![Treasurer Scott Morrison's efforts to distinguish "good debt" from "bad debt" in the lead-up to the budget appear to ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/i/f/w/j/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.gwph15.png/1497417517988.jpg)
Tax
![Treasurer Scott Morrison's efforts to distinguish "good debt" from "bad debt" in the lead-up to the budget appear to ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/i/f/w/j/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.gwph15.png/1497417517988.jpg)
Ten things you're doing wrong at tax time
!["If you're sitting on some bad apples you might as well bring forward the realisation of a loss to offset any gains."](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/x/i/m/i/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwo5p1.png/1497455124066.jpg)
Putting together a tax return isn't something most people relish.
Meet the real high taxpayers. They're not high earners
![Illustration: Matt Davidson](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/c/c/z/w/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwbt6t.png/1496202762182.jpg)
The budget pushed low-income earners' marginal tax rate up towards 100 per cent.
The one thing most investors get wrong
![Remember: An investment's tax benefits are the cream on the cake.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/4/p/8/9/image.related.landscape.120x80.gw7lft.png/1495206701987.jpg)
There is anecdotal evidence that regulatory measures and budget proposals are having an effect on the housing market, which is a sad reflection on the mentality of the average property investor.
Buying property with your super fund has drawbacks
![If you're investing in property, you're probably better off buying it in your personal name than your self-managed super ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/b/g/f/z/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvt6ke.png/1493249063492.jpg)
Whether or not the government removes the ability of self-managed super funds to borrow to purchase property or other investments, the implications for investors are relatively minor.
You'll lose 2 per cent of your taxable profit selling before June 30
![Vendors will potentially pay less tax if the hammer falls after June 30.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/g/y/v/u/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvrbrv.png/1493131711651.jpg)
There's nothing like a forewarned tax change to distort behaviour.
Meet the 48 millionaires who pay no income tax
![The ATO has issued guidance on the pricing of related-party loans.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/0/9/d/i/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvnkxh.png/1494885099987.jpg)
A million dollars' worth of tax advice can cut your tax bill to zero.
The benefits of capital gains tax
![Illustration: Michael Mucci](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/g/5/g/z/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvk4su.png/1492505231939.jpg)
Understanding the fine details of capital gains tax can improve investment returns.
The $300m GST grab hardly anyone knows about
![GST will be charged on low-value items and digital products and services bought from overseas after July this year.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/g/d/z/z/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvgcfb.png/1496283534767.jpg)
Australians will soon be paying GST on nearly all purchases from overseas websites, including low-value items and digital products and services.
Time to 'get serious' about interest-only loans
![Mark Bouris is not a fan of 'sledgehammer government responses to the property market' because they might fuel the problem.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/b/b/i/u/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvfc9a.png/1491522570750.jpg)
The longer the property boom in Sydney and Melbourne goes on, the more avenues we explore to put a cap on buyer exuberance.
Why property investors won't take their profits
![It's better to sell investments when you're no longer working to minimise the capital gains tax bill.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/h/8/n/o/z/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvfeo5.png/1491696498471.jpg)
If you're working, contributing to super beats paying off investment debt.
How the Senate saved the government from itself
![Treasury Secretary John Fraser says foreign investors are concerned with the rule of law, access to energy and the ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/n/q/5/j/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvb1w1.png/1491624401529.jpg)
Why do companies invest here? We mightn't have needed to cut that company tax much anyway.
Tax hacks for the last quarter of the financial year
![You have three months to maximise your tax position for this financial year.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/h/l/f/b/image.related.landscape.120x80.gv79ol.png/1492070455955.jpg)
If you're smart, you'll use this quarter to ensure you're making the most of your tax situation.
Thorny questions as federal budget looms
![Could inheritance tax – and a gift tax – go back on the national agenda?](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/9/k/9/x/image.related.landscape.120x80.gv4fxd.png/1490443353356.jpg)
It's just six weeks to budget night and, as usual, a lot of ideas are being floated.
How Turnbull can kill stamp duty and produce a budget to remember
![Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has the chance to do something transformative and lasting in May's budget.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/2/2/6/5/image.related.landscape.120x80.gv3kgs.png/1490501340873.jpg)
There's still time to craft a budget that actually does something.
Adopt US model of tax deductions for homeowners, not investors
![The government has a few options to help first-home buyers.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/w/t/b/m/image.related.landscape.120x80.guzavv.png/1489626812403.jpg)
The US tax system is heavily biased in favour of owners of modest properties with mortgage commitments and limits the subsidy available to geared investors.
