The Aevum Accounting Podcast

Navigate the complexities of Australian tax with clarity and confidence. Hosted by AI voices and brought to you by Ben De Rosa, the director of Aevum Accounting Pty Ltd, this podcast cuts through the jargon to deliver expert insights on individual tax returns, business taxation, compliance, and strategic tax planning. Whether you're an individual looking to maximise your refund and understand your obligations, or a business owner aiming for optimal tax structuring and compliance, we provide reliable guidance. Tune in for practical strategies, up-to-date information, and the peace of mind.

The Aevum Accounting Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Aevum Accounting, with 60 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Aevum Accounting hosts The Aevum Accounting Podcast, a business show with 60 episodes published.

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  Episode #60

  Clients, Gifts and the Footy

  Sep 22, 202611 minS2026

  Part two of three. Last week was your own team and the Christmas party. This week it's everyone who doesn't work for you. Same rule the series hangs off: entertainment isn't deductible and you can't claim the GST, unless you pay fringe benefits tax on it. Last week that mostly worked in your favour. This week it doesn't, because fringe benefits tax only applies to employees, and your clients aren't employees. Mia and Leo are joined by tax strategist Harvey Green. Clients, referral partners and suppliers all get the same answer. Your client's share of the meal gets nothing: no fringe benefits tax, but no deduction and no GST credit either. And talking business changes nothing. The law says you're providing entertainment even if business discussions occur. The tax office's own example is a business development manager who attends lunches and cocktail parties specifically to meet new clients, and who can't claim any of it. One narrow exception: if you're both travelling on business, the meals aren't entertainment at all and the employer deducts the lot, including the client's meal. Then the best news in the series. A gift to a client is deductible, and that isn't a technical argument, it's a binding public ruling. The tax office's own example is a renovator sending a client a bottle of champagne, deductible because it was made for the purpose of producing future business. The catch is it only works if the gift isn't entertainment. Ask whether it's consumed on the spot or later. A bottle of wine, a hamper, flowers: enduring, not entertainment. Theatre tickets, a restaurant voucher, a round of golf: immediate, and on a client you get nothing. Which produces the line that makes people laugh. At the same party, the bottle you hand someone at the door is deductible, and the glass you pour them inside is not. Gifts to staff split the same way, with a twist in your favour: a non-entertainment gift under three hundred dollars is exempt and you still get the deduction and the GST credit. An entertainment gift is exempt too, but you lose both. Gift cards need care. Whether a card is entertainment depends on what it can be spent on, and the tax office hasn't published a position on mixed-use cards. Two quieter traps too: buy a card early in a sale and it's valued at what it's worth on the day you hand it over, and on most cards the GST credit goes to whoever redeems it, not you. The footy: tickets to clients get nothing; to staff they're likely exempt under three hundred dollars unless you hand them out all season. And a corporate box is treated completely differently from a seat at the same match. A box, a marquee and an exclusively hired function room are facility hire. A seat, a restaurant table and green fees aren't. Five per cent of a box is advertising, but only if there's signage. And be careful with sponsorship, because an anti-avoidance provision points the other way. The example written into the law is a company paying a thousand dollars to sponsor a football game and getting a viewing box, where the Commissioner can treat the whole thousand as entertainment. And the twenty thousand dollar deduction for small business meals? An election promise. It never became law. Next week, the machinery: the three ways of valuing all this, and what happens when the boss pays for the staff dinner on a personal card. Already an Aevum Accounting client? Bring your entertainment accounts to your next catch-up. Not a client yet? Visit aevumaccounting.com.au to book a session. Shoutout: A massive thank you to Elly for the fantastic 5-star review! Important Disclaimer: The information shared in this episode and description is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute specific tax or financial advice. Everyone's situation is unique, and tax laws are complex. For personalized advice tailored to your specific situation, we always recommend consulting with a qualified professional at Aevum Accounting.

