Business

In recent legal news, the Mandatory Disease Testing Act (NSW) 2021 is now in force.

Most people only seek legal advice for problems when they arise – when going through a divorce or after an accident for example.

From 1 January 2021, businesses dealing with consumers in New South Wales (NSW) are liable to penalties if they do not disclose to consumers:.

Up to the late middle ages, business was pretty steady – one family owned a cow, another some cabbages, there was mutual jealousy and so they swapped.

It is not uncommon in businesses that an employee can also simultaneously be a Shareholder and Director of a company.

People commonly operate a business through a private company.

With the recent and unfortunate resurgence of retail lockdowns it’s timely to revisit landlord and tenant obligations in the retail leasing landscape.

When you do a job, you rightly expect to be paid.

Recent amendments to regulations expand the applicability of the consumer guarantees regime under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

COVID-19 is continuing to have an enormous social and business cost in Australia and governments both State and Federal have been doing their best to provide assistance.

Land tax is levied by NSW Government on 31 December each year on all property you own that is above the land tax threshold.

Your payments to contractors may be subject to payroll tax if the worker is considered as an employee.

The tension between business risk and responsibility dates from ancient times.

When making a Will you need to be aware of special rules that apply to gifts to non-resident beneficiaries.

As many of you would know, there is a 5 business day cooling off period which applies to the sale and purchase of residential real estate.

Before answering this question, we should first understand what agricultural land is.

Bad debts can cripple any business.

Its my great pleasure to introduce Ya Zhang, who recently joined the team at Everingham Solomons with a most impressive and unique experience.

Undertaking work before being paid is a part of business.

The saying “the only constant is change” certainly applies to the law and legal practice generally.

In our climate, effective air conditioning is usually very important to any lease of retail or office space.

I’m often asked by Landlords what’s the best form of security to take from a tenant.

Every business relies on cash flow to survive.

Business relationships are like marriages.

Whilst a company structure generally protects directors from being personally liable to pay the company’s debts, this is not always the case.

Airbnb and other similar types of short-term accommodation are now very widely used in NSW.

Up to the late middle ages, business was pretty steady.

Company directors may be personally liable for a debt incurred by the company if –.

Last year, the New South Wales Government introduced surcharge land tax and stamp duty upon land purchases and land holdings by foreign persons.

CCA company is its own legal entity.

Companies are a common structure favoured by businesses, particularly where there are a number of unrelated parties involved.

In its simplest terms Crowdfunding involves using a social media platform to request relatively small amounts of money for a particular purpose.

Forge was a company in the business of building power stations and had contracted with the Western Australian government to build one at Port Hedland.

Before you embark on a new business or venture, one of the most important decisions you will need to make is what type of structure should be set up for the venture.

Security agreements are a safety mechanism for business.

CC.

Business operators need to review their business structures on a regular basis.

Most of us understand the importance of reducing a commercial contract to writing.

Are you a shareholder of a private company.

A trust is a relationship between people (including companies) about property.

Electronic signature processes are increasingly being used by businesses and financial institutions.

Distributed ledger technologies utilising “blockchains” are set to change the legal industry and the industries in which our clients operate.

Whilst businesses always plan to succeed, statistics show that about 1 in 2 new businesses fail in the short to medium term.

Undertaking work before being paid is a part of business.

As a general rule, a small business employer is not required to pay redundancy pay; however, there are some circumstances where an employer may be legally required to make redundancy payments.

There is something inherently intriguing about placing numbers after words in a punchy turn of phrase where, in the absence of any context, they mean absolutely nothing.

The answer is yes and no.

News reports occasionally contain stories about individuals with influence in tendering processes who receive “kickbacks” for giving favourable treatment to certain tenderers.

Businesses that charge excessive payment surcharges are now on notice from the Federal Government to clean up their act or face hefty penalties.

In February the High Court gave its decision in CGU Insurance v Blakely.

The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (“Act”) can be a powerful tool for subcontractors to use when seeking payment for work performed and materials supplied from non-paying or late paying builders.

Once there were 3 brothers who ran a very successful business via a company in which they all held shares and they all worked on a full-time (and a bit more) basis.

It is not uncommon for parties to a contract such as the sale and purchase of a business or a landlord and tenant of commercial premises to enter into Heads of Agreement prior to any contract being entered into.

The Personal Property Security Register (PPSR) is an increasingly prominent tool for businesses, particularly for those that supply goods on credit or that lease/hire out goods to other businesses.

