Sole trader or company: choosing a business structure as a builder
A sole trader or a company decides who is liable, who holds the licence and how the business can grow, long before it decides the tax. This article sets out the questions to answer first.
11 min read
Topic
Tax
Articles and news about Tax for Australian builders.
Sole trader or company: choosing a business structure as a builder
A sole trader or a company decides who is liable, who holds the licence and how the business can grow, long before it decides the tax. This article sets out the questions to answer first.
11 min read
Vehicle and tool deductions: the records a builder needs
A vehicle or tool deduction is only as good as the record behind it. Builders who keep a trip log, a tax invoice and a documented business share can explain every claim line by line.
11 min read
Paying subcontractors correctly: the invoicing and TPAR workflow
Most subcontractor disputes are not caused by the contract, they are caused by what happened between the invoice arriving and the money leaving. Here is the payment and reporting workflow that keeps the tax file, the contract file and the site file saying the same thing.
12 min read
Cash flow for builders: progress payments, forecasting and staying solvent in a turning market
Most building businesses that fail are not short of work; they are short of cash. How to structure progress payments, forecast properly, keep tax money separate, and spot the warning signs before they become a crisis.
7 min read
Taking on an apprentice in 2026: incentives, costs and getting them to finish
Housing construction apprentices now attract $10,000 in payments over their apprenticeship, and their employers up to $5,000 in the first year. What changed in 2026, what an apprentice really costs, and how builders keep them to completion.
7 min read
Negative gearing and CGT changes: why new builds are about to become the investor product
The negative gearing and capital gains tax reforms announced in the May Budget are now law and start on 1 July 2027. They favour new builds over established homes. Here is what changes and what builders should expect.
7 min read
TPAR for builders: who must lodge by 28 August, what to report and what to leave out
If your business is primarily in building and construction and you pay contractors, the ATO expects a Taxable Payments Annual Report by 28 August. Here is who must lodge, what goes in, what stays out, and how to avoid a penalty.
8 min read
SMSF borrowing ban for residential property starts today: what it means for builders
Self-managed super funds can no longer take out new limited recourse loans to buy residential property. Existing loans are grandfathered and commercial property is unaffected. Here is what changes for builders who sell to investors.
6 min read
Payday Super for builders: paying super every payday from 1 July 2026
The quarterly super float is gone. From 1 July 2026 employers pay super with every pay run. What that means for a building business’s cash flow, payroll software and subcontractors who are really employees.
10 min read
Setting up bookkeeping systems for a building company
Most builders do not have a bookkeeping problem, they have a structure problem. The accounts are tidy enough; the job costing underneath them does not tell you which job made money until it is too late to do anything about it.
13 min read
GST and BAS for building businesses: getting the mechanics right
GST on a building job is not one calculation at the end. It is a calculation attached to every progress claim, deposit, variation and retention release, and the BAS is where those calculations land. Get the timing wrong and you fund the ATO out of your own working capital.
10 min read