By Tina Zawila
At this time of the year, accountants and tax agents are like Santa’s elves – working furiously to create miracles that will magically come to fruition for our clients on 30th June (aka Christmas Day for Accountants and Tax Agents).
The similarities in this analogy are uncanny.
Firstly, if you put in the effort now, you will be able to relax on 30th June knowing that everything is taken care of. Often this effort goes largely unseen and unnoticed, but someone is usually working hard in the background to make sure everything is perfect on the day. That person should be your accountant and tax agent right now – looking at where you are at and what opportunities there may be to minimise your tax payable or maximise your tax refund for the 2024 year.
Key opportunities may include:
· Maximizing your contributions into superannuation to ensure you are utilising your Concessional Cap (maximum tax-deductible contributions for the year) and any available Carried Forward Unused Concessional Contributions, to tax-effectively maximise your retirement savings.
· Bringing forward any tax-deductible expenditure including any assets that are eligible for an immediate deduction (remember this limit is now $20,000 per asset for small businesses). You may also want to consider prepaying for certain future expenses (limits apply), so that you can claim a deduction this year.
· Delaying income where possible until the new financial year may reduce the tax payable on this income (particularly in light of lower individual tax rates) or at least defer the payment of tax. Of course, cashflow should be considered before delaying income.
Secondly, you don’t want to be the one that has to buy whatever’s left on the shelves on Christmas Eve, or worse still get to the shops after they’ve closed and miss out on that special something. Tax Planning must be done well in advance of 30 June. Many of the best strategies have to be determined and implemented weeks in advance to be effective.
So don’t be the one phoning your tax agent in the last week of June expecting a miracle.
This truly is the best time of the year for accountants and tax agents, we get to help write the future instead of simply reporting on the past. Even if you believe you haven’t had a “good year” there are often still opportunities to save tax or free up cash flow before the end of the year.
Please keep in mind that this information is general in nature and you should obtain professional advice tailored to your needs before acting on any of the matters discussed in this article.
Call the professional team at UHY Haines Norton on 07 4972 1300 today to discuss your 2024 tax planning project.