If you lodge your own tax return, the deadline is 31 October. This year it falls on a Saturday, so the effective deadline is Monday 2 November 2026.
Sole traders report their business income in their individual tax return, so the same deadline applies to you.
How to get more time
Here’s what many people don’t know. If you register with a registered tax agent before 31 October, you’ll usually get until 15 May 2027 to lodge.
There are exceptions. If you had a prior-year return outstanding at 30 June 2026, or your last return showed a tax bill of $20,000 or more, your deadline is earlier. If you register with an agent after 31 October, the self-lodger deadline has already passed and late lodgement penalties can apply.
Three things to sort before you lodge
All your business income, from every source, including cash jobs and payments through apps and platforms.
Your vehicle logbook or kilometre records, so you can support your car claim.
Receipts for tools, phone, internet and home office costs, with the business-use percentage worked out.
Electricians, personal trainers, designers, café owners and freelancers across the Northern Beaches: if your return isn’t done yet, there’s still time to do it properly.
A busy week for Northern Beaches business owners: the ATO is retiring credit card payments, card surcharges are gone, rates have moved again and the first 2026-27 deadlines are weeks away.
ATO to stop accepting credit cards after 30 November
On 1 October the ATO announced it will no longer accept credit card payments for tax debts after 30 November 2026. BPAY, direct debit from a bank account and payment plans remain available. If your payment plan debits a credit card, the ATO will write to you, and you will need to switch method before your first instalment due after 30 November.
Card surcharges are off from 1 October
Under new card network rules, businesses can no longer add a surcharge when customers pay with Visa, Mastercard, American Express or eftpos, according to ACCC guidance updated on 2 October. Card costs now need to be built into your pricing, and displayed prices must be the total the customer pays. A disclosed discount for cash or PayID is still allowed, but relabelling a surcharge as a service fee is likely to be treated as misleading. Check your point of sale settings now.
Cash rate rises to 4.60 per cent
The Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.60 per cent on 29 September, citing higher global energy prices. If you carry variable rate debt or equipment finance, refresh your December quarter cash flow forecast.
Key dates: 28 October BAS and 31 October tax returns
The July to September BAS and PAYG instalment are due on 28 October, with an extra two weeks if you lodge through a registered agent. Sole traders and individuals lodging their own 2025-26 return must do so by 31 October. To use a tax agent for the first time, or switch agents, the ATO says you need to be on their client list before 31 October to access later lodgment dates.
Payday Super: check your first quarter
Super on wages paid since 1 July 2026 must reach the employee’s fund within 7 business days of payday, with up to 20 business days for a new employee’s first contribution. Late contributions attract the super guarantee charge, so reconcile what your payroll software has sent against what each fund has received.
Free AI workshops in Warriewood on 27 October
For NSW Small Business Month, Northern Beaches Council is running two free AI Made Simple for Small Business workshops at 2/4 Jacksons Road, Warriewood on Tuesday 27 October: AI for Marketing from 2.30pm and AI Tools for Small Business from 6pm. Places are limited to 45 eligible local businesses. Hundreds more Small Business Month events run statewide through October.
What this means for you
Most of these changes land within eight weeks, so set aside an hour to update your ATO payment method, review pricing and diarise 28 and 31 October. This is general information only. Book a call with our Dee Why team to talk through what applies to your business.
Welcome to my weekly Insights blog. Once a week, we cover a wide range of topics such as wealth creation, super, estate planning and tax.
When you own an asset personally, it’s exposed to everything that happens to you: a business failure, a professional negligence claim, a car accident, a bankruptcy or a relationship breakdown.
Ask a wealthy family what they own and you may get a surprising answer: very little, at least in their own names. The investment properties sit in a family trust. The business operates through a company. The share portfolio is held by a self-managed super fund.
This isn’t secrecy or tax trickery. It’s a deliberate strategy that separates control of wealth from ownership of it. Done well, it protects assets from lawsuits and creditors, gives the family flexibility on tax, and makes passing wealth to the next generation far simpler.
The good news? These same structures are available to everyday investors and small business owners on the Northern Beaches. You don’t need to be a billionaire to think like one.
Key takeaways
Wealthy Australian families typically hold investments in a family trust, run businesses through a company and hold retirement savings in an SMSF, rather than owning assets in their own names.
These structures let you keep control of assets without legally owning them, which can protect them from personal creditors and claims.
Family trusts also offer flexibility to distribute income among family members and make succession simpler, because a trust continues after you die.
Structures have costs and trade-offs, including NSW land tax, trapped losses in trusts, and CGT and stamp duty if existing assets are moved. The family home is usually best held personally.
Asset protection only works if it is set up before trouble arrives.
Ownership vs control: the core idea
When an asset is held by a properly structured trust or company, you can still control it as director or trustee. You decide when to buy, sell, borrow and distribute income. But you don’t legally own it, so in many cases your personal creditors can’t reach it.
Think of it as steering the boat without having your name on the hull.
