Downsizing your home

Downsizing at a glance Downsizing your home can reduce the size of your mortgage and ongoing running costs in some situations, but buying and selling costs can add up.  Your equity and loan to value ratio (LVR) can affect your next loan options and costs, including whether lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) applies. If you’re 55 … Read more

Grifting, not gifting! Avoid dodgy donations

Spot the warning signs of barter credit tax schemes before they cost you. This tax time, it’s important to steer clear of a tax scheme involving ‘barter credits’ – a form of trade credit used in some business networks. Described in TA 2025/3 Arrangements to improperly access deductions for donations of ‘barter credits’, the tax scheme … Read more

Australian scam victims could get rapid $3,000 refunds.

Australians scammed out of A$3,000 or less could be able to claim automatic reimbursement from banks, phone companies or tech companies, under a new federal government proposal. Last year, there were 481,523 scam reports in Australia, worth A$2.18 billion, with a median loss of $400, a recent official report found. That was up 7.8% from … Read more