Forum Replies Created
Thanks for the reply TMA but i already have the “facilities” (HDD) and the “software” (Acrobat) to save and read PDF files on my PC.
There used to be an option under “Press Room” to save Steve’s newsletter as a PDF file but it looks like admin has removed it.
Can someone from admin please confirm if this is the case, i.e. has it purposely been removed as a feature or was it a glitch?
Thanks
Taken from http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,15470184%255E25717,00.html
AND now to the verdict on the Schapelle Corby case. I find the defendant guilty of xenophobia, spite, boorishness and a self-righteous tribal hysteria.No, I don’t mean Corby.
I’m referring to the weeping and bellowing mob that is demanding we do all it takes — even starve the poorest Indonesians — to free this convicted drug trafficker. “Our” Schapelle.
What a shock to see the beast of mob rule roar like this, and in support of a woman who seems on the evidence more likely to be guilty than she’s painted.
Yes, Corby may be as innocent as she says. But picture how she must look, and how we all now look, to an Indonesian, whether a judge or a citizen.
Here is a surfer girl who worked as a bar hostess in Tokyo’s nightclub area, flying into Bali for reportedly the fifth time in six years.
(Corby, a student beautician who’d scraped up cash from working at a fish-and-chip shop, told 60 Minutes she’d been to Bali “five or six times since I was 16”.)
Customs officials screen her bags and detect something suspicious. They watch her, and later tell a court she seems nervous. Her bodyboard bag is more than twice its usual weight, bulging with an extra something the size of a stuffed pillow.
Actually, she says later, she’d only dragged her bag, and had so much other luggage she couldn’t tell its weight was unusual, or that there was anything inside but a bodyboard and flippers. Yes, well.
Two police and two customs officials agree on what happened next. They say Corby’s brother James carried the bag for her to the customs area, where officer I Gusti Nyoman Winata asked her to open it.
Corby zipped open the front pocket. Now the main zip, demanded Winata.
“The suspect (seemed) to panic,” he later testified.
“When I opened the bag a little bit, she stopped me and said, ‘No!’
“I asked why. She answered, ‘I have some . . .’ She looked confused.”
ABC’s Lateline showed Winata re-enacting Corby’s lunge to stop him opening her bag. He seemed as honest as Corby does, and said he had no doubt of her guilt.
Winata looked inside and found 4.1kg of top-quality marijuana, stowed in two airlock plastic bags, one tucked inside the other.
What is it, he asked?
“It’s marijuana,” the officials heard Corby reply.
Keep thinking how this all must look to an Indonesian. Who would you believe?
Think how it seems when the marijuana turns out to be hydroponically grown, and worth anywhere up to $80,000 in Bali, where it is prized by expatriates who are sick of the weak local weed and feel safer buying from a tourist. Big profits.
Keep picturing. The Indonesians learn that Corby, although having no criminal record, comes from a wild and woolly family.
One of her brothers is in jail for burglary and stealing, her mother is on to her fourth partner after having six children by three men. Her father had a minor conviction some 30 years ago for possessing marijuana.
Sure, none of that makes her guilty, but how would all this make Corby seem to an Indonesian? Here’s a tip: Not like she came from the responsible land of the straight-and-narrow.
It gets worse. Corby’s defence team is soon headed by a salesman who looks like a spiv and is a former bankrupt who still owes creditors plenty.
Her main defence witness becomes an alleged rapist flown in from a Melbourne jail to tell how he heard some crook who’d heard some other crook say Corby was unwittingly carrying drugs for crooks operating at the Brisbane and Sydney airport terminals.
With Australians like this behind Corby, it’s a wonder the whole country wasn’t tossed into the cell with her.
The judges are then asked to believe these unknown smugglers took the marijuana into a high-security area at Brisbane in easy-to-see-through plastic and popped it into a random bag to be flown to another high-security area in Sydney.
Why the smugglers would do that, rather than simply drive the drugs down to Sydney by car, all safe, no one can say. That they then let their valuable drugs fly off to Bali is another mystery.
No wonder our own Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty dismissed Corby’s theory as “flimsy”. Corby’s judges must have thought her team took them for idiots.
Idiots? They soon learned plenty of Australians took them for far worse. And now it was not Corby on trial, and losing, but Australia.
