $160k, or an effective overall tax rate of just over 15%. (SS incurs a contributions tax too admittedly, which adds another couple of percent). It is a much lower-hassle, lower-risk method of reducing tax than negative gearing.

watto23 said :

lets all minimise our tax to nothing and wonder why the government doesn’t fix ropads and provide more hospital beds.

I think right now we have a pretty good balance in Australia, admittedly, I see an accountant to minimise my tax as well as thats how the system works. But I wouldn’t be against lowering tax rates and removing the ability to claim tax deductions.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy to pay tax – it means I am employed and earning money. But I’m also happy to pay half as much. I’d rather give that money saved directly to a hospital or school or charity – and I have – rather than give it to a government to spend on something I don’t fully agree with.

PantsMan said :

cross said :

“and toys for adults…” Really

Depends what line of work you’re in.

Not at all. A business can buy thank you gifts and those gifts are not specific to the line of work they are in. Many businesses buy a case of wine or beer as a gift. That doesn’t mean the recipient has to work in a brewery or a pub.

harvyk1 said :

TSI said :

It’s how instead of giving your kids pocket money, you can pay them to mow the lawns or wash the car

Yeah, I somewhat don’t see this one working, as far as I’m aware normal household costs are rarely tax deductable unless you run a business from home in which case you can deduct a percentage based on the proportion of the property you use for a commercial purpose. The ATO usually frowns upon “home office” if you also have a normal office somewhere else.

Of course here is the clincher, if you make such a deduction you’re then liable for capital gains tax if you ever sell the property.

I agree, there are some really good tax minimization strategies out there, however I would be very hesitant in using them without first talking to a proper accountant \ tax specialist who understands my situation properly, otherwise you may be creating a rod for your own back.

Harveyk1 – Most people are like you and are not aware of these things, which is why I wrote the book in the first place. It goes with living in your investment property. I bet you didn’t know you could do that either. And yes, if you did sell it would be subject to CGT, however you can also minimise that if you structure yourself properly.
As for talking to a proper accountant/financial adviser, I totally agree with you and say to do this throughout the book and to anyone I talk to about this. You can only get advice to suit you personally when the person giving you that advice, knows your specific circumstances.
What I say is not specific to one person, it is relative to most.

PantsMan said :

cross said :

“and toys for adults…” Really

Depends what line of work you’re in.

Bummer

Perhaps I am old-fashioned, but I like the fact that we pay tax in Australia for the collective good. I may pay a little more tax than I could ‘get away with’, but I am generally OK with that.
For example, if/when I earn enough to have to pay the medicare surcharge, I would rather pay that and have my money go to consolidated revenue (and therefore, by extension, public hospitals) than pay for private health insurance.

lets all minimise our tax to nothing and wonder why the government doesn’t fix ropads and provide more hospital beds.

I think right now we have a pretty good balance in Australia, admittedly, I see an accountant to minimise my tax as well as thats how the system works. But I wouldn’t be against lowering tax rates and removing the ability to claim tax deductions.

Thoroughly Smashed said :

essfer said :

it all goes into consolidated revenue to be squandered on s*** I didn’t ask for.

If it helps you feel better about the world you could just imagine that all of your tax dollars are going in to the things you did ask for.

Was almost going to concede that, but then I thought of my dying uncle being asked upon arrival at TCH, “why have you come here?” and being told that he could have a blanket to lie on the floor of the waiting area if he was uncomfortable. This is a middle aged man with terminal cancer who was in a lot of pain.

God knows he wouldn’t have gone there for shits and giggles.

But we digress again. This is not an argument about whether our taxes are well spent… that argument will never die, even in utopia.

“Australians are among the highest taxed people in the world and its getting worse every day.”

False. Australians are among the lowest taxed people in the world. Out of 34 OECD countries Australia ranks 29th in terms of tax revenue as a percentage of GDP.

I’d rather spend time living my life than wasting hours trying to figure out all the loopholes I can use to screw the ATO out of a few hundred dollars.

mendoza said :

“You work long hours and you end up losing most of your pay in tax”

False. Stopped reading after this.

+1

What a load of it.

cross said :

“and toys for adults…” Really

Depends what line of work you’re in.