The four structures wealthy families use
Structure
Typically holds
Main advantage
Family (discretionary) trust
Investment property, shares, business interests
Flexibility to distribute income among family members each year, plus asset protection
Company
An operating business, or acting as trustee or a “bucket” beneficiary
Limited liability and a capped tax rate on retained profits
Self-managed super fund
Shares, cash, commercial property (including your business premises)
Concessional tax rates and strong protection from creditors
Testamentary trust
Assets left under your Will
Protects heirs and allows children under 18 to be taxed at adult rates
Most families use a combination. A common pattern is an operating company for the business, a family trust that owns the shares in that company, a corporate trustee in place of individual trustees, and an SMSF for long-term retirement savings.
Asset protection: a tale of two builders
Consider two builders in Brookvale, each with a successful business and two investment properties.
Builder A runs the business as a sole trader and owns both properties in his own name. A defective work claim on a job exceeds his insurance cover. Because everything is in his name, the business assets, the properties and even the family savings are all exposed.
Builder B runs her business through a company. Her investment properties are held by a family trust with a separate corporate trustee. When she faces a similar claim, it is generally limited to the company’s assets. The family trust’s properties sit outside the claim.
Same trade, same bad luck, very different outcome. Structures don’t make you bulletproof, and directors can still be personally liable in some situations, such as unpaid super, PAYG withholding and GST. But they put meaningful walls between your risks and your wealth.
(Names and details are illustrative only.)
The tax and succession benefits
Asset protection is only half the story. The right structure can also help with tax and with passing wealth on.
Income splitting. A family trust can distribute income to adult family members on lower tax rates, such as a spouse not working or adult children at university.
Capital gains. Trusts can generally pass on the 50% CGT discount to individual beneficiaries when an asset held for over 12 months is sold.
Retained profits. A company can retain business profits at the company tax rate rather than having them taxed at the owner’s marginal rate, subject to the Division 7A rules if the money is later accessed.
Smoother succession. A trust doesn’t die. When you pass away, control passes to the next appointor or trustee under the trust deed. There is no need to transfer properties, pay stamp duty or wait for probate on those assets.
That last point is often the biggest. Assets in a trust don’t form part of your estate, so they are generally harder to challenge. Be aware that NSW’s “notional estate” rules can sometimes reach non-estate assets in a family provision claim, so trust planning should be done alongside your estate lawyer.
The catch: structures aren’t free or automatic
Structures are powerful, but they’re not right for everyone. Before setting one up, weigh the trade-offs.
Set-up and running costs. Each entity needs its own deed or constitution, tax return, financial statements and, for companies, an ASIC annual review fee.
NSW land tax. A discretionary trust holding land in NSW generally doesn’t get the land tax-free threshold available to individuals. Trust deeds also need the right clause excluding foreign beneficiaries to avoid surcharge land tax.
Negative gearing. Losses are trapped in a trust and can’t be distributed to reduce your personal tax. A heavily geared property may suit personal ownership better in the early years.
Moving existing assets is costly. Transferring a property you already own into a trust can trigger CGT and stamp duty. Structure first, buy second.
ATO scrutiny. Trust distributions must reflect real arrangements. The ATO is actively reviewing distributions under section 100A, where income is distributed to one person but enjoyed by another.
No main residence exemption. Your family home is usually best held personally to keep the CGT main residence exemption.
Common mistakes we see
Individual trustees instead of a corporate trustee. If the trustee is you personally, the trust’s liabilities can still land on you. A corporate trustee adds a further layer of protection and makes succession cleaner.
Forgetting the appointor. The appointor controls the trust because they can replace the trustee. If your Will and trust deed don’t say who takes over, control can end up somewhere you never intended.
Mixing personal and entity money. Paying personal bills from the company account can create Division 7A loans and undermine the structure’s protection.
Setting it and forgetting it. Deeds drafted 20 years ago may not reflect current law or your family’s circumstances. Review them regularly.
Timing. Asset protection must be in place before trouble arrives. Transfers made when a claim is looming can be clawed back.
Frequently asked questions
Can creditors reach assets held in a family trust?
Generally, a beneficiary’s personal creditors can’t reach assets held in a properly established discretionary trust, because the beneficiary doesn’t own them. The protection weakens if you are the individual trustee, if the trust owes you money through a loan account or unpaid distributions, or if assets were transferred in when a claim was already likely.
Should I put my family home in a trust?
Usually not. A home owned by a trust loses the CGT main residence exemption and, in NSW, the trust generally doesn’t get the land tax-free threshold. Most families hold the home personally, often in the name of the spouse with the lower risk profile.
Do I need a corporate trustee for my family trust?
It isn’t legally required, but it’s strongly recommended. A company acting as trustee keeps the trust’s liabilities away from you personally and makes it easier to change control later, because you change directors instead of re-titling every asset.
Can I move an investment property I already own into a trust?
You can, but the transfer is usually treated as a sale at market value. That can trigger capital gains tax and NSW transfer duty. It’s generally far cheaper to set up the structure first and buy the next asset in it.
Is your wealth in the right hands?
The wealthiest families don’t get there by accident. They plan their structures early, review them often, and make sure control passes smoothly to the next generation.
