Altus Growth Push Continues with Honan Partners Merger 

Gosford, September 2025 – Altus Financial has inked another transaction, merging with Sydney’s Honan Partners, in a move that follows its earlier tie-up with Central Coast advisory firm Fortunity. 

For Fortunity, which recently joined forces with Altus the announcement confirms that Altus is intent on building one of the most dynamic professional services advice businesses focusing on serving private clients. 

“When we merged with Altus, it was clear the firm had a long-term goal of stable growth via a clear strategy to scale up while staying true to its values of close client relationships and strong connection with their people,” said Paul Bolton. “The addition of Honan Partners – with their four decades of expertise in Macquarie Park – shows that Altus is delivering on that vision. It strengthens the support available not just in Sydney, but across the Central Coast and regional NSW.” 

Founded in 1984, Honan Partners has carved out a reputation for integrity and technical excellence, advising entrepreneurs, wealthy families, and many large privately owned businesses. The merger adds depth to Altus’ business advisory, wealth and family office capabilities, creating a combined platform that appeals to successful business owners and wealthy families. 

Altus Managing Director Scott Young said the merger was another deliberate step in Altus’ growth journey:
“Our goal is to bring together like-minded firms that value partnership, relationships, connection and service excellence. With Honan Partners joining the fold, alongside Fortunity, Altus is creating a professional services business with genuine reach and capability – but one that still feels personal for clients and the advisers that serve them. Our focus is clear yet very simple, deliver value to clients via advice and build pathways for our people” 

Neil Honan, Founder & Managing Partner of Honan Partners, said the alignment was clear from the outset:
“Joining Altus allows us to expand the ways we create value for clients, while ensuring the culture and integrity we’ve built since 1984 remains intact. It’s an opportunity to scale our positive impact without losing the personal touch our clients value.” 

For Fortunity’s clients and people, the Honan merger is seen as further validation of the decision to partner with Altus. The transaction demonstrates that regional firms can benefit from aligning with a larger growth orientated groups, while keeping their community connections and client service experience. 

The combined group will continue to operate in their existing locations under the Altus Financial brand, with teams across Sydney and the Central Coast working closely with clients across NSW. 

What You Need to Know

July brings a wave of tax updates that could significantly impact Australian individuals and businesses. One of the most talked-about is the proposed Division 296 changes to SMSF’s with balances over $3m. If passed, this legislation will impose an additional 15% tax on superannuation earnings for super balance exceeding $3 million. While not yet law, it’s crucial to prepare if your fund is impacted.

Another major shift is the removal of tax deductions for ATO interest charges. From 1 July 2025, General Interest Charges (GIC) and Shortfall Interest Charges (SIC) will no longer be deductible, increasing the real cost of tax debt. We explore the best strategy to minimising the impact of this change.

This month’s newsletter warns against the rise of “finfluencers” aka social media personalities offering questionable tax advice. From claiming pets as guard dogs to writing off luxury handbags, these tips can lead to audits, fines, or worse.

Trust structures, long favoured for their flexibility, are under scrutiny with increased compliance demands from the ATO. Regardless, Trusts can be valuable with the right guidance.

Finally, the U.S. “One Big Beautiful Bill” could impact Australian super funds with U.S. investments by potentially reducing returns. Stay informed and ensure your retirement planning is adaptable in this rapidly evolving financial environment. If you’re unsure how these changes affect you, reach out.

Click here for the July newsletter.

As the financial year draws to a close, now is the perfect time to strategically position yourself for tax time. This month’s newsletter is packed with valuable insights to help you maximise your deductions and navigate potential areas of increased scrutiny from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Inside, you’ll discover opportunities to bolster your superannuation through deductible contributions and explore the benefits of charitable giving, including options like public and private ancillary funds. For investment property owners, we highlight the importance of depreciation schedules.

We also address key areas the ATO is focusing on this year. This includes a detailed look at claiming work-from-home expenses using both the shortcut and actual methods, along with crucial reminders for landlords regarding deductible expenses. Additionally, we cover the correct reporting of gig economy income and important considerations for co-owned properties.

For businesses, we outline opportunities such as writing off bad debts and obsolete plant and equipment, as well as strategies for companies to bring forward tax deductions. We also address ATO risks related to tax debt, reporting obligations, and the scrutiny of professional firm profits.

