Michael Quinn

Good planning before you retire can make your retirement years smooth sailing. It is important to consider what age would be realistic and financially feasible for you to retire as opposed to simply when you would like to retire. Retirement differs for each person and a variety of scenarios need to be taken into account when taking control of your money and planning for your retirement needs.

Changes to tax invoices and recipient created tax invoices (RCTIs) were introduced on 1 July 2010 in order to simplify the requirements for a document to be a tax invoice. A document may be considered to be a tax invoice, or RCTI, if it is issued by the supplier (or recipient for RCTIs) in the approved form.

If you've ever applied for credit or a loan, you will usually be listed with a credit reporting agency. Credit providers use the information in your credit report to help work out whether you can afford a loan, or a larger limit on an existing loan, and whether you are likely to be able to repay it. Your credit report includes information about your credit history that is collected by credit reporting agencies, such as Veda Advantage and Dun and Bradstreet.

The NSW government recently introduced a new law, which provides people with the choice to make their agreements legally enforceable, when they resolve disputes through the NSW Government's free community mediation service.

Debt recovery is a process many businesses are forced to go through due to ongoing or irresolvable problems with debtors. Debtors are customers that owe your business money for the good or service it provides.

Goods and services tax (GST) is a broad-based tax of 10% on most goods, services and other items sold or consumed in Australia. Generally, registered businesses include GST in the price of sales to their customers and claim credits for the GST included in the price of their business purchases.

The NSW Home Builders Bonus (HBB) has been introduced to stimulate the construction of new homes in NSW. HBB provides a full exemption on stamp duty for new homes where the value does not exceed $600,000 and building has not commenced. It also applies to vacant land worth up to $400,000.

The first anniversary of the new Fair Work laws was on 1 July 2010. This date also saw the first pay period that the $26 per week national wage increase was introduced, along with higher award penalty rates, allowances, loadings and casual wages in some industries and States.

One of the keys to business success is budgeting. A budget is used to provide a picture of money that is coming in and money that is going out of the business. Once these figures are determined you are able to put in place some forecasting and forward planning solutions that will help you to allocate resources where they are most needed. By monitoring your budget you should be able to cover any future expenses, if and when they arise.

One downfall to renting out an investment property is that Capital Gains Tax (CGT) will be payable upon the sale of the property. CGT is the tax charged on capital gains that are procured from an asset, you are liable to pay this tax when your capital gains exceed your capital losses in an income year. However, there are legal ways to avoid paying CGT while renting out your house. Capital gains tax exemptions are allowed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) under certain scenarios.