In one heady spasm, hundreds of thousands of Australians became certain that Corby the beautiful battler was in fact innocent.
Suddenly she was the star of a reality-TV Perils of Pauline — complete with cartoon-like big breasts, every-woman prettiness and more tears than a soapie. It helped the plot that she was repeatedly filmed hands bound and besieged, pale in a jabbering, jostling crowd of brown foreigners.
Damn those natives. “The judges don’t even speak English, mate, they’re straight out of the trees, if you excuse my expression,” raged 2GB Sydney fill-in host Malcolm T. Elliott.
“Whoa, give them a banana and away they go.”
Others screamed that the judges were lying Muslims out for revenge (in fact, the chief judge was a Christian, and the other two Hindus).
Newspapers attacked Indonesia’s courts as corrupt and their jails as temples of “gloating sadism” where there was “little sympathy of foreigners, for which you may perhaps read Christians”. Save “our” Schapelle from the demon heathen!
No surprise, then, that Indonesian officials here were bombarded with so many threats and insults that Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer had to plead for them to be left alone. What would we say of Indonesians if our own diplomats were monstered like this?
Now Corby’s defenders demand we boycott struggling Bali. Actor Russell Crowe, among others, even warned Indonesia to remember we gave money for its tsunami victims — as if we only gave charity in exchange for passes out of jail.
Sick, but the feeling has grown. The Salvation Army, out on its Red Shield appeal, had to promise not to send donations to Indonesia. Let their poor suffer for “our” Schapelle.
Meanwhile, radio hosts insisted the Prime Minister call the Indonesian President to fix things in court for Corby, as if such interference wasn’t plainly corrupt.
Worryingly, even senior politicians lost their heads in the hysteria, with Justice Minister Chris Ellison vowing to try bringing Corby home in a “one-off” prisoner exchange. The other 150 Australians in jail overseas should get breast implants.
HAVE we lost our heads? Are we really such a vile rabble?
What must Indonesians make of this hissing mob that threatens their diplomats, vilifies their country, blackmails them with aid and treats their judges as the corrupt playthings of our politicians? And all this for the sake of a convicted drug smuggler who seems quite probably guilty, and only possibly innocent.
Even our whinges about their drug laws must seem bizarre. Guess who truly has the worst laws — Indonesia, which gave Corby 20 years’ jail for having 4.1kg of marijuana; or Victoria, which meanwhile gave a mere 12-month community service order to a teacher found with 29kg — and let her keep her teaching licence?
So how must we seem to Indonesians? Like barbarians, or even terrorists, and it’s hard at the moment to think them very wrong.
I’d still go for the reverse cycle air con – there’s a few sales on them now that summer’s over. I’m getting one put in an IP within the next month.
You need to spend at least $100 for a decent fan. The cheapest “good” ones are beracove’s which have that s/steel look. Although i’ve had a few problems with their r/c they’re not too bad. I just bought 2 for $90 each including clipper lights but no r/c.
My latest reno i’m using beracove in the BR’s and more stylish ones in the lounge (Martec brand which look exactly like the Concept brand but cost me $180 each, $280 with light and r/c).
Typhoon are mid range quality and cost about $170 without light or r/c.
Dale is a good accountant but if you do go to his firm don’t expect him to personally handle your tax. He will hand you over to one of his associates.
I’ve just replaced a section of window sill that was eaten by white ants. Because I intend to repaint the sill, I used a length of dressed treated pine (30mm x 30mm).
If you intend to repaint, i wouldn’t bother with the Jarra.
Thanks for the info. I’ll definitely use a lawyer for the conveyancing so it’s not mucked up.
Hi Del, I think you misunderstood my question. I’ve already set the trust up (thanks to the good advice i got here [biggrin])
I now want to transfer the IP into the trust.
Originally posted by wilandel:Hi,
We have used a NZ Accountant to set up our Trust, not a solicitor. I’m sure they are cheaper than a solicitor.
I don’t think you could use a conveyancor. They are not trained in such things.
Also, remember the saying: Pay peanuts, get monkeys (or something like that)!
