Economos Accounting Group will help you choose the right Trust for you.

When you sit down to discuss setting up a trust with one of our trust specialists at Economos, we’ll take a good look at your assets, your investments, and your financial situation before we make any recommendations. We’ll go over all your options, including discretionary trusts, hybrid trusts, unit trusts, disability trusts and testamentary trusts..

We’ll point out any current risks your family or business might face and find the kinds of trusts that can safeguard your business and personal assets from those risks. After we set up your trust, we can help you with all the tax filings your trust will need to be compliant with tax laws.

Although they are one of the most common kinds of trusts, discretionary trusts do have strict laws governing them. That’s why you need a trained, chartered accountant—like our trust specialists at Economos—to make sure that your trust maintains compliance with the law. A discretionary trust provides excellent protection for your assets, so you can pass them on to the next generation. Though the trust doesn’t pay taxes, a discretionary trust that operates as a business needs to have a tax file number (TFN) and an Australian business number (ABN). If the trust employs workers, it must pay superannuation contributions. In a discretionary trust, you give a trustee control over the assets and the management of those assets. To learn more about setting up a discretionary trust, get in touch with Economos for a trust consultation.

Testamentary trusts hold a deceased person’s assets in a trust set up for their beneficiaries. To set up a testamentary trust, you must set up the provisions for it in your will, since it is created at the time of your death. It, too, can protect your beneficiaries’ assets from lawsuits, relationship breakdowns, or other situations. Minors receive tax-free benefits of up to and including the adult threshold, making it an excellent choice to reduce taxes. Disability trusts can help provide people with disabilities with the care and material goods they need after loved ones pass on. Spendthrift trusts limit the distribution of and access to assets to someone with a spending issue or vulnerable individuals who might be easily deceived.

Unit trusts divide the ownership of the trust’s benefits into units. The beneficiary of each unit, not a trustee, controls the assets in his or her unit. Distribution takes place according to the specifics of each unit in the trust. Business trusts help protect your business assets, services, and licences from lawsuits. They help you separate your business assets from your personal ones, keeping your family assets safe in case your business files or bankruptcy or is sued. For more information on the benefits of establishing a unit or business trust, contact the trust specialists at Economos.

Just like a family or a business, a trust functions as an entity subject to taxation law, superannuation requirements for its employees, and other considerations. Distribution issues, too, can be complex and require the services of an accountant. An accountant, too, can track the performance of the funds and property within the trust to give you an accurate picture of the trust’s assets.

It may seem strange to engage a CFO advisory service for a trust--but think again. As a financial entity, a trust needs someone who can exercise financial leadership and make wise investment decisions about the assets within the trust. Generally, these duties fall to the trustee. Yet if the trustee is a family member, that person may not have the financial expertise to take advantage of certain investment moves. With Economos’ CFO advisory service, that trustee has someone at her or his side that can provide guidance and leadership so that the trust can maximise its worth for its beneficiaries.

When you set up a trust, you look for the most tax-effective vehicle for your beneficiaries. Trusts that operate as businesses, too, must have a tax file number (TFN) and Australian business number (ABN). When you pass on, your beneficiaries must deal with a complicated tangle of rules regarding capital gains tax and other taxes on their benefits. Taking advantage of Economos’ tax advisory team’s expertise to make sure your trust will minimise taxes for its beneficiaries makes good sense. To make sure your trust is best equipped to protect our beneficiaries, contact the tax advisory team at Economos.