Hemisphere Accounting

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Pymble, NSW
Hemisphere Accounting

A boutique accounting practice in Sydney & London giving you personalised service and helping you bring your business into balance

Offering a tailor-made accounting service to small and medium sized businesses

04/09/2026

Auction clearance rates have sat below 50% since May. Capital city home sales are down 16.2% on a year ago. Three rate rises in 2026 have taken their toll on sentiment and borrowing capacity.

In the near term, conditions are cautious.

But the structural forces underneath Australian property remain intact. Population growth is continuing. Housing supply remains chronically short. And rental vacancy rates in most capital cities are still historically low.

The investors who tend to navigate these periods well are not the ones who react to the short-term headlines. They are the ones who understand their current position, their borrowing capacity at current rates, and whether their portfolio is structured to hold through a softer period.

If you hold investment property and have not reviewed your position recently, this is a practical time to do it.

03/09/2026

The RBA has already raised the cash rate three times in 2026, taking it from 3.60% to 4.35%.

The next decision lands on 29 September.

The banks are divided. NAB expects a rise to 4.60% at this meeting. CBA and ANZ lean toward November. Westpac expects no change through 2026.

What triggered the uncertainty was the July inflation data. Headline inflation eased to 3.5% but trimmed mean inflation, the figure the RBA actually targets, held steady at 3.6%. That was not the fall economists had expected.

For property investors and mortgage holders, a fourth rate rise in 2026 would add approximately $91 per month to repayments on a $600,000 loan. Across four rises, the cumulative increase reaches around $363 per month on the same loan.

Whether rates move in September or November, the direction of travel for the rest of 2026 is less certain than it looked three months ago.

If you have not reviewed your borrowing position in light of where rates are now, it is worth doing before the decision lands.

31/08/2026

If you receive UK rental income, the tax rates on that income are increasing from April 2027.

The changes across all bands:

Basic rate: 19% rising to 22%
Higher rate: 40% rising to 42%
Additional rate: 45% rising to 47%

Combined with Section 24, which already restricts mortgage interest deductibility to a 20% basic rate credit for individual landlords, the effective tax rate on UK rental income for higher rate taxpayers continues to increase.

For Australian clients, UK rental income is also assessable in Australia. The Australia-UK double taxation agreement provides relief, but the interaction between both systems needs to be managed carefully.

If you have not reviewed your UK property income position recently, April 2027 is close enough to warrant doing it now.

https://www.hemisphereaccounting.com/

28/08/2026

It is one of the most common questions in financial planning. And the answer is more specific than most people think.

According to the ASFA Retirement Standard for the March quarter 2026, Australians aged 65 to 84 who own their home and retire at 67 need the following annual income:

Single, modest lifestyle: $36,434
Single, comfortable lifestyle: $55,923
Couple, modest lifestyle: $52,473
Couple, comfortable lifestyle: $78,566

To fund a comfortable retirement, the lump sum required at retirement is estimated at $630,000 for a single person and $730,000 for a couple. These figures assume you draw down all capital and receive a part Age Pension.

A modest lifestyle is largely covered by the Age Pension. A comfortable lifestyle assumes private health insurance, a reasonable car, household goods, and holidays.

If your super balance is tracking below these figures, there are practical steps worth taking now. Making extra contributions, reviewing your investment options inside super, and consolidating multiple accounts to reduce fees all make a difference over time.

26/08/2026

The question of whether to hold UK residential property in personal name or through a limited company has dominated UK landlord conversations for years.

Right now, the gap between the two has widened to the point where the question is worth asking seriously.

A company structure may be worth considering if:

✔️ You have significant mortgage debt on UK property
✔️ You are a higher or additional rate UK taxpayer
✔️ You are focused on long-term accumulation rather than drawing income now
✔️ The accrued gain on the property is relatively modest

A company structure is likely not right if:

❌ The property has a large accrued gain that would be crystallised on transfer
❌ You have little or no mortgage debt
❌ You plan to sell within a shorter timeframe

For Australian clients, the decision has an additional layer. UK company ownership interacts with Australian tax obligations, the double taxation agreement, and potentially controlled foreign company rules. Getting the UK answer right without understanding the Australian position is only half the picture.

If you have not had this conversation yet, it is worth having before the April 2027 income tax increases take effect.

25/08/2026

If you own UK residential property in your personal name and have a mortgage on it, Section 24 affects how your rental income is taxed.

