A timely warning....

[GreatPig]

Oh goody... don't we all just love paperwork.

But, a few dilemmas...

If I call my accountant to wish him a Merry Christmas, does that count as a business call or a private call?

Or if I call my father to ask him about a house for sale in his neighbourhood, how would I prove to the ATO that it was a business call and not a private one?

But if we then spend 10 minutes talking about the house and 30 minutes talking about his garden, should I log that detail too?

Better yet, why not tape all calls and then count how many words are business related and how many are private? I wonder though, if part of a sentence is business and the other part private, would the conjunction count in the business part or the private part...

So many fun-filled hours . Just what I need to fill in all that idle time with nothing else to do .

GP

 

[Aceyducey]

Greatpig,

Technology has a solution for you.

Become a cyborg!

Then you can record everything without requiring logging.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.02/warwick.html

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[Corsa]

Dale. Your first post annoyed me because this is nothing new. Any competent tax account would have known this as fact without wasting five hours with an unplesant gentleman.

Thommo, you are kidding right?

Dale was just bringing to the Somersoft Forum attention, that there may be additional attention being focused on "work related" expenses in the upcoming financial period. This is partially due to the large increase in the claims being made in this area, in addition to technological advances which enable tax analysts to better distinguish between areas relating to personal vs business expenditure. This issue was also highlighted in the AFR today for anyone to read.

I printed your post and showed my wife whose competance, or so it appeared to me, was questioned recently. In her ladylike manner she heaped scorn on me, threw the print-out in the bin and sorta said "I know this! Don't try and tell me my business".

I believe you are referring to the recent post where we came head to head in this thread You are mistaken if any comments in that post made by myself or by others can be construed as a question on your wife's competance. Instead, in my opinion, the questions were related purely to your ability to explain whether you claim only business items on your individual tax or whether you claim business and personal. It appeared, on face value, that you claimed both personal and business expenditure from your claims in your posts.

I bit my tongue all day but now you say "The bottom line should be to do as you have always done.....prepared your tax returns believing that the information included is correct and able to be proven under question or investigation. And, don't be greedy". So why the five and a half star post?

It seems to me we are where we started except that you have touted for some business.

I don't think it is appropriate for you to insinuate that Dale is posting this for extra business. He is posting this so that we are aware of any particular focus on tax issues that he might be made aware of in his professional capacity. I reiterate, the AFR brought this to the masses attention today.

Is it acceptable for me to suggest going to the biggest and best accountants in the country, PriceWaterhoueCoopers? They are not property specialists, they have a high degree of knowledge in everything.

You have told us all before that you go to PricewaterhouseCoopers, and no-one has ever questioned this. Only Mry made one comment about the fact that is ok to question everything and dont just assume things, particularly when you were posting comments that potentially could have been interpreted as incorrect in accordance with relevant tax law.

Thommo, clearly you have a bee in your bonnet. I suggest that you calm down, stop taking every post as a personal vendetta against you and your situation, and appreciate the community that we have here at Somersoft which you are also a very valuable and appreciated member of.

Best Wishes

Corsa

 

[Les]

G'day Thommo,

So why the five and a half star post?

Maybe you take your situation too much for granted, Thommo. There are probably VERY FEW of us who have the knowledge that your wife and Dale have. And we appreciate having the input that it seems you have access to daily.

As such, YOU might not see the reason for a "5 star" post - but I certainly do. And (it seems) so do others.

Do you truly realise the privileged situation you are in? Go give your wife a big hug !!!

And lighten up on the rest of us will you....

 

[Jamie]

Completely ignoring the predictably misguided diatribe from Thommo, Id like to thank Dale for pointing out a few things I didnt know (not being an Accountant).

There were a few things this year that materialised that I hadnt had the chance to claim before, and reading this post has caused me to err on the side of caution.

Thanks again Dale - great to see people contributing for more than the sound of their own voice.

Jamie.

 

[redwing]

Pre-Paid

Get a pre-paid phone..no bills just reciepts

 

[Sunfish]

particularly when you were posting comments that potentially could have been interpreted as incorrect in accordance with relevant tax law.

You keep saying this and I keep assuring you that I am completely legal and I have recieved very good advice to this effect.

I would have thought you may actually be interested in the explanations I made on that thread but no. I must seriously doubt you have carefully read what I actually wrote. I believe you are putting words in my mouth.

I have been told to chill out so may I also ask that you do so too, take a deep breath, step back a little and ask yourself how you would feel if your professional competance was constantly questioned in this matter? And please don't deny that you are questioning the quality of my advice..... You are, even if you are using diplomatic phrasing. I find this personaly insulting as I have said before but it seems OK to insult Thommo but if I get controversial I get sin-binned and threatened with banning.

Thommo

 

[Sunfish]

Hi Thommo

I read your last post in the 'Alleged Aussie Drug Dealer' thread and thought hmmm, I wonder????

And after reading your post just before this one, I've now gotta ask.

You been drinkin?? lol

Cheers

I have just re-read that post on the drug dealer thread and apart from the last, poorly considered line, I see nothing out of character with the rest of the thread. Could you be more specific?

