Spring 2026

The business of winning

We see the winning moments in sport. The gold medal celebrations. The match-winning performances. The standing ovations and record-breaking achievements.

What we don’t see are the efforts that made them possible.

Whether it’s the drama of the World Cup, the incredible achievements celebrated at the Commonwealth Games, or the excitement of footy finals season, elite sport reminds us that success is rarely an overnight achievement. Behind every medal, premiership and world title are thousands of hours of preparation, setbacks and sacrifice.

In many ways, small business owners are like elite athletes. Not because they push their bodies to the limit to succeed, but because they understand success is built through consistency, resilience and the willingness to keep moving forward even when things don’t go to plan.

While the playing fields may look different, the mindset behind success is remarkably similar. The approaches that help athletes perform at their best can also contribute to building a strong business. Let’s explore those secrets to success and how they can apply to small business.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” – Amby Burfoot

When we watch elite athletes, we’re seeing the result of years of preparation. What we don’t see are the early mornings and countless training sessions. The perseverance over time.

Business is much the same. Your customers see the finished product. They don’t see the late nights, difficult decisions or the hard work over months or years that made it possible.

Success rarely comes quickly or from one defining moment. More often, it’s built over time by taking small steps.

“Success is built on endless repetition.” – Simone Biles

Elite athletes don’t spend every training session trying something new. They master the fundamentals. The world’s best swimmers still practise their turns. The best footballers work on passing drills. Tennis players spend countless hours perfecting their serve. They understand that repetition is where improvement happens.

As business owners, we’re often chasing the next big idea. Sometimes the greatest gains come from getting better at the basics. That might mean investing more in staff training, streamlining internal processes or simply making small tweaks week after week. Progress isn’t always exciting, but it is powerful.

“Every loss has a lesson.” – Kobe Bryant

One of the greatest lessons elite sport teaches us is that success isn’t always measured by a gold medal. The path to success can be littered with failures.

The same is true in business. Didn’t win the tender? Learn from it. Had a quieter month than expected? Review what worked and what didn’t. Tried something new that fell flat? Take the lesson and move forward.

A setback is rarely the end of the story. Sometimes it’s just being better than you were yesterday.

“I’ve never scored a goal without getting a pass from someone else.” – Abby Wambach 

Sport might celebrate individuals, but success is usually a team effort. Behind every athlete is a support network helping them perform at their best. Coaches, trainers, and teammates all play an important role.

Business is no different. Whether it’s your employees, professional network or family cheering you on from the sidelines, building a successful business isn’t something you have to do alone.

“Success is about perseverance.” – Ash Barty

Athletes don’t train only when they feel motivated. They train because they’ve developed habits and routines that support their goals.

The same principle applies in business. Building a successful business isn’t about being exceptional occasionally. It’s about being consistently good. Returning calls promptly. Delivering excellent service. Continuing to learn. Showing up when things are difficult. These habits are often what separates businesses that survive from those that thrive.

“The final goal requires years of patient building.” – Ian Thorpe

Champions aren’t made in one game, season or tournament. They’re built over time, through perseverance, preparation and continuous improvement.

In business, there will be wins worth celebrating and challenges that test your resolve. There will be periods of growth and moments when progress feels slower than you’d like. The important thing is to keep moving forward.

As we watch athletes compete, it’s worth remembering that what makes them successful isn’t talent alone. It’s the choices they make every day when nobody is watching.

Success isn’t built solely on the winning moments. It’s built in the moments that nobody else sees. Keep showing up, keep improving and keep playing the long game.

Ways to protect your small business

Running a business has never been easy. And, in today’s increasingly volatile environment, it’s more important than ever to ensure your business is properly protected in more ways than one.

It’s worth spending some time reviewing three key areas: insurance protection, risk management and succession planning.

INSURANCE

Review your policies

At a minimum, your business should have both compulsory insurance (such as workers’ compensation and public liability cover) and additional cover for risks such as property damage, theft and natural disasters.

It’s also important to ensure your insurance cover is up-to-date and reflects any operational or staffing changes since the policies were taken out.

Fluctuating asset values make it essential to regularly review policies to ensure you are not underinsured or overinsured if the worst happens.

Other common insurances

Even when you hold policies covering traditional business risks, there are other potential events to consider.

Management liability insurance protects private companies, its directors, and managers from personal and corporate financial loss arising from mismanagement, governance mistakes, or any employment disputes. While Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance protects businesses against financial losses from claims of negligence or breaches of professional duty.

Cybercrime is another high-risk area and may warrant dedicated insurance cover.

Personal cover for business owners

It’s also important to have protection if you cannot work for some reason.

