The new resources can be found on the Fair Work website and will provide:

• tools to assist employers to calculate pay rates
• information on modern awards and the National Employment Standards
• example questions from employers
• information on conditions for apprentices and trainees, employing workers part-time and dispute resolution

Michael Campbell, executive director, Fair Work Ombudsman, said, ‘the agency is devoting considerable resources to assist the retail industry.

‘Essentially, it’s a place for retail employers to access materials specifically designed for small-to-medium sized businesses.’

Retailers can also obtain information by calling the Fair Work infoline on 13 13 94 between 8.00 am 6.00 pm on weekdays or by visiting the Fair Work website.

The draft legislation is an attempt to stop companies and directors engaging in phoenix activity.

The ATO estimates that the level of suspected phoenix cases may be in the order of $600 million and that this is an unacceptable risk to the governments revenue.>

Section 255-100 of the proposed Bill says:

The Commissioner may require you to give security for the due payment of an existing or future tax related liability of yours if: (a) the Commissioner has reason to believe that: (i) you are establishing or carrying on an enterprise in Australia; and (ii) you intend to carry on that enterprise for a limited time only; or (b) the Commissioner believes that the requirement is otherwise appropriate, having regard to all relevant circumstances.

The Bill gives the ATO power, at any time, to require such security deposits as the Commissioner considers appropriate. It is expected that the ATO will use this power in high risk industries known to be at risk for phoenix transactions and against directors with a history of failed companies with large tax debts.

However, I do think that a lot of what The Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, Chris Bowen MP released for discussion are very worthwhile reforms. I how they can successfully pull it off.

“The reforms will reduce unnecessary reporting obligations on companies and implement a number of other important refinements to our corporate regulatory framework.” Mr Bowen said

The key measures to reduce red-tape include:

• significantly reducing the regulatory burden on companies limited by guarantee (which typically have a not-for-profit purpose), by introducing a three tiered differential reporting framework;
• streamlining parent-entity reporting;
• providing greater flexibility for companies to pay dividends, by replacing the profits test with a solvency-type test; and
• allowing companies to more easily change their year-end date to minimise the burden on companies and their auditors during peak reporting periods.

The reforms will also implement refinements to the regulatory framework, including:

• improving disclosure of non-financial information in the directors’ report;
• protecting solicitors’ representation letters from disclosure to enable auditors to properly verify a company’s contingent liabilities;
• refining the statement of compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards contained in the directors’ declaration; and
• clarifying the circumstances in which a company can cancel its share capital.

Copies of draft amendments, the explanatory material and the regulation impact statement can be obtained from the Treasury website: www.treasury.gov.au.

The closing date for submissions is 3 February 2010.

NAB’s banking rivals attracted somewhere in the range of $11 billion and $22 billion more of cheaper funding during the recent crisis, leaving NAB now scrambling for market share.It is easly to conclude that NAB’s latest round of fee cuts appear more like a desperate attempt to claw back some of the ground it has lost recently.

The move by NAB is set to cost the bank over $100 million a year.

But if it succeeds in boosting deposit levels, it will prove a cunning move.

If NAB can increase deposits quickly, it will provide a funding source for a potential spike in residential lending, as the newly acquired mortgage broker army from Challenger begins writing the bank’s loans.

The strategy at NAB seems to be a case of giving with one hand and while taking back with the other.

Thanks to www.burning-pants.com/ for the bringing this to our attention

The Courts decision was that the taxpayers’ appeals were allowed. The fees were deductible. Now the ATO has release a Decision Impact Statement .

The tax office had argued that the footballers were employees and that the fees paid for the negotiation of the playing contracts were incurred only to obtain new employment contracts and had no connection with the course of the taxpayers earning income from their non-playing businesses.
However The High Court unanimously held in both cases that the fees were deductible as being incurred by the taxpayers in the course of gaining or producing assessable income from carrying on a business of commercially exploiting their sporting prowess and associated celebrity.

