How do you use your Trust bank account?

[NigelW]

Hi Nigel,

That's interesting. I was under the impression that if a corporate trustee was sued then assets of that company (with say a paid up capital of $2) would be the only loss and the appointers could just replace the corporate trustee with a new company, leaving the trust assets out of reach. But from your reply, you seem to indicate that it's not as straightforward as that ?

Also, at the moment my wife and I are the indivudual trustees of the trust and as such we were able to obtain 95% LVR for our IPs. We were looking to convert to a corporate trustee instead, however I understand that we would probably not be entitled to a 95% LVR. 80-90% more likely, meaning that we've need to pour in more after tax dollars. Thoughts ?

I've also been advised that as long as there is no perceived risk of the trust ever being sued, then there is probably no need for us to convert from individual to corporate trustee. With that in mind, if the trust is really only a "holding" trust" so to speak, what sort of actions would we have to undertake for us to be prone to getting sued ?

Thanks.

"Perceived risk of being sued". We all probably think we'll never get sued. It may be that your risk is low and as long as you understand there is a risk and are prepared to accept that and have SANF then that's okay.

Otherwise:

Step 1, get a revaluation.
Step 2, see your legal adviser
Step 3, talk to your bank, and tell them your legal advice is that you should change trustee of your trust to a corporate trustee. If required you're happy to give a guarantee as directors of the company to the bank (well you're not really happy but it's the factor which will make the change acceptable to the bank). If current bank won't come to the party talk to another or find a good mortgage broker to do the hustle for you...
Step 4, do the paperwork to change trustee
Step 5, do and lodge the paperwork with land title register to change recorded trustee.

For future acquisitions you could set up a trust with corp t'ee.

Cheers
N.

 

[AdamN]

Hi Nigel,

Thanks for the reply.

Let's say at the time of purchase, we paid 250K for the property. At a 95% LVR, the bank has provided roughly 238K (excluding LMI). We now want to convert from individual to corporate trustee, but the max LVR from the bank will be say 80%. So we get a valuation done on the property and it's now worth 300K, meaning the most the bank will lend is 240K (excluding LMI).
So whether they lend us 238K on a 95% LVR as individual trustees, or 240K on an 80% LVR as corporate trustee after the re-val, the are still basically lending us the same amount.
Would this be a feasible approach for us to avoid pumping in any more of our own after tax dollars if we decided to go this way ?

Thanks.

 

[Andrew_A]

I have a pty ltd atf family trust bank account with ANZ after setting up a hybrid trust thru Dale.

It is a GST Business account with nil monthly account fees, 20 free cheques, 22 free transactions per month.
The bank obviously forgot to mention this account. Enjoy

Bobby

In my research I have found St George with a "GST provision account" with no monthly fees. I'm wondering if this is appropriate for a HDT? There are also various miscellaneous business accounts with no monthly costs such as the Westpac Business Tax Management Account.

I'm thinking that it might be best to try with a building society such as Heritage next who appear to have no monthly fees.

 

[twodogs]

I use CUA. No account or transaction fees, excempt for excess use of course, internet, cheque and visa access (visa only after have shown "saving record" ) Heritage business account is good, but I think it still has fees.

 

[Peter 14.7]

We have an account with anz for our HDT with no monthly fees. Its a business GST account. It has a couple of limitations, I can't remember what off hand, but they're not enough to inconvenience us. We put all our HDT transactions through this.

Me too, no charges and linked via the Net with CBA. Move money in and out overnight

I do pay the $300 a year Premium Banking charge but when you got a lot of stuff it is well worth it.

Peter 147

 

[Francesco]

Try ANZ Cash Mgt a/c

The ANZ GST a/c that has no fees others have mentioned is available for those who already has a classic a/c (for PTY Ltd).

If you do not have a trustee company attached to your HDT, you could try the ANZ cash mgt a/c. It has internet access, some cheque number limitation and fees attached if manual processing is required.

Cheers

 

[DavidMc]

Hey all,

I too am hunting for a nil fee low use business transactional account for my HDT.

The ANZ 'GST Payment Account' seems great, in that it has nil fees and plenty of free transactions. I called up the ANZ to ask about this and they advised that it's 'for GST purposes' and not to be used for as a general transactional account (which I'll be using it for). I specifically asked the sales person 'so, is it impossible to use this account for my general business transactions?' to which she replied 'all I can say is that it is to be used for GST purposes' (she was a nice lady).

So.... what's the deal with this? I'm not too keen on starting a relationship with a new bank on a lie (or misleading information, if that's more pallatable), however I see some people here use that account for their HDTs.

The next best option seems to be Bankwest however I was hoping to stay with one of the Big 4 to enable quicker interbank transfers.

David.

 

[alwayscurious]

Building Societies.

I use Heritage Building society.

The fees are low. or nil. (Depending on the amount of transactions)

Comes with a cheque book. Has internet banking. Comes with a Visa Debit card.

Seems to be all I need at the mo.

 

[The Y-man]

We use

Bendigo Bank - fee rebate system - effectively "no fees" for a couple of transactions

Commonwealth Bank - fees as recently discussed on another thread for Net Bank

Adelaide Bank - no fees (yet?)

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[stevem]

Hi All,

Another option maybe AMP, Business Cash Management Account. I just opened one for my HDT.

http://www.amp.com.au/banking/channel/0,2248,CH9859%5FNI76947%5FSI57,00.html


$1000 to open, no min balance, no ongoing fees, at present all Internet transactions are free.

Can get it with chq, ATM card, Net, Phone and Fax banking.

Note Chq and ATM withdrawals are charged, but I plan to either BPAY my bills or use a credit card or direct deposit.

Now I just need to find a VISA credit card for the trust and I'm away.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Kris Sheather]

I personally use a Macquarie Cash Management Trust for my 1 person account and 2 company accounts. I have no fees as far as I'm aware and I also earn around 4.5% interest on any funds in the account regardless of the balance within the account.

I am not sure whether my accountant / payroll management company setup a special deal for me but that is a possiblity of why im getting such a great deal.

When I setup a trust and corporate trustee I am planning on setting up another account for the trust. I would assume that the assests would be held by the trustee company on behalf of the trust, hopefully I am right here, so there should only be 1 new bank account required.