Mark Beyer

TAX Commissioner Michael Carmody has signalled a crackdown on the use of service trusts by professional firms such as accountants and lawyers.

WAFARMERS has welcomed a new Western Australian Government scheme designed to promote tree farming. The Government has described the Infinitree program as the most complete commercial farm forestry package ever offered to farmers in Australia.

In the second of a four-part series on business tax planning, Mark Beyer looks at the Simplified Tax System.

The high risks associated with key infrastructure projects have prompted the Western Australian Government to adopt radical contracting arrangements. Mark Beyer reports.

THE Western Australian Government needs to focus on a handful of high potential species if the aquaculture industry is to achieve its full potential, a new report has recommended.

THE growing prominence of the waste management industry has been highlighted by the stockmarket listing of Perth company Organic Resource Technologies.

LARGE proprietary companies have been advised to check whether they need to have their accounts audited.

SIX consortia have lodged expressions of interest to build Main Roads’ next big project, the Roe Highway stage seven extension from South Street to the Kwinana Freeway.

CONSTRUCTION of a 291-room Holiday Inn is scheduled to commence in August after Burswood finalised an agreement with InterContinental Hotels Group.

ANZ Banking Group has established a private equity service in Perth, providing an alternative source of capital for Western Australian businesses.

A TAX ruling designed to clarify the GST treatment of vouchers has left some uncertainty about the treatment of certain types of vouchers.

Private equity funds are targeting the potential upsurge in public-to-private transactions. Mark Beyer reports.

The parking levy that has caused CBD businesses so much pain could soon be extended to the suburbs, however, the Western Australian Government is playing down these suggestions.

STARTRACK Communications is hoping that a move from satellite technology to medical technology will provide a better future for the company.

SENIOR managers at Perth’s largest advertising agency Marketforce are negotiating to acquire 100 per cent ownership of the business.

In the first of a four-part series on business tax planning, Mark Beyer passes on some end-of-financial-year tips. EVERY good accountant will explain that tax planning should commence at the start of the financial year.

THE dreaded fringe benefits tax has finally caught up with West Perth businesses providing parking bays to their staff. Employers caught by the tax now face an extra cost of about $700 per car bay.

MID-SIZED accounting firms with between three and nine partners have outpaced their larger rivals in the profitability stakes, a new industry survey has found.

WESTERN Australian Government plans to accelerate the collection of stamp duty have been vigorously criticised by business brokers, property agents and settlement agents.

AUSTRALIAN companies are among the fastest payers of sales invoices, an international survey has found. The average payment period by Australian firms was 36 days, according to accounting firm Grant Thornton’s International Business Owners Survey.

FORMER deputy premier Hendy Cowan has been appointed chairman of the Institute of Natural Resource Management at Notre Dame University.

MG Kailis Group is slowly but surely laying the groundwork for the establishment of sea cage tuna farms off of the coast of Esperance.

A POLITICAL stand-off over payroll tax changes threatens to derail the State Government’s planned business tax reforms.

In the final part of a six part series on corporate superannuation, Mark Beyer looks at organisations that have resisted the outsourcing trend.

A PIG farmer from Northam has fallen foul of the Australian Tax Office, copping a two-and-a-half-year jail term for GST fraud totalling $109,000.

NOT-FOR-PROFIT organisations have been told they should improve reporting standards to meet the needs of donors and funding providers.

THE State Government has given the union movement a bigger role in developing local content policies for major projects.

WESPINE Industries has completed a $13 million upgrade of its Dardanup sawmill, confirming its position as one of the State’s major pine processors.

MASTER trusts have been one of the fastest growing segments of the funds management industry over the past decade. For many employers they provide an easy and effective solution to all of their superannuation needs.

Australia’s biggest fabrication hall is the centrepiece of a $200 million infrastructure project south of Perth. Mark Beyer asks if this is an astute investment that will foster industrial growth or an extravagant use of taxpayers’ money?

THE world of local government may be slow moving but the direction it is heading is unmistakable.

A SURVEY of small and mid-sized tax practices has found a sharp increase in average working hours over the past three years, from 47.4 hours a week to 54.6 hours.