With the festive season fast approaching, business owners will be turning their mind to year-end celebrations with both employees and clients.

Knowing the rules around Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT), GST credits and what is or isn’t tax deductible can help keep tax costs to a minimum.

Let’s say you’ve just sold the house you inherited from your parents 12 years ago for $1.3 million. You’ve been renting it out for most of that time, but the property market has been hotting up and you were told by several real estate agents that they could get you a good price. But what about the tax consequences?

Big news for anyone with a large super balance – the government has gone back to the drawing board on the controversial Division 296 tax, and the changes are a big step toward fairness and common sense.

For many older Australians, having wealth tied up in the family home can make day-to-day expenses challenging. The Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) is a government-backed program that allows eligible seniors to unlock some of the value in their home without selling it.

With summer just around the corner and beach holiday homes back on the agenda, perhaps it is time to revisit a few tax matters about their use. And the big issue is how you claim expenses if your holiday home is only rented for part of the year.

In contrast to holiday homes, what happens where you use all or part of your home to produce assessable income? Well, there will be important capital gains tax (CGT) consequences – the most important of which is that you will be likely to lose some of your CGT exemption on the home.

With more than $4 trillion in superannuation, it’s no surprise scammers see it as a goldmine. ASIC has warned Australians to be on high alert after a rise in pushy sales tactics and false promises designed to lure people into risky super switches. Since your super is one of the biggest investments you’ll ever make, protecting it is crucial. Here’s what you need to know to keep your nest egg safe.

The tax advantages of using a family trust are well known – in particular, the ability to split income among family members so that a lower effective tax rate applies to the income. This is unlike the case where one person derives all the income or the trust itself is liable to pay tax on it.

If you run a small business and sell it – or some of its asset(s) – and make a capital gain, the CGT “retirement exemption” may be invaluable to reduce or eliminate the tax payable on the gain.

If you want to give your children a head start on saving for their first home, the First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSSS) is worth considering. It offers a tax-effective way for young people to grow a deposit more quickly and is open to anyone who meets the eligibility rules and has never owned property.

If you’re made redundant, you may receive a lump sum payout. While this can provide financial breathing room, it’s important to understand how that money is taxed. Not all parts of a redundancy payment are taxed the same and how it is taxed can make a big difference to what you actually take home.

Working out the cost of electricity used to run your electric vehicle (EV) where you use the vehicle for business purposes and you use the logbook method for making your claim for car expenses is a little more complex than monitoring the cost of fuel used to run an all petrol vehicle. You need to keep certain records and make some choices along the way.

But first, a quick look at some of the basic rules around tax claims for the business use of cars, including EVs.

Thanks for all those great ideas – we’ll take it from here. That’s pretty much how last month’s economics/productivity roundtable wound up, with the government firmly in control of what tax policy measures might or might not be introduced down the track.

Superannuation is a great way to save for retirement, but the government sets strict limits on how much you can contribute each year. These limits are called contribution caps. If you go over them, you could face extra tax. But don’t panic – here’s what you need to know and the steps to take if this happens.

If you buy a property in an off-the-plan purchase, there are some important CGT issues to be aware of – especially in the context that an off-the-plan purchase may not actually settle until many months or even years after the initial contract is signed.

When someone passes away without a valid will, this is known as intestacy. In this situation, the law in each state and territory sets out a formula for how your estate is divided. These rules often follow a standard order – spouse first, then children, then other relatives, but they may not align with what you would have wanted.

Many people spend their own money on attending courses that will hopefully make them more employable and maybe earn a higher income. That’s a good thing – a workforce that is more highly skilled can lead to higher productivity, which is something that’s been in the spotlight of late.

Government concession cards, including the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card and state-based Seniors Cards provide significant savings. These cards help you reduce costs on health care, prescriptions, and daily expenses, making life more affordable.

If you are getting divorced or separated from your spouse, this may involve the transfer of real estate or other assets as part of the settlement of things. Technically, that transfer will trigger capital gains tax (CGT) because there will be a change in ownership of the property.

Over the next few decades, Australia is expected to witness one of the biggest intergenerational wealth transfers in history with between $3.5 trillion and $5 trillion changing hands as baby boomers pass on their wealth to children and grandchildren.