Recommendation for good accountant in the redcliffe area of Brissie?
Recommendation for good accountant
- Thread starter Wayfarer73
- Start date
Hi
General advice.
One thing to think About is to not go with a higher profile property / investment orientated accountant .
Some of these with have client who are into " aggressive " set ups etc. there have been examples where these have come to the ATO's attention leading to a more widespread audit of the accountants clients.
We use a suburban accountant in sydney for our everyday accounts , but every so often , go to another accountant , for advice on structures and to see if anything new / trends etc has come to his attention.
I'd avoid anyone who is involved in any group that provides structured systems as well , as I'd wonder where their priorities are.
We run everything past our regular accountant to check he's ok with things. A couple of times he's sought advice on what we've suggested.
Cliff
General advice.
One thing to think About is to not go with a higher profile property / investment orientated accountant .
Some of these with have client who are into " aggressive " set ups etc. there have been examples where these have come to the ATO's attention leading to a more widespread audit of the accountants clients.
We use a suburban accountant in sydney for our everyday accounts , but every so often , go to another accountant , for advice on structures and to see if anything new / trends etc has come to his attention.
I'd avoid anyone who is involved in any group that provides structured systems as well , as I'd wonder where their priorities are.
We run everything past our regular accountant to check he's ok with things. A couple of times he's sought advice on what we've suggested.
Cliff
Accountant
See_Change is fairly correct in that view. I would steer clear of "promoter accountants". They tend to have a fixed approach that delivers outcomes to them before the client. Some are blatantly false promises too. One I see regularly I would call "shonky" and they get lots of press and books etc. I would use them as fire starters. If you see a trademarked trust or SMSF arrangement RUN. Ther is no such magic trust. There are good and bad trusts and accountants, brokers, lawyers etc.
An accountant should understand and explain what to do and importantly understand why some "strategies" are schemes or problematic. A great accountant knows how to fix problems and avoid them. A rubbish accountant knows neither. Most accountants will understand little and think they know and tell you every sophisticated strategy is a scheme when its not true. Questions I would ask:
- Do you understand and can you advise on a hybrid trust. You dont want one but if they know what you are asking about its a great sign.
- Why should I only have ONE property in a trust. Its a common mistake - With a simple CGT problem.
- Why should I never own property in my own name or my wife's name ??
- How can I refinance and convert non-deductible debt into tax deductible...If they say you cant they are wrong.
- Ask them how land tax works with trusts in QLD and the pitfalls. There is a unique aspect few even understand...It can save you a fortune. Answer is you can hold "one" property per trust and get multiple tax free thresholds BUT if you change a trust you can be smacked with a duty roblem. Simple - Dont change the trust !!
An accountant who is good does need to be in your suburb these days with email, phone etc. We have clients all over Australia and o/seas. Call me and I'm happy to discuss it. We dont charge for initial consultations.
See_Change is fairly correct in that view. I would steer clear of "promoter accountants". They tend to have a fixed approach that delivers outcomes to them before the client. Some are blatantly false promises too. One I see regularly I would call "shonky" and they get lots of press and books etc. I would use them as fire starters. If you see a trademarked trust or SMSF arrangement RUN. Ther is no such magic trust. There are good and bad trusts and accountants, brokers, lawyers etc.
An accountant should understand and explain what to do and importantly understand why some "strategies" are schemes or problematic. A great accountant knows how to fix problems and avoid them. A rubbish accountant knows neither. Most accountants will understand little and think they know and tell you every sophisticated strategy is a scheme when its not true. Questions I would ask:
- Do you understand and can you advise on a hybrid trust. You dont want one but if they know what you are asking about its a great sign.
- Why should I only have ONE property in a trust. Its a common mistake - With a simple CGT problem.
- Why should I never own property in my own name or my wife's name ??
- How can I refinance and convert non-deductible debt into tax deductible...If they say you cant they are wrong.
- Ask them how land tax works with trusts in QLD and the pitfalls. There is a unique aspect few even understand...It can save you a fortune. Answer is you can hold "one" property per trust and get multiple tax free thresholds BUT if you change a trust you can be smacked with a duty roblem. Simple - Dont change the trust !!
An accountant who is good does need to be in your suburb these days with email, phone etc. We have clients all over Australia and o/seas. Call me and I'm happy to discuss it. We dont charge for initial consultations.
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Multiple tax free thresholds ?
I assume that you're referring to land tax and q'land . Doesn't apply in NSW . in NSW there is NO land tax threshold for property held in a trust unless it's in a superfund. In NSW you pay land tax from $1 for properties held in a trust .
