This Month’s Hot Topics

by Shawn O’Grady
3 Minute(s) to read

This Month’s Hot Topics

Business Planning

We  often hear the famous quote by Benjamin Franklin “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”. Oh, this is so very true. Often I see clients that have no idea what their charge-out rate should be. Here are some guidelines on establishing a fair but profitable rate for your business.

How to work out a charge-out rate

These are the six basic considerations to help you work out a charge-out rate for your business:

  1. Decide what income you want from your business
  2. Work out how many hours you realistically charge-out per year
  3. Work out a chargeable rate to achieve your income
  4. Work out your overhead costs
  5. Work out an additional hourly rate to cover these costs as well
  6. Add a profit margin.

You may want to go to my website www.taxman.co.nz for a copy of a worksheet to help you calculate your charge-out rate.

Hot Property Tips

If you're thinking about getting into the property market now, you’re about 3 1/2 years too late. Property values have already gone up. If you're after capital gains this is now associated with a form of tax, called “the Bright line test”. That is, if you buy and sell a property within two years of purchase and it’s not the property you reside in, you’re taxed on the profit.  There is, of course, some exceptions to this. If you are buying now for rental income, you're buying at the top of the market. Rental returns won't be brilliant. Rents will have to rise to catch up with property prices, so once again the property clock has to go full cycle.  For those that started property investing in the mid 2000's things are looking pretty rosey. 

Trusts

If one of the reasons why you formed a trust was to protect your assets, should you be unfortunate enough to go into residential care due to ill health or old age, then it's important that you consider how your trust has been managed in the past. Are all of your records complete and up to date?  Please, no lost records because you’ll need them all. If this is the case for you then you need to act now. Give me a call.

Update

An update on our June’s article “Left Hanging”. Unfortunately, our Telco company took some time to respond, and not very favourably at that. They could not promise that 4G would be available in our area in the near future. They further informed us that as they could not supply what was promised, then we would not be penalised for breaking our contract part way through the contract term. We are now happily signed up with the company fronted by Rhys Darby in their advertising campaign some years ago.

 

HAVE WE GOT YOU THINKING?

 

Give us a call on (04) 563 6965 or email: dennis@taxman.co.nz or shawn@taxman.co.nz

Keep an eye out for August’s article!

 

TAX DATES TO REMEMBER

  • 20th August 2016 - Monthly employers PAYE payment…
  • 28th August 2016 - 1st Installment of 2017 Provisional Tax…. 
  • 28th August 2016 - Bi monthly GST Return for June/July 2016…

Haven't got the money to pay it?... check out www.tmnz.co.nz