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  Episode #59

  Coffee, Clients and the Christmas Party: What You Can Actually Claim

  Sep 17, 202610 minS2026

  It's party-booking season, so here's the question every business owner asks in October: can I claim it? This is part one of three, and it runs on one rule. Entertainment isn't tax deductible and you can't claim the GST on it, unless you pay fringe benefits tax on it. One way or the other, never both. Then the twist that catches everyone. When an exemption applies to entertainment, you don't just avoid the tax, you lose the deduction and the GST credit too. Usually still the better outcome, at forty-seven per cent against a deduction worth twenty-five or thirty cents, but not what people expect. Mia and Leo are joined by tax strategist Harvey Green. Today is your own team, and the Christmas party. Next week is everyone who doesn't work for you. The week after is the machinery underneath it all. Is it entertainment? Four questions: why, what, when and where. Why did you provide it, and what did you actually provide, matter most. And alcohol is close to decisive. The tax office says plainly that if alcohol is provided at the morning or afternoon tea or light lunch, you are providing entertainment. Feeding your own team: tea, coffee and biscuits in the office kitchen are clean. Deduct them, claim the GST, no fringe benefits tax. Sandwiches at a working lunch, same. Put beers in the fridge on a Friday and it becomes entertainment, but it's still on your premises, so there's nothing to pay. You just lose the deduction. Add wine to the afternoon tea and the same thing happens. The cafe downstairs is a different answer, and not the way most people assume. The tax office's own ruling lists cafes among the places where food is more likely to be entertainment, not less. All that saves you is the minor benefits exemption, and their own failure example is weekly staff lunches at forty-five dollars a head. Low value, but regular. And feeding someone working from home doesn't get the premises exemption at all, because the law says business premises doesn't include an employee's residence. The Christmas party, properly: there are four separate things happening at one and most people treat it as one thing. Your employees' food and drink on your premises is exempt. Their partners are not covered by that exemption, though because their share is taxable, the deduction comes back on it. The band is a different category again. And the gifts are looked at separately from the party. Which produces something useful. The three hundred dollar threshold is tested on each benefit, not on the total per head, so a four-hundred-and-thirty-dollar-a-head party can come out at zero fringe benefits tax. Not automatically, though, because clearing three hundred on each item is only the first of two tests. And the part people get caught by: it's a cliff, not a step. Go one dollar over on any single benefit and the whole of that benefit is taxed, not just the excess. All of it depends on records. A credit card statement with a total on it is not enough. Next week: clients, referral partners, gifts and the footy, including the best news in the series. Already an Aevum Accounting client? Bring it up at your next catch-up and the team will go through your accounts with you. Not a client yet? Visit aevumaccounting.com.au to book a session before the party season. Shoutout: A massive thank you to Jordan for the fantastic 5-star review! Important Disclaimer: The information shared in this episode and description is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute specific tax or financial advice. Everyone's situation is unique, and tax laws are complex. For personalized advice tailored to your specific situation, we always recommend consulting with a qualified professional at Aevum Accounting.

