For the purposes of income and assets assessment, a sole trader is a business owned by one person.



The business:

  • is not a separate legal entity from the owner,
  • is not a separate accounting entity, which means that sole traders need ONLY lodge a personal tax return,
  • may be run in the owner's name OR under a registered business name, and
  • may or may not have employees.



The owner is:

  • liable for all the debts of the business, and
  • entitled to all the profits of the business.