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April
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Provisional Tax payments are supposed to be paid in equal instalments 3 times a year. The last instalment is the last chance to catch up if you haven't paid equal amounts throughout the year - for whatever reason. This year the tax rates have changed and most of our clients are faced with differing amounts, of tax due, to what they expected. If you have had a very different income tax year to the 2010 income tax year, there is a high chance your provisional tax payment as estimated by us and the IRD will be incorrect. We spend huge amounts of time on our reminder letters, and we do try our very best to help you get it right. In the end if clients have not paid enough tax at the right time some will face use of money penalties. These penalties are often harsh for the amount of money involved. So if in doubt - particularly if you know you have had a very good income year for 2011 - please contact us and let us know and we will probably suggest you pay more tax for this instalment. Top of Page Legislation Changes 1st April was the date that many of last year's announced changes took effect. One of the major ones I haven't covered in the newsletters yet was changes to Working for Families rules. I recommend lump sum payments of family support with self employed people, mainly because your income is so variable. this is even more advisable after the changes to family support, which include;
Top of Page Death of LAQC We have completed over 25% of our LAQC reviews now. We thank those clients who responded early and have enabled us to do share transfer (when required) before the end of this month. We have been surprised ourselves by the amount of clients that are greatly affected by the LAQC changes and many clients have chosen personal interview to understand the consequences of how the changes affect them personally. If you have not managed to get to us yet we will delay doing your end of year 2011 work until we do complete this transitional review. All existing LAQC companies have a definite deadline set by the government being 30th September to either make an LTC election or not. So it is a priority for us this year that all clients do this first or the tax consequences could be more than expected. Top of Page Economic Update A recovering Auckland housing market reflects a fundamental shortage of property. This week we have learnt that the housing market is picking up as rents and house prices in Auckland have rebounded. Businesses have started buying commercial vehicles, however, the car market and retail spending remains weak as consumers continue to par down debt. A recent business opinion survey confirmed there is reduced confidence about growth prospects for their business. The Father of all budgets last year will mean that as government spending is slashed, the tourism sector will remain in recession, exports are not expected to grow and as massive uncertainty still surrounds us with events overseas, this in turn may curb company profits until 2012 with rising fuel prices acting as a tax on the economy. For more frequent economic updates by Tony Alexander from BNZ in an 'easy to read' style please click on the link below. http://www.bnz.co.nz/personal-banking/be-money-smart/economic-commentary-and-insight My summary of all this is that it's not an easy time to have your own business. However many people do make a very good living from their own business, and personally I would still rather have control of my own future than be employed full-time and face the stress and uncertainty if suddenly my hours and contracts were cut and I was out of work. Not to mention facing long queues of other people also wanting work whenever I applied for a new job. Top of Page Harness Your Energy In the last newsletter we discussed how the ability to say "No" helps in business and life to remain focused on one course of action, which in turn leads to success. We often fail to take into account the critical role energy has in our lives. Absent of the correct quantity, quality, focus and force of energy we all become compromised in any activity we undertake. An abundance of natural energy is your contribution to, and your reward from, other people, relationships, activities and obligations. Reclaimed energy makes it possible to grow your career or business expediently and can dramatically improve the quality of your life and create a lifestyle that supports success and happiness. Every time you create the energy to devote to more rewarding experiences you also increase the value of your life for yourself and those you love. While the number of hours in a day is fixed, peak performance, optimal health and genuine happiness is grounded in the skilful art of energy management. It may require some selfishness in how you manage your energy. Script out time in your life to ge the necessary sleep, eat the right food, exercise to stay fit and increase your own productivity. Script out time in your year for holidays and hobbies - they don't have to be expensive to be energy enhancing experiences. In a book that I read recently called "Younger Next Year Live Strong, Fit and Sexy Until You're 80 and Beyond" I read that the older we get the more time each day we need to spend on maintaining our fitness. However, if we do spend the required time to get our heart rate up etc then our body can actually reverse the aging process and show symptoms of better health than we had when younger. In the efforts of building a successful business please see your personal efforts in maintaining your health as necessary to increase the energy required for peak performance in both your business and your personal life. Top of Page |
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