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  Episode #58

  The Trust Tax Wasn't Dropped: What the Draft Law Actually Says

  Sep 11, 202616 minS2026

  You may have read that the Treasurer dropped the trust tax. He didn't. What happened on 3 September is that the draft legislation landed, and with it a new way to stay out of the tax without restructuring. The 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts still starts on 1 July 2028, and it's the last of the big Budget measures still to pass. Mia and Leo are joined by tax strategist Harvey Green, who fronted our Budget night episode and starts by correcting his own advice from May. In this episode, we cover: How It Works: The trustee pays 30% on the trust's taxable income before it goes anywhere. Beneficiaries still declare their share and get a credit — but it's non-refundable. Already on 30% or more? Very little changes. Streaming income to someone on a low rate? The difference is simply gone. Bucket Companies: Company beneficiaries get no credit at all. $100 of trust profit loses $30 at the trust, then the company is taxed on its full share again. Treasury designed it that way on purpose. Bendel, Briefly: June's High Court decision said an unpaid entitlement owed to a bucket company isn't a Division 7A loan. The government says it will legislate on unpaid entitlements separately, so that door is closing. Path One — Do Nothing: If everyone you distribute to is already on 30% or more and there's no bucket company, it costs you close to nothing. Treasury reckons roughly half of all discretionary trusts won't pay more in a given year — do the sum to know you're in that half. Path Two — Elect Fixed Distributions: The new option, and the reason for the "dropped it" headlines. Nominate beneficiaries with fixed percentages adding to 100%, and the trust is treated like a fixed trust with no minimum tax. Nothing transfers, so no stamp duty, and a bucket company can be nominated. But it's one-shot — it must be made in 2028–29 or never — you give up all discretion, percentages only change on death or separation, and breaking it revokes it permanently and taxes that whole year at the top rate plus Medicare. Path Three — Restructure: A rollover window from 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2030, now open to any discretionary trust of any size — broader than we said on Budget night. All assets, one transferee, four-year clawback. And no stamp duty relief, which is the whole problem for land-rich trusts. Who's Out: Super funds, fixed trusts, special disability trusts, deceased estates and charitable trusts. Genuine testamentary trusts. Primary production income — it's the income that's excluded, not the farming trust, so rent and interest are still caught. Vulnerable-minor income. Anything paid to a registered charity or DGR. And wages: if a family member does real work in the business, pay them a real wage, as Treasury itself suggested. Four things to do this month: model what the minimum tax would have cost you last year, get the trust deed out and read it, price the stamp duty on a restructure if you hold land, and clean up what your bucket company is owed. And one thing not to do: don't restructure on a draft. The law isn't final and the rollover window doesn't open until 1 July 2027. Already an Aevum Accounting client? You don't need to chase this. If and when it becomes law, the team will be contacting every client with a trust to book a meeting and go through the options properly. Not a client yet? Visit aevumaccounting.com.au to book a session and have your trust modelled under all three paths. Shoutout: A massive thank you to James for the fantastic 5-star review! Important Disclaimer: The information shared in this episode and description is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute specific tax or financial advice. Everyone's situation is unique, and tax laws are complex. For personalized advice tailored to your specific situation, we always recommend consulting with a qualified professional at Aevum Accounting.

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  Episode #57

  Payday Super: Two Months In, and What's Actually Biting

  Sep 3, 202615 minS2026

  Payday Super went live on 1 July. Two months in, the pattern of what's going wrong is clear — and it's rarely what employers expected. Almost everyone gets this backwards: it isn't a cost increase. The rate is still 12%, the same people qualify, and for most employers the amount is identical to last year. What changed is the timing. And the timing is what's catching people. Mia and Leo are joined by tax strategist Harvey Green for the practical version. We previewed this in Episode 33; this is what it feels like to actually run payroll under it. In this episode, we cover: "Received", Not "Sent": The contribution has to land in the employee's fund within 7 business days of payday, with enough information to allocate it. Your clearing house's processing time is now your problem. The Business Day Trap: A business day excludes any day that's a public holiday for the whole of any state or territory. A Northern Territory holiday removes a business day for the entire country — but a part-state holiday like the Royal Hobart Show doesn't. You can't just count weekdays. The Clearing House Is Gone: The ATO's Small Business Superannuation Clearing House shut entirely on 1 July. It was free and widely used, and if you hadn't replaced it before your first July pay run, you've had a rough two months. Easily the most common problem we've seen. Qualifying Earnings Isn't the Bogeyman: New term, but the ATO is explicit that for most employers it doesn't change the amount. The only real addition is commissions for work done entirely outside ordinary hours. The Cash Flow Half Nobody Mentions: Under quarterly super you always held money that was owed but not yet due, and plenty of businesses were quietly using it as working capital. That buffer is gone. Same annual cost, no rolling balance. The Rebuilt Super Guarantee Charge: You no longer self-assess it — the ATO does, from your Single Touch Payroll data every pay run. Interest compounds daily. There's an administrative uplift that shrinks if you disclose voluntarily. And for the first time, the charge is tax deductible. Penalties actually fell too — from up to 200% down to 25% or 50%. When You Get More Than 7 Days: Twenty business days for a new employee's first contribution, and out-of-cycle payments like a Christmas bonus ride along with the next regular payday. Funds Now Have 3 Days, Not 20: To allocate or return a contribution. Errors surface far faster, so your employee data quality matters more than it used to. Contractors Just Got Riskier: The rule hasn't changed — contractors paid mainly for their labour are employees for super purposes. But with per-pay-run reporting, a long-standing misclassification is a much shorter fuse. Four things to check this week: whether contributions are actually arriving in seven days, what replaced your clearing house, whether you pay out-of-hours commissions, and how clean your employee data is. And if you've already missed some, come forward. Voluntary disclosure reduces the uplift and the charge is deductible now. The worst version is being found by a system that watches every pay run. Connect with Aevum Accounting: Not sure your contributions are landing on time? Visit aevumaccounting.com.au to book a session with the expert team today. Shoutout: A massive thank you to Vikaash for the fantastic 5-star review! Important Disclaimer: The information shared in this episode and description is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute specific tax or financial advice. Everyone's situation is unique, and tax laws are complex. For personalized advice tailored to your specific situation, we always recommend consulting with a qualified professional at Aevum Accounting.