Whether you’re buying your first investment property, growing a business or thinking about succession, the right structure today can save your family a great deal of cost and stress tomorrow.
At TaxAssist Accountants Dee Why, we help Northern Beaches investors and business owners review their existing structures and plan new ones. Call us on (02) 9045 1511 or email [email protected] to book a structure review.
This article contains general information only and does not take into account your personal circumstances. It is not legal or financial product advice. Please speak with a qualified adviser before making decisions about your structure.
The September quarter has closed, and your July–September 2026 BAS is next on the list. It’s also the first full quarter under Payday Super, so a few things look different this time.
Due dates
28 October 2026 if you lodge yourself.
25 November 2026, generally, if you lodge electronically through a registered tax or BAS agent.
Late lodgement can attract penalties and general interest charges, which are no longer tax deductible. If you can’t pay in full, lodge on time anyway and talk to us about a payment plan.
Pre-lodgement checklist
Bank feeds reconciled to 30 September for every account and credit card.
GST coding checked: no GST claimed on bank fees, insurance stamp duty, wages, super or overseas subscriptions without GST; GST-free sales coded correctly.
Tax invoices on file for purchases over $82.50 (including GST) where you’re claiming GST credits.
PAYG withholding (W1 and W2) agrees with your Single Touch Payroll reports for the quarter.
Super paid every pay run: under Payday Super there’s no longer a quarterly catch-up date, so check nothing was missed from July onwards.
Capital purchases recorded at G10, and flagged for the $20,000 instant asset write-off if eligible.
Fuel tax credits claimed if you use fuel in heavy vehicles or machinery.
PAYG instalment reviewed: if your income has dropped, you may be able to vary it.
Set aside GST as you go
A simple habit that saves a lot of stress: move the GST component of each sale into a separate savings account when you’re paid. When the BAS arrives, the money is already there.
Let us lodge it for you
Our Growth and Established packages include BAS review and lodgement, and lodging through us generally gives you the later November due date.
The ATO has stepped up its crackdown on the shadow economy: businesses that under-report cash sales, pay staff off the books or operate outside the tax system. In recent weeks, ATO officers have made unannounced visits to hospitality venues, following earlier visits this year to farms in regional NSW and hospitality businesses on the Gold Coast. The ATO has reported receiving around a thousand tip-offs a week.
The ATO’s stated aim is to protect the businesses that do the right thing from being undercut by those that don’t. If you run a café, restaurant, trade or retail business on the Northern Beaches, it’s worth checking you’d be comfortable if they walked in tomorrow.
What the ATO looks at
Cash sales: are all takings going through the register and into your accounts? The ATO benchmarks businesses against others in the same industry, and figures well below the benchmark attract attention.
Wages: are all staff paid through Single Touch Payroll, with PAYG withheld and super paid? Cash-in-hand wages are a key focus.
GST registration: businesses with turnover of $75,000 or more must be registered for GST (for ride-share and taxi drivers, from the first dollar).
Money taken out of a company: if you run a company and draw funds for personal use, Division 7A rules apply. The ATO has named this as a current small business focus.
Your quick readiness check
Every sale, card or cash, recorded in your POS and banked or reconciled.
All staff set up in payroll software with STP reporting.
Super paid with every pay run under Payday Super.
Records kept for five years, including cash register reports.
Personal drawings from a company documented as wages, dividends or a compliant loan.
If something isn’t right
Coming forward voluntarily before the ATO contacts you generally leads to much lower penalties than being found in an audit. If you’re worried something in your books isn’t right, talk to us confidentially and we’ll help you fix it properly.
After years of one-year extensions announced at the last minute, the $20,000 instant asset write-off is now a permanent part of the tax system from 1 July 2026. Announced in the May 2026 Budget, the measure has passed into law and the ATO has confirmed the details.
Who can use it
Businesses with an aggregated annual turnover under $10 million that use the simplified depreciation rules.
How it works
You can immediately deduct the business-use portion of an eligible depreciating asset that costs less than $20,000.
The limit applies per asset, so you can write off several assets in the same year as long as each is under $20,000.
The asset must be first used, or installed ready for use, in the income year you claim it. Paying a deposit isn’t enough.
If you’re registered for GST, the $20,000 test is on the GST-exclusive cost.
Assets costing $20,000 or more go into the small business pool, depreciated at 15% in the first year and 30% after that. If the pool balance falls below $20,000 at year end, it can be written off too.
What it means for you
Because the threshold is now permanent, there’s no reason to rush a purchase before 30 June just in case the rules change. Buy equipment when your business needs it and your cashflow can support it.
A few reminders:
A deduction isn’t a refund. A $10,000 laptop and software upgrade saves you tax at your marginal rate, not $10,000.
Private use reduces the claim. Only the business-use portion can be written off, which matters for vehicles, phones and computers.
Keep the invoice and a note of the date the asset was first used or installed.
Planning a purchase?
Talk to us before you buy. We can confirm eligibility, compare buying outright with financing or leasing, and work out the real after-tax cost.
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