Are there any implications to getting an ABN to get better pricing on a car or get a bunnings powerpass card?

I am a simple wageslave but have 5 investment properties on the hop so am always buying stuff from bunning as i do the maintenance. I want a powerpass card but u need to quote an ABN. can i just get an abn to get the card and not do any BAS stuff and then just claim the expenses as normal during my personal tax deductions?

Also what if i have a cheap ute (my sons) but say I use it for property maint. (I do all own maint and there is a multi tennant share house so i do all gardening pool etc) can I claim its expenses as a tool for house maint ?

A few years ago I brought a large industrial shed in a very windy location. Made web page and ABN for commercial dive business fixing moorings. Thought I would be able to write trips up back, fuel, boat maintenance etc.
However, I was informed for the business to be classed as real that you have to turn over $20k or have invoices from at least three different jobs completed. Don't quote me, this was a few years ago but I never got any further than I did. However, I still believe a good tax accountant could make it work.

Wait.... you guys arent claiming your wind and kitesurfing gear on tax ?!?!?!

Ive been logging my hours on seabreeze as kite lessons

My experience with the Powerpass Card is that you will have to spend an awful lot at Bunnings (probably trade quantities) to make the savings to cover the cost of keeping your ABN active, let a lone the accountant costs...

Also keep in mind that there are certain brands that they do not discount on - such as Ryobi and Ozito.

If you had an ABN for any other reason, then the little bit saved might make it worthwhile.

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Gazuki said..
A few years ago I brought a large industrial shed in a very windy location. Made web page and ABN for commercial dive business fixing moorings. Thought I would be able to write trips up back, fuel, boat maintenance etc.
However, I was informed for the business to be classed as real that you have to turn over $20k or have invoices from at least three different jobs completed. Don't quote me, this was a few years ago but I never got any further than I did. However, I still believe a good tax accountant could make it work.

I remember in IT that there were changes a while back where they talked about 'alienation of personal income'. I think this was where they wanted to make sure that contractors working for a single company for a lengthy period paid similar amounts of tax to a normal PAYG individual.

They mentioned this 'sources of income' deal. I guess its to stop people setting up structures where they continually lose money while not attempting a real business.

A good accountant would provide advise, but there would be no guarantee they could do it either. A good accountant would warn you to stay away if it could be a problem. A bad accountant would tell you to go right ahead as ultimately its your problem if it goes wrong.

Agree with the good and bad accountant statement. I'm really not too phased now, happy to pay what I have to pay and have no stress. I personally think the stress out walking a thin line with the tax man would stress me too much,. Doesn't balance for me. Big business is a different story, more to be gained.

The variety of stuff not discounted with the PP card is surprising. Have you considered bribing/shacking up with a long time B employee so as to make use of their bigger discount?

A business is a business.
Expenses related to a business are offset against the income generated by the business.
Running at a loss will only get you unrealized tax offsets.
It costs nothing to get an ABN or keep one, you only need to register for GST if your business generates over 75k in income.

Having an ABN won't necessarily get you cheaper pricing, it depends on the purchase.

If you are considering an ABN for the Bunnings discounts only, I wouldn't bother, they give stuff all. Even their 'special powerpass pricing' emails they bombard you with aren't all that special and hardly cheaper.

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Toph said..
My experience with the Powerpass Card is that you will have to spend an awful lot at Bunnings (probably trade quantities) to make the savings to cover the cost of keeping your ABN active, let a lone the accountant costs...

Also keep in mind that there are certain brands that they do not discount on - such as Ryobi and Ozito.

If you had an ABN for any other reason, then the little bit saved might make it worthwhile.

My ABN was inactive, well I hadn't used it in years. Still got a PowerPass card, saves 5% on most stuff from Bunnings. 5% isn't much but better in my pocket than theirs.

Wife has had an ABN for 10+ years sometimes earning sometimes not- if you're not generating any income against it the ATO will try and put it to inactive after a year or two. Easy enough to keep it alive but you'll need to explain why you haven't generated any income and after a few years they will get pissy if you're not earning on it.

No real diff from a tax perspective, if you earn through abn as individual it is taxed as income.

for your scenario above i guess you could charge yourself for property maintenance and it will be income for your abn and deduction for your personal income, then buy a car with the abn and get the capital writeoff - but ato might have some issues if you had no other customers.

long story short there is not much benefit to an abn unless you can put some income to it as kiterboy says.

And if you read between the lines there, if you have a significant other who is not earning as much money as you are, maybe they should start a business to do the property maintenance.

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myusernam said..
Are there any implications to getting an ABN

Got 2 ABNs and PP.
Sole Trader is free, if you earn on this ABN then it messes with your personal tax return, if not just tick a NILL box evert quarter.
Pty Ltd costs $280/yr for ASIC, to keep a couple characters in their DB.