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  Episode #55

  Division 293: The Tax Bill That Arrives After You've Already Paid Your Tax

  Aug 19, 202615 minS2026

  You lodged. You were assessed. You paid. And then a second bill turns up with a number on it you weren't expecting. That's Division 293, and it's probably the most misunderstood assessment the ATO issues. In this episode, Mia and Leo are joined by tax strategist Harvey Green to unpack who it catches, how it's actually calculated, and the two payment traps that cost people real money. It's the companion piece to Episode 53 — same super system, completely different tax. In this episode, we cover: It's Not Division 296: Easy to confuse. Division 296 is the $3 million super tax from Episode 53. Division 293 is triggered by your income, not your balance — and you can end up paying both. $250,000, and It Hasn't Moved Since 2017: Nine years, with no indexation mechanism in the legislation at all. Not paused — simply absent. So every year of wage growth pulls in people who don't think of themselves as high earners. It's Not Your Salary: Division 293 income is broader — taxable income plus reportable fringe benefits plus net investment losses plus the concessional contributions themselves. Which means a negatively geared property can reduce your taxable income and still push you over this line. The "Lesser Of" Rule: The extra 15% applies to the lesser of the amount you went over by, or your contributions. The ATO's own example: $240,000 income and $15,000 of contributions produces a bill of $750, not $2,250. Crossing the line by a little costs you a little. The Ceiling: The concessional cap rose to $32,500 on 1 July 2026, so the most anyone pays this year is $4,875. A bigger cap is a small win and a small sting at once. The One Unusual Year: A redundancy, a big bonus or a property sale can lift a single year over the line. Our worked example: someone on $200,000 who receives a $60,000 redundancy ends up with $4,500 of Division 293 tax in the year they lost their job. Trap One — the 60 Days: You get 60 days to elect to pay from super. That does not extend the due date on the assessment. People hear "60 days to pay" and start accruing interest. Trap Two — the Release Authority: If you have an SMSF and pay before the ATO issues the release authority, that isn't a Division 293 payment. It's illegal early access to super, with the penalties attached. The organised trustee is the one who gets caught. The Debt You Might Not Know About: If your Division 293 relates to a defined benefit interest, you don't pay now — the ATO holds it in a debt account that accrues interest until your benefit is released. Common in older public sector, military, judicial and university schemes. But Don't Stop Contributing: 30% still beats 47%. On the full $32,500 cap you're about $5,525 better off through super than taking it as salary. Division 293 reduces the benefit; it doesn't remove it. The letter is unsettling, but it's rarely wrong and it's almost always predictable in advance. Knowing which side of the line you're on beats finding out by post. Connect with Aevum Accounting: Not sure whether this is coming for you? Visit aevumaccounting.com.au to book a session with the expert team today. Shoutout: A massive thank you to Katrina for the fantastic 5-star review! Important Disclaimer: The information shared in this episode and description is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute specific tax or financial advice. Everyone's situation is unique, and tax laws are complex. For personalized advice tailored to your specific situation, we always recommend consulting with a qualified professional at Aevum Accounting.

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