Options for personal insurance include death cover, trauma insurance for specified serious illnesses or injuries and income protection insurance.

These types of personal insurances not only protect your business, but your family as well should the unthinkable happen.

Consider key person protection

Protecting your business also means planning for the loss or incapacity of key employees.

Key person insurance compensates the business for financial losses arising from the death or extended incapacity of an important staff member, for example; the loss of a sales representative who generates revenue for the business.

Lump sum payouts from these policies can be used to offset costs and losses incurred by the business (such as recruiting a successor and a temporary loss of revenue).

RISK MANAGEMENT

Identify potential threats

Another important way to safeguard your business is by developing a detailed risk management plan (RMP).

Risk management plans identify and outline potential risks that could affect your business and help ensure you are ready to act if they do occur.

Your plan needs to be regularly reviewed as the business evolves. Review triggers can include changes such as moving premises, entering a new market and increasing your workforce.

Undertake a risk assessment

The initial step in creating a RMP is assessing and identifying the type and level of risks your business faces and the likelihood and consequences of these risks occurring.

With a clear understanding of your risks, you are much better placed to introduce systems and processes to manage and minimise these risks and to document your planned responses if they eventuate.

SUCCESSION PLANNING

Start planning early

Effectively, planning for the future is essential to the continuation of your business, as a recent NAB study found nearly half of SME owners expect their retirement to trigger business closure, liquidation or forced sale.ⁱ

Starting the succession planning process well before it’s required, helps ensure the process will be smooth and protects the business and staff from upheaval or continuity risk.

Business.gov.au provides a succession planning template to help you get started.

Regularly review your plan

A detailed succession plan needs to be regularly reviewed to ensure it still reflects current market conditions and whether nominated successors remain suitable.

Consider whether gradual and planned handover of responsibilities to in-house successors would help smooth the transition and reduce continuity risk if decision-making is currently centred on one person.

Also consider potential tax risks from unexpected disposal or transfer of business assets following a succession event, as this is one of the ATO’s targeted focus areas.ii

If you need help or guidance on how to protect your business, please contact our office.

i Planning for life after business | NAB
ii Areas of focus 2025–26 | ATO

Discretionary trusts: What the proposed changes mean

Family trusts have long been a popular structure for managing business income, investments and succession planning. However, a major change is proposed from 1 July 2028, with the Federal Government planning to introduce a 30 per cent minimum tax on discretionary trust income and reduce some of the tax advantages these structures have traditionally offered.ⁱ

Treasury estimates there are approximately 840,000 discretionary trusts in Australia and around 350,000 active small businesses operating through these structures.ⁱⁱ

The proposal, outlined in a consultation paper, is that from 1 July 2028, trustees will pay 30 per cent tax at trust level before distributions to beneficiaries.ⁱⁱⁱ

Because the trustee-paid tax credits would be non-refundable, individual and other non-corporate beneficiaries generally would not be able to reduce the tax on discretionary trust income below 30 per cent, even if their personal tax rate is lower.

Proposed exemptions

A number of entities are exempt, with fixed and widely held trusts, complying superannuation funds, charitable trusts, deceased estates and special disability trusts, all excluded. Testamentary trusts established for genuine testamentary purposes are also exempt.

Certain types of income (such as primary production income, select income for vulnerable minors and amounts already subject to non-resident withholding tax), are also excluded from the new rules.

Until the final legislation is released, key questions are yet to be clarified about calculation of taxable income, treatment of capital gains, franking credits and carried-forward losses.

Trustee-level tax changes the mechanics

Under the proposed rules, trustees would pay the 30 per cent tax upfront and beneficiaries would receive a tax credit for their share of that tax. Beneficiaries would still need to include their trust income in their tax returns, but the way the tax is collected would change.

Trustees will be required to calculate, report and pay the minimum tax and notify beneficiaries of their entitlements and associated tax credits.

Tax offsets for beneficiaries

Individual and other non-corporate beneficiaries will receive a non-refundable tax offset for the tax paid by the trustee and will be required to declare their trust income in their tax return.

Corporate beneficiaries, however, will not be able to claim credits for tax payable by the trustee. This is designed to ensure the minimum tax cannot be avoided by cycling income through a ‘bucket’ company set up simply to receive discretionary trust distributions.

