Ahead of the Curve
Consumer confidence lifts post-election amid hope of interest rate cut
30 May 2019
Scott Morrison's surprise re-election and growing expectations official interest rates will be sliced has boosted the confidence of Australian shoppers as calls grow for more government spending to drive down unemployment.
The ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly measure of confidence, released on Tuesday, lifted for the second consecutive week to sit at its highest level since late April.These are just a few key points where SME owners can immediately apply to their tax returns.
Since the Coalition's victory on May 18, consumer confidence has improved by 3.3 per cent with much of that increase occurring immediately after the election.
Despite the increase, it still sits around where it was a year ago.
head of Australian economics David Plank said apart from the election, consumers appeared to be anticipating a rate cut when the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia meets next Tuesday.
"Consumers are upbeat both about their personal outlook and the economy in general," he said.
"The prospect of lower interest rates and what appears to be a major sentiment shift on the housing market are likely drivers of the positive outlook."
While confidence about current and future finances is moving up, a key part of the survey points to some concern among consumers.
The measure of whether it is a good time to buy a major household appliance slipped and sits 8 per cent lower than a year ago and well short of its long term average.
Governor Philip Lowe, in a speech last week during which he signalled a rate cut would be discussed at the RBA's board meeting on June 4, highlighted the importance of driving unemployment lower.
Markets put the chance of a rate cut to 1.25 per cent, the lowest Australian cash rate on record, at 100 per cent. Economists are now debating when the RBA will follow up next week's cut, which would be the first since August 2016, with another.
The economic teams from all major banks expect a second cut by October.
Small Business Tax (Part 1) – Sole Trader
After covering small business valuations and accounting in the last few weeks, let’s turn our attention to the very first days of starting a small business – the choice of a legal structure to carry on the business. This week we will start by introducing the most basic and simplest of all legal structures – sole trader. We also cover the tax implications of operating a business as a sole trader.
A sole trader is an individual running a business. It is the simplest and cheapest business structure.
If you operate your business as a sole trader, you are the only owner and you control and manage the business.
You are legally responsible for all aspects of the business. Debts and losses can't be shared with other individuals.
You can employ workers in your business, but you can’t employ yourself.
As a sole trader, you are responsible for paying your worker's super. You're also responsible for your own super and may choose to pay it into a fund for yourself to help save for your retirement.
As a sole trader, you:
Use your individual tax file number when lodging your income tax return
report all your income in your individual tax return, using the section for business items to show your business income and expenses (there is no separate business tax return for sole traders)
Apply for an ABN and use your ABN for all your business dealings
register for Goods and Services Tax (GST) if your annual GST turnover is $75,000 or more pay tax at the same income tax rates as individual taxpayers and you may be eligible for the small business tax offset put aside money to pay your income tax at the end of the financial year - usually, you will do this by paying quarterly Pay As You Go (PAYG) instalments claim a deduction for any personal super contributions you make after notifying your fund.
As a sole trader you can't claim deductions for money 'drawn' from the business. Amounts taken from the business are not wages for tax purposes, even if you think of them as wages.
If you're paid mostly for your personal efforts, skills or expertise, you might be receiving personal services income (PSI) and you may have to treat deductions in relation to this income differently.
中国民企的澳大利亚掘金路( 1）
和悉尼大学的联合数据显示，自2014年开始，中国对澳直接投资一直呈增长趋势。2016年更是中国对澳直接投资继2008年后的第二高峰年。在这一年，中国企业在澳大利亚共签署了103笔交易，刷新了纪录。
2008年金融危机之前，中国对澳的投资几乎完全来自国有企业对矿产类型等海外资产的投资，但值得注意的是， 2014年以来，在投资数量和投资额方面，中国民营企业首次超越了国有企业。
新希望集团便是刷新中国民营企业在澳大利亚投资交易数量、交易金额的一员。 2015年，新希望出资成立的草根知本集团做为最大股东，联合Moxey家族、Perich家族、及澳大利亚上市公司自由食品集团，收购了澳大利亚最大规模的单体奶牛牧场 Moxey Farm, 并合资成立了“澳大利亚鲜奶控股有限公司”（Australian Fresh Milk Holdings PTY LTD.)
这一收购案例的落地，对当地企业来说，意味着什么？Moxey家族的昆丁·莫克（Quentin Moxey）对此的理解是，新希望加入，让Moxey家族对产品应该如何更好地销售，有哪些分销渠道，究竟是选择冷链还是零售，开始有了更清晰的规划。
一个与新希望集团在2015年收购Moxey农场有密切合作的受访者表示，新希望集团能够顺利获得外国投资审查委员会（FIRB）的批准，是因为他们更加尊重本地股东的长期利益以及本地团队的运营管理。
据记者了解，事实上，早在2013年，新希望集团内部便开始通过整合国际及澳大利亚当地市场资源，试图拓展企业在澳大利亚、美国、欧洲等国际市场的投资版图，截至目前集团在澳大利亚已累计投资近10亿澳币。
当然，新希望集团的例子仅代表大型企业，还有大量的中小型民营企业也积极的参加到了对澳的投资中。我们将在以后的几周内逐一分析。
