Tax Planning with Empire Accountants Brisbane & Gold Coast

Posted 20 Apr '17

Paying tax is about as high on a lot of our priority lists as routine dental checks and doing our washing. We know it needs to be done, however, we like to put it off until we’re nearly clothesless and full of cavities…

Pairing this with trying to keep up with new rules and regulations the ATO brings out each year, we know it can be hard to keep on top of and quite frankly a subject some would rather ignore.

At Empire Accountants, our job is to make tax time less like a chore on your to-do list and more like a tool to helping you understand your business position, so you can effectively implement strategies to make your business more sustainable.

How? You ask.

Tax Planning!

We apologise as there is simply no way to make that sound exciting. Perhaps we should say ‘Tax Savings’?
Right, now that we have your attention we can continue…

Here are Empire Accountants Top 3 Tips to saving on tax this Financial Year

Superannuation payments

Superannuation can only be claimed as a deduction when it is paid.
This means we could look at paying your June quarter superannuation liability for employees and considering your personal superannuation contributions before the end of the year to ensure you are entitled to claim the deduction this year.

You are going to pay it anyway so really it is an easy win to bring down the tax earlier!

Write off bad debts

The end of the year is a great time to review your debtors and ensure that all monies owed to you are recoverable (and probably a fitting time to chase some of the old ones too!).

Go through your lists and if there are any that you just know are not going to get paid, we can include those bad debts in your accounts to bring down your taxable income. This way you’re not paying tax on income you will never receive!

Purchasing

Purchasing additional items for your business (especially if you are a small business and now eligible for the $20k immediate asset write-off) before the end of the year can again reduce your taxable income.

We only recommend this option for purchases that are calculated and you were intending on doing anyway! Using this as a reason to make a purchase in itself isn’t advisable BUT if you were going to buy it anyway, bringing it forward a month (provided it isn’t going to break the bank) can help to bring down that taxable income!

The real tax saving work happens in one of our offices, so if you’d like to book a consultation, whether you are in Brisbane or on the Gold Coast, contact us today and let’s start building your empire together!