by Terry Robinson | Jul 16, 2016 | Business
As a general rule, a small business employer is not required to pay redundancy pay; however, there are some circumstances where an employer may be legally required to make redundancy payments.
The National Employment Standards confirms that a small business employer is not required to pay redundancy where an employee’s position becomes redundant. Notwithstanding these National Employment Standards, an employer may be obliged to pay redundancy because of the terms of a “modern award” or an “enterprise agreement”.
Who is a “small business employer”?
An employer who employs fewer than 15 employees at that time is deemed a small business employer.… Read More
by Terry Robinson | Jun 11, 2016 | Business
The answer is yes and no.
On 1 July 2016, certain Stamp Duties are to be abolished in New South Wales.
Firstly, mortgages executed on or after 1 July 2016 will not be liable to payment of Stamp Duty.
Further, any advances made on a pre-existing agreement after 1 July 2016 will not be subject to the imposition of Stamp Duty.
Secondly, Stamp Duty on a large number of business assets will also be abolished. Whilst this abolition has been promised for many years, it looks like this is the year where it will be removed.
The types of business assets which will cease to be subject to Stamp Duty include the goodwill of a business, a business’s intellectual property, statutory licences or permissions (for example, a taxi licence) and duty on gaming machine entitlements.… Read More
by Terry Robinson | Mar 19, 2016 | Property
Legislators are hoping that property buyers in New South Wales will face less frustration with the new agents underquoting laws which came into effect on the 1 January 2016.
Under changes to the legislation, real estate agents must quote price ranges within 10% of the lowest estimated price (i.e. $500,000.00 – $550,000.00).
The new laws mean real estate agents who underquote, potentially face losing their commission and fines up to $22,000.00.
For Buyers it means a more accurate price estimate so that buyers will not be misled into believing that they can afford a property, spending money on building and pest reports and other costs when they are not in that price bracket.… Read More
by Terry Robinson | Oct 17, 2015 | Business
It is not uncommon for parties to a contract such as the sale and purchase of a business or a landlord and tenant of commercial premises to enter into Heads of Agreement prior to any contract being entered into.
If the Heads of Agreement are signed both parties, are the parties bound?
This has resulted in many disputes being submitted to the Courts for determination.
Normally Heads of Agreement are entered into as a gesture of good faith and a promise to proceed with the transaction. Usually Heads of Agreement are not meant to bind the parties to the terms of the agreement.… Read More
by Terry Robinson | Oct 3, 2015 | Criminal
There are criminal penalties and civil remedies for defamation and the laws apply to all forms of communication, including social media.
Under s529(3) of the Crimes Act 1900, it is an offence to publish, without lawful excuse, a matter defamatory to another person knowing the matter to be false, and with intent to cause serious harm, or being reckless as to whether such harm has been caused.
The offence of defamation carries a maximum penalty of 3 years imprisonment.
In accordance with the Defamation Act 2005 defamation is a tort for which damages can be recovered. As indicated in the case of Mickle v Farley in which the NSW District Court awarded damages in the sum of $105,000 for defamatory comments posted on a social medial site, you must think before you post.… Read More
by Terry Robinson | Aug 1, 2015 | Property
The requirement that before a property can be sold or leased, the owner or landlord must have an up-to-date swimming pool certificate of compliance, has been postponed until April 2016.
Whilst that date may seem a little way off, if you are intending to sell your property or you have a rental property that has a swimming pool, you ought to think seriously about obtaining a swimming pool inspection to ascertain whether or not your property complies and if not taking the necessary corrective action to obtain a certificate.
Undoubtedly there will be a rush in the early part of 2016 to obtain such certificates and it appears likely that there will be insufficient inspectors and insufficient trades’ persons in the short term to manage the anticipated influx of applications and repair work that will be required.… Read More
by Terry Robinson | Jun 6, 2015 | Business
Generally if you wish to change your business structure, say from a partnership to a company or trust, you must consider whether such restructure or transfer will involve a payment of capital gains tax, stamp duty and/or GST.
As a result of those taxes, many restructures do not take place and businesses operate with structures which are less than ideal for their circumstances.
A welcome Budget announcement is the proposed relief for small businesses who wish to restructure from the payment of capital gains tax.
The concession recognises that in the initial stages of a business, business owners often do not know whether their business will be successful and do not have the resources to spend on obtaining expert advice as to how their business ought to be best structured now and in the future.… Read More
by Terry Robinson | Feb 28, 2015 | Superannuation
Section 67A allows a Self-Managed Super Fund (“SMSF”) to borrow to acquire an asset subject to strict conditions such as holding the asset in a separate Holding Trust, using a nonrecourse loan and the SMSF must only purchase a single acquirable asset.
It has long been known and the ATO has confirmed that a related party to a member of a SMSF is entitled to lend to that person’s own super fund. For example you can personally or an associated entity can lend to your own SMSF to acquire an asset.
In 2010 the ATO issued an interpretative decision indicating that a related party could charge less than a market rate of interest on a loan to their SMSF, but could not charge more than a market rate.… Read More
by Terry Robinson | Dec 20, 2014 | Employment
With the temperatures rising, and Christmas just around the corner, the annual office Christmas parties are now in full swing.
For both employers and employees this presents a welcome relief from their yearly work commitments and a time in which an employer can show appreciation for the year’s hard work to their employees.
What should be remembered, however, is, put simply, the Christmas party is a ‘workplace’, regardless of when and where it is held.
Employers can be liable for the actions of their employees at work-related events, such as seminars, conferences, work functions and Christmas parties.
In the spirit of the season, Everingham Solomons now presents a ‘do’s and don’ts’ for both employees and employers for office Christmas parties.… Read More
by Terry Robinson | Oct 25, 2014 | Business
Most franchise agreements contain terms to the effect that the franchisee is entitled to an “exclusive territory” where the franchisor will not compete for business or allow another franchisee to operate in that area.
Several recent court decisions have reviewed the obligation of franchisors to ensure the franchisee’s territory is not encroached upon by the actions of the franchisor itself or other franchisees.
A case involving a video hire store concerned whether the franchisor’s online sales breached the exclusive territory of the franchisee. The franchisor argued that as it had not opened a “bricks and mortar” store in the franchisee’s territory, it had not breached its obligation of non-competition.… Read More
