Who's name should purchase be in

[jewell]

Hi


We are purchasing a house and land package (builder allowing us to purchase land separately - to save stamp duty - in rural Victoria) for investment purposes. My wage is $12,000 more than my husband, but both are still in the 31.5 cent tax bracket. Who should the house purchase the house or should it be done 99% me and 1% him - what would be the most advantage for us - we don't have any other properties and our tax is fairly straight forward.

Also if the builder is giving us specifications - should we still get a Quantity Surveyor report or will the specifications be enough - apparently we will be getting a list with prices of items on it.

Ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Jewel

 

[DaleGG]

Hi Jewel

If the property is going to be your only IP, or one of two or three, then i would have them in joint names at 50% each.

However, if you plan to buy many, many IP's then perhaps you should consider a trust because of the longer term issues.

Unless the builder provides you with a detailed breakdown of the costs of the construction (less his profit margin) as well as the cost of the chattels, you will need to get a QS report done. Sorry.

Dale

Originally posted by jewell
Hi


We are purchasing a house and land package (builder allowing us to purchase land separately - to save stamp duty - in rural Victoria) for investment purposes. My wage is $12,000 more than my husband, but both are still in the 31.5 cent tax bracket. Who should the house purchase the house or should it be done 99% me and 1% him - what would be the most advantage for us - we don't have any other properties and our tax is fairly straight forward.

Also if the builder is giving us specifications - should we still get a Quantity Surveyor report or will the specifications be enough - apparently we will be getting a list with prices of items on it.

Ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Jewel

 

[geoffw]

Jewell,

I'd be looking at the long term, and not just the short term.

The property I bought on my name six years ago, very negatively geared, has become positively geared now. I'm still the highest income earner, so I'm paying for those earlier benefits.

Family circumstances can change. Especially if other members of the family should appear.

I've just bought my last property through a family trust. It was an advantage that it is positively geared from the start, so neg gearing advantages weren't lost.

But it does mean that I have the ability to distribute income as circumstances change. That includes an ability to give a small amount of income to children; the ability for them to do some work on the IP to earn some more; the ability to distribute income to either my wife or myself as circumstances change; and the ability to distribute income to children when they turn 18 (pre tax dollars for me).

That's just some ideas- to supplement Dale's suggestion.

 

[dwyerfam]

Can the "excess income" in a trust be paid (i.e. weekly) during the year? or do we have to wait until the end of the financial year to get the income as decided by the trustee?

Danny D.

 

[RichardA]

tRUST dISTRIBUTION

DANNY

You can take the income / money when you like... The distribution for tax purposes is a "book entry" and does not have to match the actual cash withdrawn.

Richard

 

[Aceyducey]

Personally, I think you should put all the property in your own name so when you decide to ditch your partner for a younger model you keep it all - that's what I plan on doing *evil laugh*

Oh no, is my partner reading this forum - oops!



Jewell,

We've found that a trust structure works well for us, but it is really something you need to talk to a good accountant about as your financial situation may make some other structure more appropriate.

Just make sure that the accountant you choose has a good understanding of this area.

And as Geoffw says, make sure you consider the long term - though whatever you do should not give you too much pain in the short-term.

Cheers,

Aceyducey