Holden Caulfield2:48 pm 15 Aug 11

harvyk1 said :

I agree, there are some really good tax minimization strategies out there, however I would be very hesitant in using them without first talking to a proper accountant \ tax specialist who understands my situation properly, otherwise you may be creating a rod for your own back.

Yeah, but they wouldn’t know as much as the internet.

Thoroughly Smashed2:41 pm 15 Aug 11

essfer said :

it all goes into consolidated revenue to be squandered on s*** I didn’t ask for.

If it helps you feel better about the world you could just imagine that all of your tax dollars are going in to the things you did ask for.

TSI said :

It’s how instead of giving your kids pocket money, you can pay them to mow the lawns or wash the car

Yeah, I somewhat don’t see this one working, as far as I’m aware normal household costs are rarely tax deductable unless you run a business from home in which case you can deduct a percentage based on the proportion of the property you use for a commercial purpose. The ATO usually frowns upon “home office” if you also have a normal office somewhere else.

Of course here is the clincher, if you make such a deduction you’re then liable for capital gains tax if you ever sell the property.

I agree, there are some really good tax minimization strategies out there, however I would be very hesitant in using them without first talking to a proper accountant \ tax specialist who understands my situation properly, otherwise you may be creating a rod for your own back.

TSI said :

It’s how instead of giving your kids pocket money, you can pay them to mow the lawns or wash the car – and then claim their services as a tax deduction. .

If I ever get to be that parsimonious I’ll hang myself.

Classified said :

I pay waaaaay too much tax.

Solution at: taxsavings.com.au

The book “Tax Secrets of the Rich” explains clearly and in plain English, how you can legally minimise your tax obligations whether you earn $20,000 a year or $2m a year.

It’s how instead of giving your kids pocket money, you can pay them to mow the lawns or wash the car – and then claim their services as a tax deduction. It’s how you can make your car a tax deduction, your household costs and your cleaner tax deductible, have a trust pay your child’s HECS fees or pay for your next overseas business trip. Have your trust pay you travel allowances.

It’s how the Kerry Packer’s of the world pay almost zero taxes. It is how the rich do it. It isn’t that they don’t earn any money, it’s that they know how to set themselves and their business affairs up to minimise what they earn.

You will find too that the rich rarely own anything in their own names – it’s all put into companies and trusts. By doing this, they control their money instead of owning it and their assets are protected.

Hidden taxes are a huge layout and have to be taken into consideration. You pay 10% in taxes almost every time you walk up to a counter to purchase anything. You pay something like .38c per litre for fuel and almost .35c per cigarette stick. These are the things people do not tend to see nor take into consideration. Saying that we only pay 18%, or 30% or 45% in taxes is fooling ourselves.

There are many legitimate ways to reduce your tax obligations and to do it legally. Yes, they are all on the ATO website – if you know where to look, how to read them and that they are there in the first place. Knowing they are there gives you the confidence that my strategies are legal.

You can have fun with your taxes. You can travel to many national and international destinations as a tax deduction. You can live in your investment property and you can make your home loan tax deductible. You just have to know how. The book is available now at http://www.taxsavings.com.au

This is what I show people to do ie reduce your tax outlays, protect your assets and do it all legally.

I pay waaaaay too much tax.

Sean said :

Meh. It’s still totally misleading to include indirect taxation like that. And saying the average Australian pays over half their income in tax is just plain wrong.

You’ve gotta be trolling? How is it “misleading” when the OP has clearly explained the method of calculation? I haven’t checked the maths but it at least sounds plausible that I am spending more than half my income on tax, regardless of the ‘source’. Even costs like parking fees and penalties, vehicle registrations, licencing, bus fairs – it all goes into consolidated revenue to be squandered on s*** I didn’t ask for.

Either way, the premise of the post is introducing a way to minimise your tax spend, so arguing the semantics of what comprises a “tax” is a moot point in the overall context.

boneymaloney said :

(from the website) “FREE CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK THE TAX OFFICE DOES NOT WANT YOU TO HAVE”

Pig’s arse, the ATO couldn’t give a fig for your tax minimisation strategies. They aren’t a corporation and don’t care how much tax they collect as long as they collect exactly as much as they are entitled to, not a penny more nor less. These strategies are all on the ATO website, if you want to grind through a few thousand pages of tax law.

