A friend’s accountant suggested that they could reduce interest on non-deductible debt by using company cash to offset their personal
mortgage, then transferring the cash back by 30 June. Is this an acceptable strategy?
This might initially sound like a brilliant strategy but what is really happening is that you are using company funds to derive a personal
benefit. Doing this once might not attract attention, but doing this more than once might trigger a deemed unfranked dividend under Division
7A. Section 109R is designed for scenarios like this.
If this occurs, the repayment you made will be ignored, meaning that a deemed dividend could be triggered in relation to the funds
initially borrowed from the company unless a complying loan agreement is put in place, in which case minimum loan repayments would need
to be made to prevent a deemed dividend from arising.
For example, let's assume you are a shareholder of the company (or an associate of a shareholder) and you borrow money from the company on 1
July 2022. This loan would generally fall within the scope of Division 7A, but a deemed dividend can be avoided if the loan is fully repaid
by the earlier of the due date and actual lodgement date of the company's 2023 tax return.
However, if you repay the loan but it appears that you intend to borrow a similar or larger amount from the company when making the
repayment then the repayment can be ignored. The main exception to this is where the repayment is made in a way that is taxable to the
individual (e.g., dividends or directors’ fees are set-off against the loan balance).
One of the most common situations where section 109R could apply is where funds are taken from the company bank account and placed into a
director's home loan offset account.
Even if the funds are transferred back to the company before the end of the year, there is a significant risk of section 109R applying if the pattern repeats. That is, the money will be treated as a dividend and taxed as assessable income.
Give us a call or email if you'd like help to understand what this means for you and your business.
Lunch & Learn Workshop // 4 September, 2026 - 12:00 - 1:30pm
$35pp includes lunch
Many business owners believe growth comes from more sales. But in reality, the strongest and most profitable
businesses grow by improving how the business works, not just by selling more. This session is designed to change that. The
5-Critical Financial Metrics
is a practical workshop that shows you where small, targeted changes can create disproportionately big improvements in profit, cashflow and
sustainability.
Lunch & Learn Workshop // 26 June, 2026 - 12:00 - 1:30pm
$35pp includes lunch
This session is designed to change that. Pricing, Profit &
Your Ideal Client
is a practical workshop that helps you understand where your
profit really comes from,
how pricing decisions affect margins, and why working with clients that align with your business makes a measurable difference to both
profit and cashflow.
AI-Enhanced Automation for Accounting and Finance Professionals: Leveraging RPA, VBA, ChatGPT, and Copilot for Innovation and
Productivity.
Join SkyBots’ 2-day Workshop in MELBOURNE with automation expert Daryl Aw to revolutionise your workflow using Power
Automate, UiPath, VBA,
and cutting-edge
Agentic AI. Tailored for accounting and finance professionals, bookkeepers and small business owners,
this hands-on training will teach you to automate repetitive tasks, generate and optimise VBA scripts, and deploy robust automation
solutions independently.
If you’re a director of a small business, Payday Super isn’t just an HR or payroll issue. It’s a governance issue that could directly affect your personal legal exposure.
Payday Super doesn’t just change when you pay super. It also changes how super is calculated. If you’re a small business owner, it’s important to understand these shifts — because they could affect how much you owe and for which employees.
