Now is the time to act

Shell shocked by the walloping tail of recession? Well it’s time to spring into action. And guess who you should see first? Your accountant. Now. Before they get busy with the new financial year stuff.

And the reason is there is a slug of funds around that your accounts knows about.

The next step is to invite a friendly auditor to review your year-end tax position and set clear goals for the coming year.

The downside of the last year’s pressures on smart company cashflows is the failure to keep up with BAS and GST requirements, the tendency to overstate depreciation and to listen to the glib talk of the tax-minimisation fraternity.

So make sure you know your position. And then, with your accountant, start looking for opportunities.

The up-side is that the Government is in a very generous mood at the moment with its stimulus packages, openness to the role of SMEs in job creation, service development and new capital formation.

For example the Federal Government will give a $720 million cashflow boost to small business owners or trustees of a self-managed superannuation funds by cutting pay-as-you-go (PAYG) instalments.

The Government plans to provide further economic stimulus through a cut in PAYG instalments for approximately 1.5 million taxpayers in the 2009/10 financial year. As a result, PAYG instalment amounts will decrease by an estimated 6% for the 2009/10 financial year.

An early session with accountants, auditors and tax agents will help smart companies to get the facts in advance of the scrutiny from the taxman, improve cashflow and help prepare liquidity analyses for your bank manager. 

But watch out. The recession means that medium to larger SMEs are increasingly going to be the focus of attention from the tax office. The tax office is looking at current and emerging tax administration risks in the SME market, approaches to address significant tax administration issues facing SME clients, and compliance risks in the SME segment.

And we know that the tax office has announced it has commenced a personal services income data-matching project in which records of approximately 30,000 individuals and entities will be reviewed. The records of entities and individuals who have received contract payments will be matched against information collected from labour hire firms, placement agencies and computer consultancy firms.

Then you have Lindsay Tanner, Minister for Finance, and the toe-cutters looking for any way to increase net revenue after they make payouts to pensioners and training programs.

So while we get ready for a tough budget and tough taxman, balance that out with pro-actively looking for ways to take advantage of all the largess being poured into the economy.

Dr Colin Benjamin is Entrepreneurship and Strategic Thinking Consultant at Marshall Place Associates, which offers a range of strategic thinking tools that open up possibilities for individuals and organisations committed to applying the processes of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Contact: CEO Dr Jane Shelton. 

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