1. Martin Ryland Investing with Structures - The Basics
© Ryland Taxation Services

2. Basic ground rules
 If you have a question, try to wait until the end.
 I will not be offering personal advice tailored to your situation during the seminar.
 This advice is very general in nature and does not cover all aspects of structuring. It is relevant as of

3. The Problem Being sued - assets at risk Too much tax
 Restrictive Structures

4. Example  John owns 10 rental properties in his name.
 Non working spouse, 3 children.
Each property returns $15,000 a year in income after expenses.
 Tax Bill for John $50,100
 Land Tax Bill $13,250 assuming unimproved land value of 150k each.

5. Example – with trusts  John has 10 properties, each in its own trust.
 John distributes $1,335 to each child tax free and splits the remaining income with his spouse
 Tax bill $36,688
 No Land Tax.
 Total Saving - $26,662.

6. Rules of structuring  Buy in the right entity from the beginning.
 Asset protection is about doing stuff before you get sued.
 Trusts are your friend.

7. Individual Pros  Borrowing is easier  Negative Gearing
 Lower accounting fees

8. Individual Cons  No asset protection  No income distribution
 High income tax rates for individuals compared with other structures
 Land tax problems

9. Example  Mark owns a rental property
 $10,000 taxable loss, extra $3,150 refund
 Easy to refinance
 Potential future problems

10. Why use Individual?  You plan on living in your property.
 First Home Owners Grant
 No relatives
You won’t earn a lot
Don’t or can’t pay additional accounting fees.
You aren’t concerned with Asset Protection.

11. What is a Company?
Oof
Urk
The Meat

12. Mammoth Meat Pty Ltd Shareholder 1 - Oof Director Shareholder 2 - Urk
Profits

13. Corporate Takeover

14. Companies  Legal entities – can operate on their own
 Governed by ASIC - must pay $212 a year.
 They pay a flat 30% tax rate from the first $1.

15. Example  Jane has $60,000 to buy property in.
 It will be negatively geared.
 Obtains a company and finances a loan through the bank.
 What happens

16. Companies Pros  Asset Protection - to some degree.
 30% flat tax rate.

17. Companies Cons No negative gearing! Higher accounting fees.
Profits trapped.
Complexity

18. Final advice for companies
 Buy shares in a discretionary trust

19. Trusts
 Trustee – you look after the boat, it is in your legal name, but you do not ‘own’ it.
 Settlor – The person giving you the boat. Will not benefit from the trust.
 Beneficiaries – your children

20. Discretionary Trusts  Also known as Family Trusts
 Trustee has the discretion to distribute profit to anyone authorised by the deed to distribute to.

21. Like a bucket??
Rental income, shares, interest, trust distributions, etc after expenses
Spouse
You
Kids
Relatives

22. Example  Rental property – generates $15,000 a year.
 You have a non working spouse and 4 children.
 If you use a DT, $1,335 to each child, rest to spouse. Tax Bill $549.
 If in own name, tax bill $4,725 (31.5%). At highest rate of personal tax, $6,975.

23. Discretionary Trust Pros  Asset protection – no one owns the assets.
 Income splitting – remember the bucket.

24. Discretionary Trusts Cons  No negative gearing
 Losses are typically lost unless you make a FTE limiting beneficiaries.
 Individual trustees can lose personal assets if trusts are not able to pay creditors
Lasts for 80 years.
Higher accounting fees

25. Who can receive a trust distribution?
Answer – Read the deed.

26. Note
 If the trust runs a business, personal services income rules may limit discretionary powers.
 Trustee can be a company to provide protection to your personal assets.

27. Unit trusts Issues units like companies issue shares.
 Income cannot be distributed as you wish – they must go to the unit holders.

28. Unit trusts Pros Negative gearing (for unit holder)
Allows contributions to super later (with restrictions)
Cons
If unit holder goes bankrupt, creditors control unit trust.
Can’t distribute losses.

29. Example
 Mary has $60,000 and wants to invest in a negatively geared property worth $300,000.
 She borrows $240,000 and with the other $60,000 buys units in a unit trust.
 The trust buys the property. The income earned by the trust goes to Mary.
 Mary declares the income in her own name, and writes the interest incurred against the income from the trust.

30. Hybrid Discretionary Trusts
The problem
Discretionary Trusts don’t allow negative gearing.
Unit Trusts have no asset protection.
A solution?
HDTs can issue special income units that you can borrow against .

31. Example  John wants to buy a $400,000 house
 Buys in name of the Hybrid Discretionary Trust and borrows $400,000 from the bank in his own name
 John receives 400,000 special income units
 Trust runs property and must give John 100% of income
John claims the interest in his own name, and claims overall tax loss if the interest exceeds the income.
SIUs can be redeemed, and it has been said that they

32. Hybrid Discretionary Trusts
Pros
 Negative gearing
 Asset protection
 Once positively geared, redeem units and distribute at your leisure!
Cons
 Negative gearing aspect in a cloud
Unit Redemption in a cloud
Value of SIUs for bankruptcy proceedings
High Accounting fees.

