As we come to the end of our “Your Structure” series, I thought I’d take a moment to hi-light two common mistakes I have come across in my travels…

Before I do that though, please don’t be offended if you have found yourself in one of these situations – the mere fact that you were asking questions is great, and it’s always the intention of The Tax Chic to educate and get you thinking about things:

1. Your business name is not your company

A business name can be registered by any sole proprietor, partnership, company or trust who operates a business – however many business owners confuse their business name with being a company name, and this is incorrect.

A business name can easily be deregistered and a new name registered – a change in business name does not have an impact on the underlying structure of the trading entity – as such a change in business name cannot be used as means to avoid liability.

2. Your trust is not a company

A trust is a separate entity which has a trustee.  This trustee can be an individual or a company – but often in the case of a corporate trustee, business owners confuse the two and think that their company is running the business.

Most likely the confusion results from the fact that the trustee holds assets and makes decisions on behalf of the trust – but the trust is the entity reporting the income for tax purposes.

If you’re still confused…it’s OK – complete the Contact page and I’m sure I can help sort you out!

PS For LS, here is the mention of my “magic 5 iron” from golf yesterday!!!

Regards