To most people in business the legalistic, jargon riddled world of tax planning is a blemish on our great nation.
To think that there’s 800 million gazillion pages of legislation to control the way we calculate our taxes, is to most a complete waste of time and money. It just seems like such a mess and no one seems to be able to give you a straight answer on what’s best for you. Yes, just you.
A simple explanation
You don’t care about how capital gains tax applies to non-residents or how the anti-avoidance provisions apply to your neighbours’ cat. You just want a plain explanation and a simple execution of a tax plan that works best in your little world.
So this means that the people you engage to help you with this stuff need to avoid using industry buzzwords like beneficiary loan accounts and Division 7A loans. You need to deal a bean counter that can explain things in a way that you understand. Not in a way that makes him look smart and adds 50% to his bill. Because in 95% of cases the tax rules that apply to your business are in fact quite simple.
Only a fraction of the 800 million gazillion pages of rules actually apply to you so you should not have to hear about or care for them. You are far better off remaining focussed on what makes your business grow than what legal boxes need ticking.
Most accountants
In our experience, we have seen how lots of accountants set up complicated legal structures that cost a fortune. Initially to set them up and then, for ever after, the bills just keep on coming. There are trusts that became redundant in 1990 that still need annual paperwork.
There are networks of companies, inter-entity agreements, super funds and estate plans that the Royal Family would be proud of. They all take time and money to administer yet we see in many cases that they should have been wound up, dissolved or just burnt years ago.
Most Accountants are great at setting up legal entities but they are terrible at recognising when they are no longer relevant. And worse, even when they finally acknowledge they are no longer useful they just can’t get their heads around shutting them down.
It’s like they’ve become attached to that old company like the ugly Christmas shirt they bring out each December or their favourite pocket protector that’s kept ink off their white shirts since the 60’s.
They may say that old family trust of yours has some old tax losses forward you may be able to use one day or there’s a chance you might win the lotto and use it again.
WROOOOONG !!
It’s old, irrelevant and brown and this year you can do something about it. It’s time to take the very simple steps towards simplifying your business structure to reflect your business conditions today. It’s not hard to weigh up the pro’s and con’s and to get a plain English path that saves tax and protects your assets. It’s not hard to shut down redundant entities and lodge the final trust tax return EVER. It’s not hard to deregister a company so you can stop paying ASIC fees every year for no reason. And none of it is hard to understand if the Accountant you use has a modern business brain.
If you need help
So if YOU need some help to simplify your financial affairs then get in touch. We promise not to big note ourselves with complicated tax office spin and legal posturing because we’re not the attorney general and you’re not Kerry Packer so click on the link and let’s get it sorted.