Country Gal:

You obviously do NOT consider that the opportunity to set up a registered business, with the accompanying ABN, allowing the benefit of GST "Offsets" and other goodies, such as the ability to purchase a "busines" vehicle at "Fleet" price, whilst availing yourself of the opportunity to operate "at a loss" for 5 years or more, before ceasing trading under one particular name and then starting afresh under a new business name, again operating "at a loss" for a further period of time,....availing yourself of various lines of credit and when running into financial hardship ( not paying your Creditors and living the good life ), excercising the right to enter into a state of Voluntary Liquidation!

If you consider that these are lurks and perks that are available to the average wage earner, then you must be operating in a much different corperate world than many others living and working in this country today!

“the world price of oil down to $59 yet still selling for around $1.34 a litre at outlets,”

The Aussie dollar was running well over 90 cents US and oil was up to US$130/barrel.

Now Oil is around US60 but the poor Aussie dollar is around 60 cents US (due to the reduction of the reserve bank interest rates and some shifting in the terms of trade).

The price-at-the-pump is consistent with base oil prices, when US:Au exchange rate is applied.

Personally, I am pleased to see how the price of LPG continues to fall.

“There appears to be no limit as to how much of the taxpayers money this Government is prepared to throw at these businesses,”

To say nothing of the $10 billion which Krudd used to buys votes from previous “taxpayers contributed surplus”.

“whereby if a company goes into Voluntary Liquidation, the principle is held accountable for his indebtedness and his assets”

Difficult to do, generally, when the company is a separate legal entity to the “principle” but the ATO enforce such disciplines against tax debtors and of course the criminal transgressors like those at HIH have also been held accountable.

Of course, one aspect of “corporate ownership” is sale of shares, Should an “owner” be held liable the torts of the company if he has since sold the shares he may have owned when the tort was committed?

I suggest there is an element of “caveat emptor” to be applied to anyone extending monies or credit to another party or buying shares in a corporate entity.

“At the present time a person can set up a business and partake of various "lines of credit", at the same time availing himself of the taxation lurks and perks”

Maybe you could let me know of some, I am always looking out for anything ‘legal’ to avoid my tax liability.

“and acccordingly he should NOT be allowed to squirrel away”

Do you mean like Graham Richardson, the one-time Labor senator and labor party heavy-weight, who got into all sorts of trouble with ATO on his secret Swiss bank account?

Arjay “legal theft.”

Is an oxymoron.

So is the rest of your comment.

As for ‘predatory pricing’ or price-fixing as it is more commonly known, it seems to me the recent disclosures of VISY and Qantas freight and past disclosures of the Queensland concrete business, suggest the ACCC has the powers it needs.

However, “likes of Coles and Woollies continue to screw their suppliers”

Is a problem we can lay at the feet of Keating.

I will never understand why the labor party allowed the Coles/Myer (which has since fallen apart) and Woolworth/Safeway mergers to go ahead when the outcomes were so obvious, then we see the socialist Krudd & Co following the same course and now grappling with the disasters of their unforeseen-consequences –
simply put

‘government on the run’ or

‘accelerating off at the mouth before putting brain into gear’

Like a typical socialist.

Cuphandle” opportunity to set up a registered business,”

Anyone can do that, even over the internet. I knew a retired couple who used to deliver packages who did it to enable them to ‘trade’ with proper GST registration.

“such as the ability to purchase a "busines" vehicle at "Fleet" price,”
anyone buying a new car can get the best price these days, there is no 'fleet discount' anymore, although there might be discount for multiple purchases.

“whilst availing yourself of the opportunity to operate "at a loss" for 5 years or more, before ceasing trading”

I am an accountant. But I cannot reconcile that claim to any business or economic model I have ever heard of.

I need you to explain to me how anyone generates a tax or cash benefit/advantage from operating at a gross loss, unless of course, they have other assessable income to offset the loss against (eg Negative gearing, in which case the current operating loss is mitigated against a future capital gain).

if anyone thinks cuphandles last post has any merit then we are in the area of debating ‘urban myths’, rather than what happens in the “real world”

Dear Cuphandle your answer is why this country desperitaly need a God of Love to provide Hope and a concience for all

Col, I am afraid I agree. As far as running business goes, if you run at a loss without ever making a profit, you go bankrupt. The same goes for any wage earner who continually spends more than he/she earns. The business loss is technically deductible against future business profit (in some cases it needs to be the same business, not so in others). However, if you close down one entity to "defeat" creditors, then the tax loss evaporates into thin air, and you never get to "use" it. Likewise if you talk a creditor into forgiving a debt, there are increases in your tax consequences (a whole section is in the tax act on Commercial Debt Foregiveness). If you go bankrupt, you also lose any tax losses that you have.

As far as GST goes, it is an end-user tax, and was always intended to be. If a business owner takes product from their business for personal use, they must pay GST at market rates even if they dont pay their own business for the goods (and believe me, the ATO checks). What about the cost of preparing and lodging quarterly BAS's (at least $500, so $2000 a year, and often much higher).

As for fleet sales, there is generally nothing stopping employees asking their employers to acquire a vehicle on their behalf if their employer is able to get fleet rates. The majority of small businesses are not large enough to access such commercial discounts anyway.

Cuphandle, the grass is not always greener you know....