June 2010: Creating family-friendly workplaces

June 30 is almost upon us — but there's still time to get your house in order and take steps to reduce your tax bill. Here are some tips to get you started:

1. If you make superannuation payments before year end you may be able to claim them as a deduction in the current year. Just because you’ve accrued them, it doesn’t mean you can claim them — they must actually have been paid.
2. Consider whether you should prepay expenses or claim a deduction for accrued expenses.
3. Consider prepaying interest on any income producing loans. You can usually only prepay interest on a fixed rate loan, so this may also be an opportunity to consider fixing your rate.
4. Consider writing off any bad debts.
5. If you have stock, decide whether you need to do an end-of-year stock-take. Small businesses with an aggregated annual turnover under $2 million may not have to do a stock-take if a reasonable estimate of the value of their stock shows that it has changed by less than $5,000 during the financial year.

And the most important tip of all. Talk to your accountant now, before the end of the financial year. Tax law is complex, and only a qualified professional can give you personalised advice on how it applies to your business. By preparing now, you can make sure you do yourself justice when tax time swings around.

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• Important information.
  As this advice has been prepared without considering your objectives, financial situation or needs, you should before acting on this advice, consider its appropriateness to your circumstances including by considering the terms and conditions of any product or service mentioned.