On 24th May 1607 the British Virginia Company landed their three ships near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay area on the banks of the James River. There they founded the first permanent English colony in the New World. Now known as Jamestown, Virginia, this was the start of the British colonisation of the…
A trust is a fiduciary relationship in which one party, known as a trustor (or settlor), gives another party, the trustee, the right to hold title to property or assets for the benefit of a third party – the beneficiary. Trusts are governed by the terms under which they are created and are usually…
The top 7 illegal employee tax saving strategies in Australia are: Employees or contractors not declaring cash wages. Not reporting capital gains on the sale of shares or property. Not declaring interest, dividend or rental income. Not declaring overseas income like wages, capital gains, rent, etc. Claiming private expenditure as a work deduction…
There is nothing wrong with being a novice tax planner (it’s actually very exciting taking the challenge and starting the journey to learn something new). But the most important thing we need to do is just follow Plato’s advice and make a start. Over time we will build our skills and hopefully move to at…
In the novice stage, a person follows rules as given, without context, with no sense of responsibility beyond following the rules exactly. Competence develops when the individual develops organisational principles to quickly access the particular rules that are relevant to the specific task at hand; hence, competence is characterised by active decision making in choosing…
This quote by Plato, the Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, sums up the central issue some accountants have with tax planning – they just cannot get started. The day to day grind of servicing the needs of compliance clients leaves them with…
Most practice principals meet the Tax Practitioner Board requirements of thirty hours accounting and tax training per year. Unfortunately, this is normally exclusively related to their compliance related services with no training on value added services such as tax planning. A search of all the accounting professional bodies extensive training and website resources comes up…
All important client advice should be provided to the client in writing (irrespective of whether also provided to the client verbally as well). This practice is recommended by both the ATO and professional bodies to protect both the client and the practice. A tax plan fits into this important category so should definitely be in…
Even if accountants are well trained and utilising tax planning software it will still take 2-3 hours (on average) to complete the six stage tax planning process for a client. Skipping any of the six stages, or not spending adequate time on a stage, will result in a substandard result for the client. The tax…
As discussed previously, 90% of practices don’t actually provide tax planning services to their clients for a fee. That is not debatable and is a fact supported by the data. What is interesting though is that most of those practice principals will tell you they do provide tax planning services to their clients, but just…
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"You’d be stupid not to try to cut your tax bill and those that don’t are stupid in business"
- Bono: U2