Del
Thanks Del and Rod, i think i’m making more sense of it now. I got a reply to a recent email from the NZ accountant and this is what he says:
If the Trust shows a net profit, after depreciation and other expenses, the Trust will pay tax at 33% on any income not distributed to a beneficiary. If you distribute income to yourself, then the NZ tax rate would be lower (15% up to $9500 and 21% from $9500 to $38000), however you would have to declare the income in Australia and pay the difference between what you pay in NZ and what would be charged in Australia – a higher rate.Should you decide at some future time to come and live in New Zealand, you could pay the distributions to yourself, claim a tax refund on the higher tax already paid by the Trust and not have to declare the income in Australia, as you would no longer be a tax resident of Australia. So some tax planning is possible.
In answer to your second question, the crucial issue is the nature of the Trust distribution. If the distribution is capital, then it is not taxed in either country. Only if the distribution is of income is it taxed in Australia.
In answer to the third question, the rental income of the Trust cannot be converted into a capital distribution. However, the depreciation charge which is non-cash can be distributed as a capital distribution. In the case of a new property such as yours, the depreciation charge can be large – $20 000 or more per annum.
In answer to the fourth question, you do not have to pay tax on the capital distribution because it is capital, not because tax has been paid in NZ on the net rental profit. The tax credits are available for future tax benefits should you come to New Zealand.
In regards to your question on tax paid in NZ, you can claim the NZ tax credits on income distributions made to you. Tax will be assessed in Australia on the income distribution at your marginal tax rates, and would be likely to be higher than what you would have paid in NZ. So there would be a top up of tax to pay to the ATO.
The capital distributions from the Trust to you in Australia could reasonably be made on a monthly basis. It would be wise to record minutes to show that a meeting had taken place, bank account balances had been reviewed and that the Trustee (you) had exercised his discretion to make a capital distribution. As it would be a standard set of minutes and resolutions, with only the dates changing, they could be produced for the annual cost quoted of $100.
So… i guess the gist is that the trust pays tax in NZ and i declare that income here and and pay any difference to the ATO.
Del, what is the main advantage of having a NZ trust (NZ trustee) over an Australian Trust (Aust. trustee)?
Is it basically because you can reduce your tax bill? Sorry for all the questions but i’m trying to get my head around it and get the correct structure set up from the start [blush2]
Many thanks,
xxx [biggrin]
ee? Is it because you plan to What is the advantage of having a NZ trustee?
Originally posted by wilandel:Hi xxx,
We live in Victoria. We have set up someone in NZ who we trust to be our Trustee…
A lot of accountants in NZ do it on behalf of their Ozzi customers. It is not a “done thing” in Australia for this to happen I believe.
If you need the name of an Accountant in NZ who does this on behalf of their clients, I can let you know of a pretty good one.Good luck,
Del
Thanks for your offer
Hi Narelle,
You said
Then we would do up older home and live in it – and hopefully still have at least $100-$150 to invest afterwards.If you wanted to go down this road with the amount of cash you have available, maybe you could think about buying an older style house in the inner city as your PPOR.
You can then renovate it and sell it without paying capital gains tax (as long as you stay there for a year). Then sell up and do the next one…
If you can do a lot of the work yourselves, you’ll save on a lot of the subcontractors costs. This would also be the safest method if you don’t want to lose your super and you’re better off with a quality property in the inner city for capital growth.
Thanks for all the info guys,
I plan to mostly buy & hold property in NZ, so paying capital gains tax isn’t a big issue for me… but i’d love to reduce any tax i have to pay on the rental income
At the moment, i plan to transfer it online from my ASB account to an account here.Wilandel you said you’d managed to set up a proper NZ Resident Trust. I assume this is because you live in NZ? Is it a lot different to a Liquidated Discretionary Trust?
I believe your accountant is correct in what he says. He is referring to a NZ RESIDENT TRUST, the only catch is that the person CONTROLLING THE TRUST, must be a resident in New Zealand.Cheers [biggrin]
Thanks guys.
I’ve asked my accountant here about it and she said i’d need to speak to an accountant in New Zealand! [blink] Anyway i’ll now ask my accountant here if what he says sounds correct.
Rod, i agree with you and i think what he’s saying is that the trust pays tax on the rental income and then i make a capital distribution to myself in Oz which i don’t pay tax on because i’ve received a tax credit.
But then again, i thought this is the way things happened anyway withhout a trust?
I’ll let you know how i go.