There are members on this forum who were advised by their advisors to have one property per trust in NSW and found that it was a very expensive way to hold properties . In q'land it's a different situation , but again why one property per trust ? This just increases your set up and holding cost. We had up to 3 properties / trust and still didn't pay a cent on land tax for the 15 IP's we held in q'land.
Why not hold properties in personal names ? This is often brought up .
Mainly as a risk mitigation , but I have yet to here of an example of someone being sued in relation to injuries occurring in an IP which is the main reason that I heard . That's why you have insurance . It can give you more flexibility further down the line in terms of estate planning, but I'm not planning all of my investing with the aim of maximising what I pass on to the kids. In terms of limiting financial exposure , I'd be suprised if you can get finance within a trust without giving personal guarantees
Hybrid trusts ? I wouldn't base my decision on choosing an accountant on whether they have expertise in this area. My personal opinion is that some one who specialises in these, is the sort of accountant i would ( in my personal opinion ) not use . Not saying I wouldn't use one, we looked a while ago and in our situation it didn't seem relevant. If I wanted to use one , I would go to people who specialise in them . There are different ones and differing opinions and I wouldn't base my choice of an ONGOING accountant on a specific SPECIALIST need.
There was one company a while ago who made a big song and dance about the benifits of using their trust , but , to my recollection, would only let you use it if you were a regular client as they said their trust were too specialised ...
IMHO property investing shouldn't be that complicated .
Cliff
I assume that you're referring to land tax and q'land . Doesn't apply in NSW . in NSW there is NO land tax threshold for property held in a trust unless it's in a superfund. In NSW you pay land tax from $1 for properties held in a trust .
There are members on this forum who were advised by their advisors to have one property per trust in NSW and found that it was a very expensive way to hold properties . In q'land it's a different situation , but again why one property per trust ? This just increases your set up and holding cost. We had up to 3 properties / trust and still didn't pay a cent on land tax for the 15 IP's we held in q'land.
Why not hold properties in personal names ? This is often brought up .
Mainly as a risk mitigation , but I have yet to here of an example of someone being sued in relation to injuries occurring in an IP which is the main reason that I heard . That's why you have insurance . It can give you more flexibility further down the line in terms of estate planning, but I'm not planning all of my investing with the aim of maximising what I pass on to the kids. In terms of limiting financial exposure , I'd be suprised if you can get finance within a trust without giving personal guarantees
Hybrid trusts ? I wouldn't base my decision on choosing an accountant on whether they have expertise in this area. My personal opinion is that some one who specialises in these, is the sort of accountant i would ( in my personal opinion ) not use . Not saying I wouldn't use one, we looked a while ago and in our situation it didn't seem relevant. If I wanted to use one , I would go to people who specialise in them . There are different ones and differing opinions and I wouldn't base my choice of an ONGOING accountant on a specific SPECIALIST need.
There was one company a while ago who made a big song and dance about the benifits of using their trust , but , to my recollection, would only let you use it if you were a regular client as they said their trust were too specialised ...
IMHO property investing shouldn't be that complicated .
Cliff
Cliff
a nsw land tax unit with individuals as the unit holders does receive the land tax threshold. The unit trust is not assessed for land tax purposes.
so smsf funds are not the only exemption in nsw.
i think the major disadvantage of holding properties in your own name,resi properties anyway, is that you cant move them to an smsf at a later stage. With a unit trust the units can be transferred at once or over time once the loan has been paid out. It gives you some flexibility that having outside of a unit trust will not provide.
a nsw land tax unit with individuals as the unit holders does receive the land tax threshold. The unit trust is not assessed for land tax purposes.
so smsf funds are not the only exemption in nsw.
i think the major disadvantage of holding properties in your own name,resi properties anyway, is that you cant move them to an smsf at a later stage. With a unit trust the units can be transferred at once or over time once the loan has been paid out. It gives you some flexibility that having outside of a unit trust will not provide.
Fair enough ,they say you should learn something every day. That's my thing for today.
Cliff
Further to that mike , are you are only entitled to the threshold if you don't hold property in you own name ( taking into account combined value of personal and trust holdings ) .
From what I can see hybrid trusts aren't eligible for the thresh hold .
Is that correct ?
Was interested to see you're working with JGG. We talked to his dad many years ago for advice.
Cliff
From what I can see hybrid trusts aren't eligible for the thresh hold .
Is that correct ?
Was interested to see you're working with JGG. We talked to his dad many years ago for advice.
Cliff
Cliff yes if you hold property in your own name plus the units in the unit trust then you may go over the threshold. Same as you would holding the property in your own name. So no land tax savings but inability to move to super later in life.
yes hybrid trusts dont get the threshold in nsw even if special income units are issues do land tax on the first $1.
yes hybrid trusts dont get the threshold in nsw even if special income units are issues do land tax on the first $1.