Stay informed about the recently confirmed increase to the instant asset write-off threshold and gain a deeper understanding of the tax implications of property subdivision projects. Finally, we introduce the ATO’s updated small business benchmarking tool, a valuable resource for comparing your business performance.

Ready to optimise your tax outcomes and minimise risks? Reach out to us today for personalised support and answers to your questions, 02 4304 8888.

Click here for our May newsletter.

Personal tax cuts

From 1 July 2026, personal income tax rates will change.

On the last sitting day of Parliament, the personal income tax rate reduction announced in the 2025-26 Federal Budget was confirmed. The modest reduction of 1% applies to the $18,201-$45,000 tax bracket, reducing from its current rate of 16% to 15% from 1 July 2026, then to 14% from 2027-28. The saving from the tax cut represents a maximum of $268 in the 2026-27 year and $536 from the 2027-28 year.

With a 1 July 2026 start date, the outcome of the Federal election on 3 May 2025 and subsequent budgets will determine whether this change comes to fruition.

Medicare levy threshold change for low-income earners

Low-income earners do not pay the compulsory 2% Medicare levy until their assessable income reaches the threshold. The threshold is different depending on whether you are a single taxpayer, pensioner, and the number of children you have that are dependent on you.

Parliament has confirmed the increase to the Medicare levy threshold announced in the Federal Budget. The threshold change is backdated to 1 July 2024, which means that taxpayers will benefit when they lodge their 2024-25 tax return.

Click here to find out more in our April newsletter.

FBT 2025: What you need to know

The Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) year ends on 31 March. We’ve outlined the hot spots for employers and employees.
FBT exemption for electric cars
Employers that provide employees with the use of eligible electric vehicles (EVs) can potentially qualify for an FBT exemption. This should normally be the case where:
• The car is a zero or low emission vehicle (battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell or plug-in hybrid electric);
• The car is both first held and used on or after 1 July 2022; and
• The value of the car is below the luxury car tax threshold for fuel efficient vehicles (which is $89,332 for 2024-25 financial year).
Plug-in hybrid vehicles no longer FBT exempt
From 1 April 2025, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will no longer qualify for the FBT exemption unless:
• The use of the vehicle was exempt before 1 April 2025, and
• There is a financially binding commitment to continue providing private use of the vehicle on and after 1 April 2025.
If there is a break or change to that commitment on or after 1 April 2025 then the exemption normally won’t be available any more.

Working with the exemption

Even if the FBT exemption applies, your business will still need to work out the taxable value of the benefit as if the FBT exemption didn’t apply. This is because the value of the exempt benefit is still taken into account when calculating the reportable fringe benefits amount of the employee. While income tax is not paid on this amount, it can impact the employee in a range of areas (such as the Medicare levy surcharge, private health insurance rebate, employee share scheme reduction, and social security payments).
This means the employee’s own home electricity costs incurred on charging the electric vehicle will often need to be worked out. This figure can generally be treated as an employee contribution to reduce the value of the benefit.
While this can be practically difficult to determine, the ATO has issued some guidelines that provide a 4.20 cent per km shortcut rate that can potentially help with the calculation. These guidelines do not apply to plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Many electric vehicles are also packaged together with electric charging stations. Just be aware that the FBT exemption for electric cars does not extend to charging stations provided at the employee’s home.

Find our more in our March newsletter.

Why the ATO is targeting babyboomer wealth

Succession planning, and the tax risks associated with it, is our number one focus in 2025. In recent years we’ve observed an increase in reorganisations that appear to be connected to
succession planning.”
ATO Private Wealth Deputy Commissioner Louise Clarke The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) thinks that wealthy babyboomer Australians, particularly those with successful family-controlled
businesses, are planning and structuring to dispose of assets in a way in which the tax outcomes might not be in accord with the ATO’s expectations.
If you are within the ATO’s Top 500 (Australia’s largest and wealthiest private groups) or Next 5,000 (Australian residents who, together with their associates, control a net wealth of over $50 million) programs, expect the ATO to be paying close attention to how money flows through the entities you control.

A critical issue for many business owners is how to effectively (and compliantly) benefit from a successful business. In many cases, the owners have spent years building the business and the business has become not only a substantial asset, but a lucrative source of income either through salary and wages, dividends, or through the sale of shares or assets. Generally, under tax law, you can legitimately structure assets if there is a good reason to do so, for example, asset protection, but if you tip across the line and the only viable reason for a structure is to reduce tax, then you risk the ATO taking a very close look at your operations or worse, denying any tax benefits under the general anti-avoidance rules in Part IVA of the tax rules, designed to combat “blatant, artificial or contrived” tax avoidance activities by tax payers.