 

[DaleGG]

Good morning

I humbly apologise if I have acted in any way that is offensive or inappropriate. I meant no harm and am disappointed to hear that I have caused offence.

Dale

 

[ani]

Good morning

I humbly apologise if I have acted in any way that is offensive or inappropriate. I meant no harm and am disappointed to hear that I have caused offence.

Dale

Dale

Your posts are far from offensive or inappropriate

I, for one, always read them for the good advice they contain.

Please don't let the odd negative person stop you from posting.

ani

 

[kissfan]

Lets keep it cool. We don't want to lose any other valued forum members.
FWIW, I believe Dale was just offering good advice, as he always does.

Regards
Marty

 

[austini]

Gees,

What Thommo has suggested about Dale I feel is extremely unfair. I have known Dale and used his services for a number of years now and know beyond all doubt that everything he does is with good intent. I also know that his participation on this forum has always been due to his genuine passion for continuing to learn about property and investing in general. Despite his vast knowledge I'm sure he will be one of the first to admit that he also has learnt a lot from others here. We have some incredibly knowledgible people at Sommersoft. Because of this he likes to contribute as much back as possible when he feels he can add value.

Dale has never advertised in anyway during his many years of participating on this forum. Any new business that has gone Dale's way has pretty much always been through existing customer's recommendations. Surely recommendations from other satisifed customers is always the best as it is based on their actual experiences rather that someone's self promotion.

Anyhow it is a shame that what started out as a constructive thread can be derailed due to someone's gripes about something that Dale didn't even have any involvement in.

Regards - Gordon

 

[House_Keeper]

Good morning

I humbly apologise if I have acted in any way that is offensive or inappropriate. I meant no harm and am disappointed to hear that I have caused offence.

Dale

There is no need to apologise Dale.

I felt too that Thommo's post was a bit harsh and too negative.

Please keep posting, many of us learn a lot from them.

Cheers,

 

[XBenX]

Come on guys Thommo has been around for ages now, no need to bite when he throws a line in =)

Besides its good to have the devils advocate around occasionally - it makes you think...

 

[Sultan of Swing]

I have just re-read that post on the drug dealer thread and apart from the last, poorly considered line, I see nothing out of character with the rest of the thread. Could you be more specific?

Hi Thommo

I've just noticed your response from last Saturday, must have missed it earlier. It probably explains why you didn't respond to my question in your TFT monitor thread.

It's hard to pick out quotes to answer but I am a sh1t stirrer by nature, or possibly just a cynic who enjoys finding inconsistencies in pios arguments so I'll make a general rebuttal.

I was referring to this line in that particular thread and figured you were out for a stir so fine.

As for getting stuck into Dale, for us less educated and uninformed, I too thought his post was timely and appreciated it. After all, this is one of the great things about this forum. We get good advise from professionals and its all these little tidbits that add to our general knowledge and give us a feel for what's happening around the country in areas that not all of us are familiar with.

I for one enjoy a lot of your posts and have learned a lot from you in the short time I've been a forumite but the way you attacked Dale made we think 'Thommo's had a few too many, why else would he say that?'. Hence my question, 'You been drinkin?'

Cheers

 

[NigelW]

Is it acceptable for me to suggest going to the biggest and best accountants in the country, PriceWaterhoueCoopers? They are not property specialists, they have a high degree of knowledge in everything.

Biggest and bestest...didn't that used to be Andersens???

Oops that's right they're gone now...

When it all boils down to it, brand means nothing, it's all about people. There's a shocking inconsistency in quality of the talent at PWC as well as many of the other big professional services firms...

Most forumites are not fortunate enough to have their better half as a partner of a major accounting firm... and if you were honest about it you'd admit that you couldn't afford your wife's charge out rate anyway!

There you go Thommo, I bit!

Cheers
N.

 

[landlubber]

The worst experience of my "taxpayers" life was when the ATO, very belatedly, chose to 'take action' on the mass marketed agribusiness schemes.

Anybody who has read "the taxpayers charter" could be fooled into believing that these blokes are actually quite fair and reasonable. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Forget "fair & reasonable". Forget "innocent until proven guilty". Forget even any reasonable meetings or discussions. Forget, even for a second, that they care about you or your predicament. Forget any 'second opinions'. When these guys decide that you owe them money, that's the end of it.

Only when the tax rate is 100% will those guys be happy.
Don't mess with them. Just don't mess with them.

LL

 

[Bill.L]

Hi all,

Thommo, you are being unfair on Dale when you stated.....

"It seems to me we are where we started except that you have touted for some business."

Dale has no need to "tout" for business on this forum, as there are plenty of people here who already use his services and do the touting for him. ( I am one of these). The service is good, friendly, and accurate.

My experience with accountants in the past includes many notable companies that were not quite up to scratch.The information/advice is not as accurate as it should be, and is often due to some "failure of communication" within the larger organization. (well that is the excuse that is eventually given for some mistake)

A small firm with competent people will do me any day.

bye

P.S. I have a good friend who works in the ATO and use to be in the audit section. His ideas of how certain tax laws work is often different to how us mere mortals may think. Sitting down and talking with such a person for a few hours can be a real eye opener.

 

[Mry]

Lets give Thommo a break and move on.