You’re right. The ATO doesn’t have to give a fig about your tax minimisation strategies – you do. They will gratefully accept all the money you want to give them.

As the OECD tax database demonstrates (http://www.oecd.org/document/60/0,3746,en_2649_34533_1942460_1_1_1_1,00.html), the paragraph below is patently untrue.

You go to work every day. You work long hours and you end up losing most of your pay in tax. Australians are among the highest taxed people in the world and its getting worse every day. The average Australian works more than six months of the year just to pay the tax man! Not only do you pay income tax but there are all those hidden taxes as well: GST applies to almost every purchase and there are additional taxes on petrol, cigarettes, alcohol, cars, etc. In fact, up to 69% of the average Australian’s income goes in tax.

If the above paragraph is a demonstration of Pam’s research skills, perhaps that explains why she no longer works for the ATO.

Sean said :

Meh. It’s still totally misleading to include indirect taxation like that. And saying the average Australian pays over half their income in tax is just plain wrong.

I tend to agree. But more then that, it is meaningless to talk about how much one country pays in tax relative to another without some sort of comparison of what you get in return (healthcare, roads, police, defence, garbage collection, food standards, etc).

I wonder some times why we *do* need to pay some much personal income tax relative to other countries. Personally I think we should get more (as a nation) from the profits of digging dirt out of our continent….

plt said :

Do you guys purchase anything? Tax is on just about everything, not just on our pay, and it is obviously what the author is basing their figures on if you read the article. GST and excise are taxes and you pay these on just about everything we buy and count towards the tax we pay to the government. If you don’t pay any GST or excise then you musn’t buy groceries or fuel or use other people’s services like a mechanic, dentist or anyone else who has to charge GST. What about stamp duty you pay this when you purchase a house, a car? Aren’t these all forms of tax? Besides, isn’t reading material written by some someone else easier than reading through thousands of pages of complex legislation yourself? I like getting money back at Tax Time, the more the better!

Meh. It’s still totally misleading to include indirect taxation like that. And saying the average Australian pays over half their income in tax is just plain wrong.

Do you guys purchase anything? Tax is on just about everything, not just on our pay, and it is obviously what the author is basing their figures on if you read the article. GST and excise are taxes and you pay these on just about everything we buy and count towards the tax we pay to the government. If you don’t pay any GST or excise then you musn’t buy groceries or fuel or use other people’s services like a mechanic, dentist or anyone else who has to charge GST. What about stamp duty you pay this when you purchase a house, a car? Aren’t these all forms of tax? Besides, isn’t reading material written by some someone else easier than reading through thousands of pages of complex legislation yourself? I like getting money back at Tax Time, the more the better!

“and toys for adults…” Really

“The average Australian works more than six months of the year just to pay the tax man!”

Not even slightly true. Tax revenue as a share of GDP is barely over 30%. Logically that would suggest that the “average” Australian could not possibly be paying over 50%.

Add to that, the 37% bracket for income tax doesn’t apply until $80000, and the top rate of 45% doesn’t apply until $180000.

Meanwhile, the median hosehold uncome is about $67 000. A single person, living alone, s accessing a typical Australian’s standard of living if they’re getting 36000 per year, according to this: http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2614076.html

Wow! Free money, can I have some too?

How about we exchange some for this bridge I have for sale.

boneymaloney10:59 am 15 Aug 11

(from the website) “FREE CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK THE TAX OFFICE DOES NOT WANT YOU TO HAVE”

Pig’s arse, the ATO couldn’t give a fig for your tax minimisation strategies. They aren’t a corporation and don’t care how much tax they collect as long as they collect exactly as much as they are entitled to, not a penny more nor less. These strategies are all on the ATO website, if you want to grind through a few thousand pages of tax law.

ace2279 said :

This sounds great but where’s the practical info on how/where this info exists and how we can learn to do it as well? Would be great to have a link or similar 🙂

Check out http://www.taxsavings.com.au. Main website still under construction. Or email Pam on pam@taxsavings.com.au. This is simple stuff once you know how and everybody can do it.

Have updated the story with a link to Pam’s website Ace2279.

“You work long hours and you end up losing most of your pay in tax”

False. Stopped reading after this.

This sounds great but where’s the practical info on how/where this info exists and how we can learn to do it as well? Would be great to have a link or similar 🙂

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