Q: My client, a sole trader, got audited for claiming high expenses. He works on an accrual basis and did a job for a restaurant in 2015 but never got paid. He still hasn't been paid. The restaurant was struggling financially, so my client agreed to invest in it, hoping to make a profit when it sells in the future. Now the tax office says he has to pay GST and penalties on that unpaid income. Can he claim the expenses he spent to keep the restaurant running against the income the tax office is chasing him for?

Q: My client had to pause their company's operations for over a year due to other work commitments, which led to their Australian Business Number (ABN) being cancelled and no tax returns filed during that time. Now, the company's back in business as usual, with no changes. Can they still use the losses from that pause in future years?

Q: Our client runs their business through a family discretionary trust and wants to switch to a company or unit trust to bring in new business partners. Are there any provisions for rolling over the business from a discretionary trust to a unit trust?

Q: Torres and Baker ran a dog washing business together in Mosman, NSW, called Pets R. Torres decided to leave the partnership and start his own dog washing business alone. In May 2017, Baker paid Torres $50,000 to make sure he wouldn't start a similar business within a 10 km radius of Mosman. This payment was to protect Pets R's reputation.