As others have said pretty much everything cheap or discounted isn't reduced by 5%, some building materials have been 10% off though.
Nearly all garden supplies are... like potting mix, fertilizer, even seedlings.
Paint is.
Nearly all buolding material.
Nearly all power tools aren't, like Makita never seems to be so I get them from Amazon UK or eBay.

Good things is that you also don't need to keep receipts if you need to return something, just scan the card.

^ this/that

If your aim is to get a discount at Bunnings and the like then set yourself up as a Sole Trader. You can probably do it online in less time than it takes to get a sausage sizzle!

This is the simplest, cheapest option, serves your purposes well, and is all against your personal income so there is nothing complicated or dodgy going on. I doubt the ATO would even think about noticing you, and will get a laugh out of you explaining it's just to get a discount at Bunnings.

Accountants are a waste of money these days. (unless you're accountant is "creative", and you can still sleep well)

I don't think people need an accountant like they used to, anymore. The ATO site is super good these days. Even has a depreciation calculator for your properties that you enter data into once; tick a box every year after.

I can't believe I paid one for many years, while at the same time I was building and maintaining large corporate payroll systems, which calculated tax and much more, for tens of thousands of employees, at once (batch/all in SQL/FML). That is: I was an idiot; why the hell was I paying someone to do my own, relatively super simple affairs? Especially when I was the one collating all the data for the accountant; the hard part?!

The ATO site is excellent these days. I don't think anyone needs an accountant anymore. Try it. Save yourself a packet.

Also, its ABNs not ABN's. Plural not possessive.

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evlPanda said..
Also, its ABNs not ABN's. Plural not possessive.

or you misread it and the OP was referring to ABN singular followed by a present tense contraction as a rhetorical hook.

"ABN is to get cheap stuff?"

The simple fact is shopping elsewhere would save you more than shopping at bunnies with the power pass .
Its why only 5% of there sales are to tradesmen& builders .
And that statistics is from bunnies.
Screws are like 3 times the cost per box than from an industrial screw supply company.
Its false economy

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actiomax said..
The simple fact is shopping elsewhere would save you more than shopping at bunnies with the power pass .
Its why only 5% of there sales are to tradesmen& builders .
And that statistics is from bunnies.
Screws are like 3 times the cost per box than from an industrial screw supply company.
Its false economy

Yeah but Bonnings guarantees to be cheapest, so if you call them out on it, they'll beat it by 10%. In exchange for a whole lot of rigmorale that you'll soon regret. And try using your powerpass to get a discount on your online shop. Or pay with one of their gift cards...

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actiomax said..
The simple fact is shopping elsewhere would save you more than shopping at bunnies with the power pass .
Its why only 5% of there sales are to tradesmen& builders .
And that statistics is from bunnies.
Screws are like 3 times the cost per box than from an industrial screw supply company.
Its false economy

So true, when they first appeared they were cheaper, drove most of the competition out and promptly upped the prices, while lowering the quality of much of their offerings. For those that advocate invoking the we'll beat it by 10% offering, bear in mind that without any competition you will pay what they demand and be happy to boot.

My understanding is you can tell tax department whatever you like and claim whatever you want as long as you keep records for five years that prove that claims are valid.

After cashing in on crypto, I'm finding the process difficult as there are all sorts of weird trades, airdrops, thefts that I have to somehow account for. I will just try to be as accurate as I can. I don't have an issue with paying my fair share of tax, problem is I don't know what it is.

My thoughts are that you should be able to make all sorts of claims, just keep records and do your best at making claims valid.

It will only matter if you get audited.

As evil panda says it's easy to set up as a sole trader. As to discounts from the big green shed ( PRC outlet) the beat it or get 10% on a similar item is a scam because by similar they mean in every way packaging, labelling, etc. ie two cans same manufacturer slightly different label is a different product. But if you got a side hustle that's legitimate get the ABN there's more write offs in small businesses than in a demolition derby

It doesn't cost to have an ABN , You don't need to be a buisiness , a sole trader will do . But it does have to be a taxable thing. The savings that a special Bunnings card is , is nothing compared to the loss , profit , that your accountant does at the end of the year . Same with car expenses , whipper sniper chord and printing paper .
Of course you blend home use with your properties , shhhhh , it's a given .
If you get special discounts , it just means you can't claim as much .
For most , there is no way of cheating tax , only going round in circles and postponing it .
Because your maintaining your properties , do you contract out to your estate agent ? If so I'd say it's an ABN able thing . I'd ask your accountant .

* except for bulk orders or trade supplies I think is the exception so unless it's another overcharging hardware chain the 10% is invalid.