Cheers [biggrin]
Originally posted by SuperTed:Do one in Sydney (entertainment ctr big screens etc)… @ $495 including free t-shirt and steak knifes for the first 50 that sign up
Why would you need to go to the seminar if you invested for the long term in +ve geared properties >> 11 second rule etc etc..wasnt that gospel since the book came out??
I think it’s because of the hype Steve has managed to generate with his email.
If his properties are all positive cashflow, then there shouldn’t be anything to worry about?
I think steak knives are also thrown in [biggrin]
Originally posted by redwing:NOT HAPPY JAN !!
REDWING
I don’t blame you redwing. It sounds like a blatant rip off to me and i’d be taking my business elsewhere.
You have a lot of leverage with PM fees because it is the only tangible asset an agency has.
Rent rolls sell for about $1,000 per property and are the only way of valueing an agency if it is sold as an ongoing business.
Listings don’t count because they aren’t really guaranteed and can’t be factored into.I pay 4% plus GST in Melbourne with a $4 statement fee and 1 weeks rent for letting fee.
Originally posted by kay henry:
And some of us ARE happy, xxx- check out the pics page under “monika” and you might understand why.kay henry
Ooooh i get it now… Monoka is a lesbian and that’s a photo of her with her girlfriend?
Which one is Monika though?I have nothing against lesbians. In fact i believe i’m a lesbian trapped inside a man’s body [biggrin]
Originally posted by kay henry:xxx said:
Being gay meant you were happy.
A lemon was a fruit, not a lesbian. (and was that a vomit sign next to it?Charming… a homophobe in our midst.
And some of us ARE happy, xxx- check out the pics page under “monika” and you might understand why.
kay henry
LOL… take a chill pill and relax Kay.
That gif next to the lesbian was meant to be someone sucking on something sour! … you know… like a sour LEMON!!!
I didn’t realise it meant to be VOMIT!!!Hey i’m not homophobic – why else would i put a smiley next to the GAY thing??? Hey, i’m not even gay even though i had sex with a guy who was.
I’m sure some us ARE VERY HAPPY (just like me [biggrin])
But it would be great if you could put a link to your comment cos i can’t find it!:
“check out the pics page under “monika” and you might understand why”
I’m very curious to know why some of you are happy. Maybe it’s because if you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.
Maybe it’s because if you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation…you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
Or maybe it’s because if you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death…you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.
Or perhaps it’s because if you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep…you are richer than 75% of this world.
But maybe it’s because if you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace … you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
And maybe you’re happy because if you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.Being gay meant you were happy. [oneeyed]
A lemon was a fruit, not a lesbian. [puke]
Wicked meant you were evil. [skull]Have to agree with some of the previous posts about water and Vit B.
Hangovers are caused by dehydration caused by alcohol which is a diuretic (something that makes you pee all the time).
Make sure you drink at least a big glass of water before going to bed along with a Vitamin B. Alcohol kills Vit B (which is water soluble) and replenishing it will help immensely.
Berocca is basically a Vit B complex.
[/quote]
It may not be very realistic to expect this sort of return now, but it really did happen to a lot of properties a few years ago.Terryw
Discover Home Loans
North Sydney
[email protected]
[/quote]I agree, and i think it’s because we’ve seen huge increases in property prices which some have referred to as a “property boom”.
Anyone who bought property between 1998 – 2002 has seen a huge increase in their property’s value.
Apart from Australia, it also happened in the USA, UK and most of Europe.
Originally posted by kp:Hmmmm,
Great article…but how realistic is it to buy a property for $40k and have it increase 100% in 12 months, and then go back a buy two more at $40k each ?It’s VERY unrealistic, especially now that you’ll be seeing a correction in these cheap country properties within the next 2 years.
The “11 second solution” is a 10.4% gross yield and is simply a yardstick. Obviously if interest rates rise, it will need to be reviewed.
Do a search on this site and you’ll get a lot of hits… it’s been done to death.
I’ve also heard the term a few times and i believe that in New Zealand they are referred to as “habitual” investors.
Sophisticated or habitual investors are generally those that invest for a living professionally and do at least 6 trades a year.
Thanks for your very informative post depreciator (aka Scott). I will definitely heed your advice and give Apex a call.
Sorry if i was a bit curt with my early reply – i do appreciate your time in responding with great information.
Cheers