The number of self managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) is increasing exponentially.

The Federal Government is currently legislating to allow unfair terms in standard form contracts that small businesses enter to be declared void.

The ability to lease land and buildings is important for business.

NKW-booksRecover Your Debts, Enhance Your Cashflow and Improve Your Profitability.

Generally if you wish to change your business structure, say from a partnership to a company or trust, you must consider whether such restructure or transfer will involve a payment of capital gains tax, stamp duty and/or GST.

As is well known, the consequences of allowing a statutory demand served on a company to expire can be severe.

Business people regularly come together as shareholders of a new or existing company to advance a joint venture.

It is very common to find restraint on competition clauses in commercial agreements such as employment contracts and business purchase agreements.

This is an option for enforcement of a judgment when the judgment debtor is a company and the judgment debt exceeds $2,000.

Many businesses gloss over the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) (PPSA).

– Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Barker –.

Many commercial contracts contain provisions to the effect that one party must use their reasonable endeavors, best efforts or best endeavors to fulfill some promise to another party.

Most franchise agreements contain terms to the effect that the franchisee is entitled to an “exclusive territory” where the franchisor will not compete for business or allow another franchisee to operate in that area.

When dealing with difficult debtors are you or is your company having to;.

Retail Leases are covered by the Retail Leases Act 1994 (‘The Act’).

Nobody wants to end up in a business dispute.

Many businesses register intellectual property rights to protect their products, logos and brands.

What is being changed.

Both companies and individuals need to be prepared for the end of the PPSA Transitional Period which is rapidly approaching.

Often, if you consult a contractor to do any sort of work, you will be provided at the outset with either an estimate, or a quote.

The Retail Leases Act 1994 attempts to correct the power imbalance traditionally existing between landlords and tenants.

When a new owner takes over a business, at what point is he considered to have ’employed’ the existing staff.

Most people will probably be aware of the changes to superannuation guarantee contributions but what do these changes mean for employers.

When GST was introduced in 2000, part of the then agreement between the Commonwealth and the States for the sharing of GST revenues proposed the abolition of various state taxes relevant to business.

National Buildplan was a construction company involved in arranging construction of many large building contracts throughout Australia.

Good faith clauses are finding their way into more and more commercial contracts.

In business deals, sometimes one party just won’t pay up.

Independent contractors are usually self-employed and accordingly are their own boss – providing their own tools, deciding which jobs to take on, being paid to achieve a result and bearing the risk of non-payment.

In April 2011, the founder of a substantial property development group was convicted of dishonestly using his position as a director of companies in the group to obtain an advantage for himself to the tune of about $2.

The Retail Leases Act (NSW) applies to all retail leases in NSW.

Last week we looked at a landlords rights under a commercial lease where the tenant left the property and stopped making rental payments mid way through a lease.

An interesting legal point arose recently in a case that I conducted in the Local Court.

Fiduciary relationships are common in day to day life and especially common in the world of business.

Borrowing by Self Managed Superannuation Funds (“SMSFs”) has been allowed under strictly controlled circumstances for over five years.

Obtaining registration of trademark can be a lengthy and at times costly process.

In 2009 Safe Work Australia, a national statutory body was given the job of nationalising state occupational health and safety laws.

In a judgment handed down on 20 April 2012 in Roadshow Films v iiNet, the High Court unanimously found that iiNet did not breach copyright when its customers carried out illegal downloading via their iiNet accounts because, while iiNet may have known of the illegal downloading, it did not “authorize” that conduct by its customers.

What happens if you enter into a contract on the basis of some representation made by the other party, and you later find that representation to be untrue.

The starting point is that restraint of trade clauses are prima facie invalid because they infringe public policy, which holds, quite understandably, that a person should not be able to stand in the way of another person earning a living.

Have you developed a great product, logo, brand, design or process.

Many business owners involve their self managed superannuation funds (“SMSF”) in their business as owner of or part owner of their business premises.

At present, business name registrations have been handled on a state by state basis by differing departments in each state.

With holidays around the corner, it’s not surprising that many employees tend to lose their inhibitions at work-related end of year celebrations.

What rights does a Vendor have to reclaim goods sold after delivery where the Purchaser becomes insolvent and is unable to pay.

Modern attitudes to corporate responsibility have greatly increased the scope for directors to be personally liable for what would otherwise be corporate responsibilities.

Under recent changes to the law, sub-contractors can now claim against the principal or head contactor for payments due to them from the person that contracted them to carry out the work.