As currently proposed, distributions to corporate beneficiaries could be subject to tax at both the trust and company level because corporate beneficiaries would not receive a tax credit for trustee-paid tax. Treasury is still consulting on aspects of this treatment.^iv

Restructure options

For small businesses and other taxpayers wishing to restructure out of a discretionary trust into another arrangement, expanded relief from income tax consequences (including capital gains tax) will be available for three years from 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2030. The relief is an expanded version of the existing Small Business Restructure Roll-over.^v

For small businesses wishing to reduce the impact of the new rules, there are other alternatives to consider, including employing beneficiaries working in the business rather than paying them trust distributions. Salary or wage payment to employees will not attract the minimum tax.

Restructuring into a company would allow you to access dividend imputation and the lower 25 per cent corporate tax if your aggregated annual turnover is less than $50 million.

What are the implications?

While no immediate action is recommended before the legislation is finalised, business owners and investors should begin assessing how the proposal could affect their current structure and whether alternative arrangements may be worth considering.

For many families, discretionary trusts will continue to provide valuable asset protection and succession planning benefits, even if some of their tax advantages are reduced.

If you would like help understanding how the new rules will affect your trust, contact our office today.

i Tax reform | ATO
ii Minimum tax on discretionary trusts factsheet | Federal Budget papers
iii Minimum tax on discretionary trusts | Consultation Paper
iv Deloitte | tax@hand
v Small business restructure roll-over | ATO

Tax Alert September 2026

Key changes for businesses, SMSFs and employers

A new range of tax measures and compliance changes were recently announced and are set to affect businesses, investors and trustees. Here’s a roundup of the latest tax news.

New approach for PAYG instalments

A new way of managing pay as you go (PAYG) instalments will be introduced from 1 July 2027.

Businesses will be able to use dynamic PAYG, ATO-approved calculations in their accounting software to vary their tax instalment payments in line with real-time business conditions.

The ATO says it will not apply a general interest charge (GIC) if dynamic PAYG is used as intended.

It’s important to note these measures are not yet law.

Rule change for SMSF borrowing

Self-managed Super Fund (SMSF) trustees need to be aware that more restrictive tax rules now apply to borrowing money under Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangements (LRBA).

From 10 August 2026, LRBAs can only be used to acquire real property if it meets the definition of ‘business real property’.

Existing LRBAs that were entered into before 10 August 2026 are unaffected, as are refinancing arrangements relating to those existing borrowings.

The changes do not apply where a binding contract for the acquisition of a property is exchanged before 10 August 2026 (even if the contract is settled or the LRBA is entered into after this date).

Luxury car tax rate change

The 2026-27 luxury car tax (LCT) threshold has been announced, with vehicle purchases over the threshold attracting the luxury car tax rate of 33 per cent.

From 1 July 2026, the LCT threshold for fuel efficient vehicles increased ever so slightly to $91,661, up from $91,387 in 2025-2026, with the threshold for other vehicles now sitting at $80,809.

Change to penalty fees

Administrative penalties for taxpayers failing to meet their tax obligations also increased from 1 July 2026.

The penalty amount for the current financial year has increased to $364 per unit, up from $330, which applied for the 1 November 2024 to 30 June 2026 period.

The ATO imposes different penalty unit amounts based on several factors including taxpayer behaviour and the amount of tax avoided.

Payday Super compliance tips

The ATO has reiterated that, during the first year of Payday Super, it will focus on helping employers transition to the new rules. From a compliance perspective, it will consider an employer’s behaviour more than genuine mistakes or unintentional errors.

The best way to minimise the risk of compliance action is to pay your super contributions every payday and fix any errors quickly.

If you make a mistake, it should be corrected as soon as possible and outstanding contributions paid to the fund immediately, rather than waiting to receive a notice of assessment.

SG payment timing for contractors

The ATO has warned employers there is no separate timing or special treatment for contractors under the Payday Super regime.

Super for eligible independent contractors must be paid each payday and must reach the contractor’s fund within seven business days after payday.

Division 296 reminders

The ATO has recommended that individuals with Total Super Balances (TSB) above the large super balance threshold ($3 million for 2026-2027) and very large super balance threshold ($10 million for 2026-2027) check the Division 296 web guidance.

Under the new tax rules, the ATO calculates your TSB based on information provided by your super fund and then uses the fund’s earnings report to calculate Division 296 tax and issue a notice of assessment.

As the new rules change the calculation of TSBs, the ATO suggests that eligible taxpayers discuss the implications with their accountant.

Updated trust reporting requirements

From 1 July 2026, trustees of closely held trusts are no longer required to lodge a quarterly beneficiary tax file number (TFN) report.

The ATO is currently reminding trustees they are now required to report beneficiary TFNs in their statement of distribution when completing the trust’s annual return.

There is no change to the existing TFN withholding and reporting obligations if a beneficiary fails to quote their TFN before distribution payments.

Source: https://.ato.gov.au 

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