Since 2020, individual landlords can no longer deduct mortgage interest as a full expense against rental income. Instead, you receive a 20% basic rate tax credit on finance costs.

For basic rate taxpayers, the impact is limited.
For higher rate taxpayers, the effect is significant.

In some cases it pushes landlords into a tax liability on income they have not actually received, because the gross rent is taxed before the restricted credit is applied.

The practical effect:

Higher rate taxpayers pay 40% tax on gross rental income, then receive a 20% credit on finance costs. The net rate on leveraged property can be well above what most investors expect.

The upcoming income tax rate increases from April 2027 will compound this further.
Companies are not subject to Section 24 and continue to receive full finance cost deductibility.

If you hold UK property personally and have a mortgage, understanding the real after-tax yield on that property is worth doing. It may look different from what you assumed.

24/08/2026

Most people know that superannuation contributions are taxed at 15% inside the fund.

What fewer people know is that if your income plus concessional contributions exceed $250,000, an additional 15% tax applies under Division 293.

That takes the effective tax rate on those contributions to 30%.

It is administered directly by the ATO based on information from your tax return and your super fund. You do not need to calculate it yourself, but you do need to be aware of it when planning your contributions strategy.

The good news is that even at 30%, salary sacrifice into super is still more tax efficient than receiving the same income at the top marginal rate of 47% including Medicare levy.

And for those who are close to but not consistently over the $250,000 threshold, the contribution strategy can be managed to minimise the Division 293 exposure in higher income years.

If this applies to you and you have not factored it into your planning, it is worth a conversation.

https://www.hemisphereaccounting.com/

21/08/2026

Salary sacrifice into superannuation remains one of the most effective tax planning tools available to Australian employees.

Here is how it works in 2026-27.

Contributions made through a salary sacrifice agreement are made from pre-tax income and are not included in your assessable income. They are taxed at 15% inside the fund, which for most people is significantly lower than their marginal rate.

The concessional contributions cap for 2026-27 is $32,500. This includes both your employer's compulsory super guarantee contributions and any salary sacrifice amounts.

The tax saving is immediate. The contribution goes straight to your fund and you benefit from compounding returns on the tax saving amount from day one.

A few things to be aware of. The salary sacrifice arrangement must be in place before you earn the income, not after. And if your income plus concessional contributions exceed $250,000, Division 293 tax applies, adding an additional 15% on contributions above that threshold. Even then, the combined 30% rate is still below the top marginal rate of 47%.

If you have not reviewed your salary sacrifice arrangements recently, the start of a new financial year is the obvious time to do it.

19/08/2026

UK inheritance tax applies to UK residential property owned by non-residents, regardless of where the owner lives.

This is not new. But changes introduced in 2025 significantly tightened the rules around offshore structures that previously sheltered UK property from IHT exposure. Many of those structures no longer work as intended.

The current UK IHT threshold is £325,000 per individual, with a potential additional £175,000 residential nil rate band where property passes to direct descendants. Above those thresholds, IHT applies at 40%.

For Australian clients with UK property, this means:

UK residential property forms part of the UK taxable estate regardless of residency
Offshore trust structures that previously sheltered UK property need to be reviewed
The interaction between UK IHT and Australian estate planning requires careful mapping across both jurisdictions

If your UK property forms part of your estate planning and the arrangements have not been reviewed since 2025, the rules you were relying on may have changed.

This is an area where cross-border advice matters. We work across both jurisdictions and can help you understand your exposure on both sides.

18/08/2026

The government has released its first consultation paper on the proposed 30% minimum tax on discretionary trust income.

The start date is 1 July 2028. That feels like a long way away. It is not.

The issues being consulted on will affect every family trust, from straightforward structures to the most complex arrangements. They include the treatment of distributions to tax exempt entities like charities, the proposed rollover relief for those restructuring out of a trust, how excess franking credits will be treated, and the mechanics of how the minimum tax will be collected.

One significant concession has already been announced. Testamentary trusts, those set up under a person's will to distribute assets after death, will be exempt from the 30% minimum tax, provided they are established for a genuine testamentary purpose.

If you have a family trust, the time to understand what these changes mean for your structure is now, not in 2028.

We are working through the detail with clients now. Reach out if you want to discuss your trust.

https://www.hemisphereaccounting.com/

Address

Pymble, NSW
2073

Telephone

+61290565078

Website

http://www.hemisphereaccounting.com/

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