The Tax Office will now amend Taxation Ruling TR 2000/5 to clarify that it does not apply to employees whose employment activities form part of the carrying on of a business. That is, it accepts the fees are deductible, but only for those whose activities extend beyond mere employment and can be regarded as carrying on a business.

We generally only go to the branch to deposit cheques and would love NAB to implement this.

By implementing these practices early, small businesses will benefit
from strong financial management that will operate without detracting
from their core business operations.

Information in this guide includes:

• Chapter one: Profit in your business
• Chapter two: Financial management
• Chapter three: Increasing operating liquidity
• Chapter four: Cash flow management
• Chapter five: Financing
• Chapter six: How to handle your bank
• Chapter seven: Import and export finance
• Chapter eight: Financial controls

You can down load the guide from CPA Australia

The report, Helping home borrowers in financial hardship (REP 152), found that while some lenders are responding well to the needs of their customers, there is generally room for improvement and provides guidance to industry on how to improve practices.

‘This report highlights the importance of industry taking an active role in dealing with hardship’, said ASIC’s Senior Executive Leader, Deposit Takers, Credit and Insurance Providers, Mr Greg Kirk.

‘With forecasts of growing unemployment, we can expect to see increasing numbers of borrowers experiencing mortgage stress. In many cases, however, financial difficulties will be temporary, allowing problems that arise to be resolved.’

‘It’s important that lenders and intermediaries have processes and procedures in place to provide constructive responses to financial hardship. These include procedures to identify customers in hardship, to provide clear and timely information to customers on their right to seek relief, and to engage sufficiently with a customer’s circumstances in order to provide appropriate and flexible assistance’, said Mr Kirk.

The report found that:

• Information about financial hardship is usually only provided following payment default, making it very difficult for borrowers to take positive action at an early stage. Equally concerning, this information is often insufficient for borrowers to understand their options and make informed choices;
• Some lenders do very little to identify borrowers who may require hardship assistance. Many lenders leave this identification of need to collection officers who may not be trained for the purpose eg. one lender only identifies hardship where the borrower raises the need for assistance themselves;
• Lenders appear to prefer offering short-term assistance, such as a three month payment moratorium, rather than genuinely engaging with, and responding to, a borrower’s specific situation. For example, a home loan borrower who has lost income through reduced overtime may need their loan to be extended with lower repayments over a longer period. In such circumstances, a short moratorium is a very temporary fix leaving the borrower likely to default when repayments resume;
• Some lenders have adopted policies that are inconsistent with the rights and remedies available to borrowers under the Uniform Consumer Credit Code. For example, by refusing hardship assistance once payments are more than 60 days overdue or limiting any variation in repayments to a maximum period of six months; and
• Despite clear industry standards mortgage brokers generally have a limited understanding of their role in responding to financial hardship. While most brokers say they offer assistance, there is little evidence of formal policies and procedures to ensure it is done effectively or constructively.

‘This report examined industry practices as at late 2008 and there are already moves within some sectors to improve. On 5 April 2009, the Federal Treasurer announced an agreement with the four major banks wherein they commit to assist borrowers who are experiencing financial difficulty as a result of the global recession’, Mr Kirk said.

‘ASIC is confident industry will welcome the guidance provided by the report, and we’ll continue to work with them to promote better outcomes for borrowers.’

‘Helping home borrowers in financial hardship’ also provides guidance for borrowers. Further information for borrowers is also available on ASIC’s consumer website, FIDO, at www.fido.asic.gov.au.

Victorian borrowers are also encouraged to visit the Consumer Affairs Victoria website (www.consumer.vic.gov.au) for publications that can assist them in dealing with their credit providers. These publications explain the rights and responsibilities of both lenders and borrowers in Victoria.

The government has also announced that the Productivity Commission will examine the regulation of director and executive remuneration. The Treasurer said the review is a broad-ranging examination that will consider the existing regulatory arrangements that apply to director and executive remuneration for companies that are disclosing entities under the Corporations Act. The review will also consider the role of equity-based payments and incentive schemes, and the role played by the tax treatment of equity-based remuneration.