“We’re seeing that succession planning behaviour is primarily done by group heads who are approaching retirement. They typically own groups that family members are a part of, and wealth is transferred to the next generation to keep it within the family (via trusts and other means),” ATO Private Wealth Deputy Commissioner Louise Clarke said in a recent update.

Find out more in our February Newsletter.

Tax and tinsel Q&As

Can you avoid giving the Australian Tax Office a gift this Christmas?

The top Christmas party questions.

What can I do to make the staff Christmas party tax deductible or tax-free?

Not have one? Ok, seriously, it’s likely that you will pay tax one way or another; it’s just a question of how. If you structure your celebrations to avoid fringe benefits tax (FBT), then you normally can’t claim a tax deduction for the expense or goods and services tax (GST) credits.

No FBT

If you host your Christmas party in the office on a working day, then FBT is unlikely to apply to the food and drink. Taxi travel that starts or finishes at an employee’s place of work is also exempt from FBT – helpful if you have a few team members that need to be loaded into a taxi after overindulging in Christmas cheer.

If you host your Christmas party outside of the office and keep the cost per head under $300 (the FBT minor benefit limit) then FBT often won’t apply to the cost of entertaining your employees.

But, if you do not incur FBT, you cannot claim GST credits or a tax deduction for the Christmas party expense.

What’s ahead for 2025?

The last few years have been a rollercoaster ride of instability. 2025 holds hope, but not a guarantee, of greater stability and certainty. We explore some of the key changes and challenges.

Find our more in our December newsletter.

Merry Christmas

We want to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a safe and happy Christmas.

It’s been an eventful and busy year. Let’s hope 2025 is a year of stability and peace.

We will look forward to working with you again in 2025 and making it the best possible year for you.

We wish you and your family the warmest of Christmas wishes.

Office closure over Christmas

Our office will be closed for Christmas from 12 noon 20th December 2024 and will reopen on Monday 13th January 2025.

The Fair Work Commission has determined that a Philippines based “independent contractor” was an employee unfairly dismissed by her Australian employer.

Like us, you are probably curious how a foreign national living in the Philippines, who had an ‘independent contractors’ agreement with an Australian company, could be classified as an Australian employee by the Fair Work Commission?

The recent case of Ms Joanna Pascua v Doessel Group Pty Ltd highlights just some of the issues Australian businesses face when working with overseas contractors and staff.

What underpinned the Fair Work decision?

Ms Pascua worked under contract as a legal assistant, investigating credit claims on clients’ behalf, for a specialist credit repair legal firm based in Queensland between 21 July 2022 until 20 March 2024. She worked from home in the Philippines, using her own computer, a firm email address and a PBX phone system that gave the appearance that she was calling from the legal office.

The contract described the relationship as one of an independent contractor, with the standard clauses that the firm will not be liable for any other benefits or remuneration other than what was specified and that the firm was not liable for taxes, worker’s compensation, unemployment insurance, employer’s liability, social security or other entitlements. Ms Pascua also bore a liability in the event that something went awry with her work.

For her work, Ms Pascua was paid “AUD$18 per hour Salary all inclusive as a Full Time Employee,” capped at 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, excluding breaks. While working with the firm, Ms Pascua used a firm supplied pro forma invoice to bill 83 weekly invoices at the full hours allowable and 28 other invoices for lesser amounts when she worked less than 40 hours in the week.

For the first 12 months of her time with the legal firm she was supervised by a solicitor. Within 12 months, her work was unsupervised, and in the last 7 months of the relationship, she was the only person conducting investigative work.

Underpinning the Fair Work Commission’s decision were the recent High Court cases that changed the way in which disputes over the nature of employment relationships are determined (CFMMEU v. Personnel Contracting Pty Ltd and ZG Operations Pty Ltd and Jamsek). Whereas once the courts looked at the substance of the overall arrangement (let’s call it the ‘if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it’s a duck’ principal), now greater weight is given to the contract, with reference to the rights and duties created by that contract.

To determine this case, the FWC stepped through the contract clause by clause to evaluate whether it suggested an employment or independent contractor relationship, and looked at how these clauses were brought into effect.

Click here to find out more articles in our latest newsletter.