Small Business Benefits or Taxable Concerns?

TAX 19 | 03 | 21
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As an employee in a business, often there are perks that can come with the job. A company car, fuel money, perhaps some technology to help make things easier. Small business owners however have to be a lot more mindful of how they use the money from their business.

Any money or assets that a business has earned or possesses, is solely the property of that business. That means that there are numerous issues that can arise from dipping into these company funds.

As a business owner, it’s important to keep records and correctly report transactions if using company money or assets (e.g, company car). These can include instances such as

  • taking money out of your company for yourself or your family
  • receiving money from it (for example, as a director, shareholder or an associate)
  • using your company’s assets for private purposes.

For small businesses, this can be easily done through:

  • Salary, wages or director’s fees
  • Repayments of a loan you have previously made to the company
  • A fringe benefit, such as an employee using a company car
  • Dividends (formal distribution of the profits)
  • A loan from the company

If a business does not report correctly or keep appropriate records for transactions, an unfranked deemed dividend could be included in their assessable income (this is a bad thing) during tax time.

Here are some easy ways to avoid being put into this situation:

  • Always ensure that any company money issued is accounted for as per the previous categories.
  • Have a separate bank account for the company to pay for company expenses (not private ones!)
  • Keep proper records of all company transactions
  • Repay any loans from the company before the tax return date to avoid unwanted income tax

https://iorder.com.au/publication/Download.aspx?ProdID=75273-07.2020

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