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In This Issue
· May News
. Budget 2010
- Power of deadlines
- Tax Dates.
- Tax Facts
- IRD Website
Trusts
Do you have a family trust? Should you have one? If you are an existing clients and up to date with all your taxation obligations. There is no charge for a half an hour consultation to discuss this with Michelle - phone for an appointment.
ACC Problems
It costs you nothing for us to check your invoice - we will charge only if we can help you save some money or increase your claim in the event of an accident. Please send us an email here to ask us to check your ACC account.
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May Tipbits
Feb/March GST due 7 May 2010
3rd Instalment Provisional Tax due 7 May 2010
Any questions about the above tax liabilities please do not hesitate to call Rhonda on 835 4222 or Nadine on 818 1688 or the accountant who did your work last year.
Budget - 20 May 2010
Property Investment
I am eagerly looking forward to this year's budget. It has been much harder to structure those entering into property investment when I don't know what exact changes the budget will make on property investors. For many I have just had to say let's wait. What will happen to LAQC company's? What will the new rules be - are the rules any different if the property is in your own name or in the name of a Trust? What income will ring fenced losses be able to be offset. Will the rules apply to other business losses - not connected to property?
I am expecting there will no longer be a claim on Depreciation of Buildings allowed. This is not a major claim for most of my clients - so I can't see it suddenly making property investment unpopular.
GST Rate increasing to 15%
I am expecting an increase of 2.5% in GST this year in the budget. What can a small to medium sized business do to get on top of this change?
1) You need to check that your internal accounting system can easily adjust for this change, while still keeping the old rate going for the transitional period. This change is likely to start from 1 October - so most businesses will have the first 6 months calculating GST at 12.5% and the 2nd at 15%.
2) Businesses registered for GST and not able to absorb a GST increase will need to raise prices by 2.5%. I would like to suggest most businesses will need to pass on this increase - or your profit margin will be directly affected - that's not smart thinking.
3) If you want to buy something and you are not GST registered - such as accountancy services or an asset - do it before the raise in prices. All consumers are likely to spend much more freely before the increase just as they last did in 1989 so plan ahead to take advantage of this and encourage customers to pay up front for goods and services to get the lower GST rates.
4) Credit notes/debit notes
Review your procedures to make sure when the rate changes the you can issue correct tax invoices based upon the GST rate when the goods were originally purchased.
5) Review any longer term contracts your business has to check for your ability to review prices based upon changes to GST law, check your lease terms and all other credit contracts. Most contracts will say plus GST without naming the amount so you will need to pay more or you can receive more when this is the case.
6) You may need to file an extra GST return if the rate changes in between two GST periods.
Power & Impact of Deadlines
I was reading the Emyth revisited yesterday and found myself agreeing with the author Micheal Gerber who commented that most people leave their jobs to work for themselves and of those few businesses that survive their first 5 years the majority end up working longer hours and for less money then they received when they worked for someone else.
There are many reasons for this - one is that there are things you may stop doing when you start your own business and one may be setting deadlines - you want to be the boss - you will do the job - when you are ready.
I encourage you not to do this. Deadlines are a wonderful strategic weapon and every business can make a difference by using them.
- Deadlines challenge us to perform our best.
- Deadlines create urgency which in turn help us to generate energy in order to complete them quickly.
- A deadline represents a commitment to your customer and to your company and to yourself.
- A deadline makes accountability so much easier - which is one of the great benefits of personal coaches and trainers - I have both to help me keep to my own deadlines.
A clearly defined, well understood and accurate deadline shared between two or more people, and committed by both parties is like a silver bullet to your goals.
Do you want to delay your goals, dreams or life?
If the answer is not NO than challenge yourself to:
1) Set daily, weekly, monthly and annual goals - write them down - this fact alone helps your mind achieve them.
2) Then set realistic deadlines on all your goals and activities - starting with the top 3 things to accomplish today.
3)Work your tail off to accomplish these goals within the deadline. You can astound yourself with your own peak performance.
Enjoy this month - and may it be a month that you truly are conscious of improving your performance compared with a month or a year ago.
Kind Regards
Michelle Thompson
Director
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