Why taxpayers get a good deal from funding childcare
![Quality early childhood care and education has enormous economic and social benefits.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/q/i/z/3/image.related.landscape.120x80.guqisj.png/1490958660654.jpg)
It's time to bust the myth that childcare subsidies are middle-class welfare.
The Tax Office may be reading your social media
![Katy Perry's Apple watch on her Instagram feed.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/1/m/r/g/3/l/image.related.landscape.120x80.gum0hg.png/1488158983160.jpg)
What the Tax Office is attempting to catch is nothing new – undisclosed income and dodgy deductions – it's just added a new way to catch you out.
The science of money
![Data is the new currency.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/g/d/6/d/image.related.landscape.120x80.gugd5w.png/1487713952083.jpg)
The Centrelink debt demands are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how data is used in your financial life.
Tax time in danger from ATO's tech wreck
![ATO chief information officer Ramez Katf.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/6/o/f/p/image.related.landscape.120x80.gu7a98.png/1493269123482.jpg)
IT projects thrown overboard as ATO orders all hands to keep tax time afloat.
How the Tax Commissioner was leant on to deliver high-end tax cuts
![Treasurer Scott Morrison says Australia must confront the "air of unreality" about its budget challenge.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/0/i/a/z/image.related.landscape.120x80.gtzzf5.png/1485836472987.jpg)
When Scott Morrison rose in Parliament to promise high-end tax cuts, he knew he faced a powerful obstacle.
Entire ATO website down
![Labor has adopted the 2015 Senate inquiry recommendation that tenderers be forced to state their country of tax.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/o/l/7/6/image.related.landscape.120x80.gt91dx.png/1495826199748.jpg)
The Tax Office ruled out a census-style "denial of service" attack as the reason for the loss of its entire website, saying the massive failure was due to hardware problems "not being caused by any external factors".
A soft drink tax will make us less fat. But here's what it will do to prices
!["You are what you eat but also a result of how often and how much you eat": Assistant Minister for Rural Health David ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/u/z/i/v/image.related.landscape.120x80.gsuw17.png/1479898294042.jpg)
The United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, France, Fiji, Mexico, South Africa and parts of America have sugar taxes. Australia could be next.
End the age of entitlement - for seniors
![Seniors are doing better in real terms than younger people earning the same incomes.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/q/s/7/h/image.related.landscape.120x80.gst8o1.png/1479707078611.jpg)
Australia's tax system has become skewed towards a growing and apparently untouchable group of 'taxed nots' - they are older Australians who pay roughly $1 billion per year less tax than younger Australians in the same circumstances, according to a new Grattan Institute report.
The case for a basic income, no questions asked
![Peter Martin dinkus.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/k/q/9/4/image.related.landscape.120x80.gssj23.png/1487437026457.jpg)
What if the right to an income was as basic as the right to vote?
It's Halloween ... and the taxman is calling
![Halloween is also the deadline to submit your tax return, if you're doing it yourself rather than through an accountant.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/e/y/0/v/image.related.landscape.120x80.gseh4p.png/1477963279392.jpg)
If you're lodging with MyTax this weekend, here are a few tips to help you get more bucks back this year.
12 smart things to do with the average tax return of $2112
![We derive more happiness from buying an experience than an object. How about BridgeClimb?](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/2/s/u/t/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs2sc4.png/1490959088278.jpg)
Eight of 10 Australians get a tax refund and the average last year was $2112
I'm ready for complaints, says tax watchdog
![Inspector-General of Taxation Ali Noroozi promises "the strictest confidence" for anyone raising complaints, issues or ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/q/w/v/2/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs0tx2.png/1495154236738.jpg)
"I've got my ear to the ground now," says Inspector-General of Taxation Ali Noroozi.
Cutting company tax for small business is 'stupid': Noel Whittaker
![Most small businesses would appreciate government assistance but not necessarily in the form of tax cuts.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/f/k/u/5/image.related.landscape.120x80.grok4h.png/1474869280946.jpg)
A crazy idea that looks like getting up was based on the notion that government could give small business a much-needed boost by cutting their company tax.
The Money guide to shacking up with your partner
![If it's true love, like Wesley and Princess Buttercup in The Princess Bride, you might want to consider putting assets ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170616161105im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/f/7/b/o/image.related.landscape.120x80.grg6io.png/1473895672274.jpg)
There can be unexpected tax and financial consequences of a couple moving in together.