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Question: small business in sydney australia,TAX QUESTION. can anyone please advise or help.?

I run a small business and have a three bedroom house i rent $250pw.I use one of the rooms as my office.the tax book i got from the ATO says i have to work out what percent is used for private use and what percent is used for the business.when recording my tax Manually by paper.how do i work this out.Also the electricity bills.im assuming with the phone bill i itemise the calls ive made for the business would that be right.YOUR ADVISE IS GREATLY APPRECIATED

Answer: Have you visited the Australian Taxation Office website? Visit http://www.ato.gov.au/ and view the information for Businesses, you should find most of the information you need there.

I would suggest reading the publication 'Carrying on a business at or from your home' NAT 10709 (search for the NAT number in the top right)

If you do not want to do the manual calculations yourself the Home Office Expense calculator is an excellent tool http://calculators.ato.gov.au/scripts/axos/axos.asp?CONTEXT=&KBS=Home_office.XR4&go=ok

Otherwise I would suggest you see a registered Tax Agent or Accountant for advice tailored to your circumstances. Better spending the money for them to get it right, rather than being audited 4 years down the track and being hit with SIC & GIC + other penalties.

If you do have any questions about deductions call 13 28 66 (ATO Business Infoline) & ask to speak to someone regarding Home Office Expenses. You will be transferred through to the Business income tax area & they can assist you.
The ATO will NOT do any calculations for you - they just provide the information and resources so you can do it yourself.

Hope this helps

NSCC offers free financial aid forum

LYNN - Parents struggling over how to pay for their children's college education can get help at North Shore Community College where a free financial aid forum will be held Sunday, Jan. 31 on the Lynn campus.

CCPD/TX-DOT Auto Theft Task Force Keeping Dealers Honest

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Question: form to fill out to apply for home based business?

I am running a very small business and a friend of mine who is an accountant suggested I get a federal tax ID number for checking purposes as well as to buy things wholesale to save on money. She said it would help keep things organized. She said she thinks the form to fill out is the ss-4 form. Is that correct because I looked at that thing and was confused! I will have no employees for many years to come, no benefits to pay or anything.

Answer: You don't need a federal tax ID number unless you have employees. Contact your state's department of revenue to apply for a resale license, which is what you need to buy wholesale. When you apply for the resale license, you will tell the revenue department your business name, social security number, and any other pertinant information about the business or yourself. You will then be required to file a sales tax return at least quarterly, whether you had any sales or not.

You may also need to check with your county to see if there are any zoning restrictions or special taxes that apply to any home-based business in the county. You will usually report your business income once a year and may be liable for taxes based upon your business net revenues.

You will, of course, be required to declare all your income and expenses on your federal and state income tax returns.

Once you've decided upon your business name, you can open up a business account at your bank.

U.S. offers special homeowner benefits to military personnel

Servicemen and women have an extra year to qualify for tax credits for buyers. The government also helps owners who must sell their houses for less than what they owe. The United States tries to take care of its warriors, a tradition that Congress has continued in little-known sections of the latest home buyer tax credit legislation and one of the government's main programs to help military ...

Home Based Business Tax Deductions

2010: The Year for a Surge in Energy Efficiency

In 2009, awareness about the positive impacts of energy efficiency was raised to new heights.

The Emerging Building Performance Industry (pt 1) (HERS CBPCA Class)- buildaroo.com

With the nation on the brink of economic collapse, Wall Street panic at an all time high, and hedge funds and financial institutions disintegrating, New York based Elliott Associates has parked an additional $1 billion into Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media which will finance a large slate of Universal Pictures’ films over the next few years.

And the question remains “why?” in today’s economic crisis as well as the recent pull out of billions of dollars in institutional capital from the studios.

No matter how bad things are in the world, people need to be entertained. And while the crowd mentality of panic in the U.S. financial markets exists, overseas, properly structured commercial films generate more revenues which add to bigger distributor buys with the Euro vs. USD.

Apart from Elliott Associates, other investors including billionaires,family offices from Wall Street to Silicon Valley to the Middle East to Russia have been parking their money into Hollywood

Larry Ellison Of Oracle, Paul Allen Of Microsoft, Steven Rales, Fred Smith of Federal Express, Norman Waitt, the Co-Founder of Gateway Computers, Jeff Skoll Of Ebay, Marc Turtletaub of The Money Store, Roger Marino Of EMC Corp, Sidney Kimmel Of Jones Apparel Group, Minnesota Twins owner Bill Pohlad; Real Estate Developers Tom Rosenberg and Bob Yari, and, financiers Sheikh Waleed Al Ibrahim, Michel Litvak, and Philip Anschutz are all behind the finance of a lot of films that range from box office hits to Academy Award winners.

While the glamour of the movie business may be appealing to most, at the end of the day, it is still an unknown business that many try to gamble on, and only a handful come out as winners. The real key is to minimize risk, maximize profits, and offer a steadier stream of revenues than what other alternative investments may offer such as real estate, oil & gas, commodities, hedge funds, or practically any other investment in today’s market.

Instead of dazzling investors with smoke and mirror Monte Carlo simulation models that offer various IRR’s and scenarios based on unpredictable film revenues streams,the key is to offer an absolute return on investment utilizing international and U.S. public tax incentives that in certain instances can guarantee 100% or more of invested capital prior to revenues by leveraging equity positions with non-recourse debt.

Investors who either want to take a 100% Federal deduction under Section 181 or “The American Jobs Creations Act” against their ordinary income, get an additional 20-40% in tradable and monetized state tax credits or cash rebates, have a hedge of revenues from a slate of films, as well as stimulating local and international economic development, and creating jobs, including for women and minorities.

Sound too good to be true?

Not too many other alternative investments can offer tax incentives, multiple exit strategies, the potential to guarantee 100% of capital, giving back to the American economy and labor, while being involved with the moviemaking process that would also add to the long line of recent film funds that have been structured with numerous hedge funds, private equity investors, corporate tax credit buyers, and institutions.

In today’s shaky financial markets, not too many businesses can be started that can have an almost predictable ROI prior to operations and profits.

Will new tax rules be boost for pros?

Ah, complexity! With a series of new federal tax credits available this year, some tax preparers see the potential for big business during tax

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