33. Other trust advice
Three types of trusts can transfer income to children at adult rates
Child maintenance trusts
Estate proceeds trusts
Testamentary trusts
 Need to sign now and want a trust to own the property? Add ‘ATF’ after the name of the potential trustee.

34. Super Funds
Imagine a way of investing in property that was completely tax free
You can arrange for contributions to them to be tax deductible
 $50,000 for the next financial year all ages, $100,000 if you are 50 and over after the 1st of July 2007 up to 30th June 2012.

35. Super Funds Pros  15% tax on profits and contributions
 No tax on super pensions or payouts after 1 July 2007 if you meet the criteria
Cons
 Can’t borrow. No borrowing at all
 Can’t live in
 Can’t use as security
 Assets locked away until retirement.
 Can’t personally benefit from assets.
 Accounting fees.

36. Joint ventures  Joint ventures are not a structure
 “highly defined partnerships that don’t lodge tax returns “
 Long contractual agreements

37. Joint Ventures
Pros
 Allows super funds to get involved in projects requiring borrowed funds
 Stamp duty savings
 Redistributing profits among entities
Cons
 High fees for contracts and accounting
 Disagreements are rarely prepared for
 Must be very careful on the paperwork, eg insurance

38. Advice for JVs
 Great for when you don’t have the funds to go ahead with a project
 For short quick stuff, like a development
 But the final word on JV is ensure a lot of preparation and time is spent making sure everyone understands their responsibilities and risks and makes firm commitments to the project. Many people have been burned on JVs due to a breakdown between the parties involved.

39. Discretionary trust and companies
Trustee - Company
Creditors
Trust
‘Bucket’ Company $

40. Unit trust and hybrid discretionary trusts
(owns the property)
Units owned by
Hybrid Discretionary Trust /
Discretionary Trust
(owns the units)
Income

41. Unit trust and hybrid discretionary trusts
Pros
 Negative gearing (with HDT, not with DT)
 Asset Protection
 Distributing Income
Contribute property to super later
Cons
 Higher accounting fees

42. Unit trust and hybrid discretionary trusts
Note
Each trust must have different trustees, or they are treated as one trust.
If you feel uncomfortable with HDTs, use a DT instead, but you will lose the ability to negatively gear the asset.

43. Transferring assets around
 2 costs to consider
Capital Gains and Stamp Duty
Capital gains – When you transfer properties, the Market Substitution Rule applies. (If discount available, worst case scenario 23.25% of gain)
Stamp duty – Property is transferred for Market value.

44. Stamp duty - Queensland
Value of property Stamp duty payable
$200, $5,600
$300, $8,975
$400, $12,475
$500, $15,975
$600, $19,975
$700, $23,975

45. Example
 Jane started as a doctor and is worried about getting sued. She is moving to another city to earn more income and wants to rent out her home. It is worth $500,000 and she paid $300,00 for it. There is no debt on the property.
 Solution – Transfer to a Discretionary Trust.
 Costs? No CGT as it is her home on transfer, $15,975 in Stamp Duty.

46. Bankruptcy Clawback rules.
 Any asset transfer made after the date of bankruptcy can be voided by the trustee in bankruptcy.
 Any asset transfer for less than market transfer can be ‘clawed back’ if made in the last four years (five if you can prove you were ‘solvent’ at the time of the transfer)

47. Land tax - Queensland Individuals Trusts, Companies, etc
300, $0 $1,500
500, $500 $2,250
750, $2,250 $9,500
1,250, $9,500 $16,500
2,000, $20,750 $30,000
Too much land tax? – Consider trust cloning

48. How do you get structures?
 Accountant
 Lawyer
 Online
 Ask a Friend

49. That problem I had?
 Step 1 – Transfer my home into my spouse’s name – Stamp duty free if done for ‘love and affection’.
 Step 2 – Transfer business from Corporate Entity to Discretionary Trust.

50.  Step 3 Discretionary Trust Property purchased – 100% Geared
with fully tax deductible debt.
Must pay $7,225 in stamp duty.
Property sold – Capital Gains after discount and active asset reduction (Average 10% tax on gain) Me
Use loan proceeds to pay out
debt on home (non-deductible)
and previous debt for office
(deductible).
Office

51. Property negative geared?
Problem – Discretionary Investment Trust is negatively geared. Losses lost?
Answer -
Investment Trust
Losses offset by
Trust income
Business Trust
Others Me

52. Result? Only asset is shares in a $2 company.
All debt fully deductible.
My tax return only shows trust income.
Note – Part 4A (the anti avoidance provision) applies to any transaction, so speak to your accountant first.

53. In closing
 1. Always buy your investments in the right entity from the start.
 2. Asset protection is about doing stuff before you get sued.
 3. Trusts are your friend.