alright to share the contact of this bloody good accountant?
He's in Sydney. If you'd like to know PM me. I don't feel comfortable putting his details on a public forum.
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alright to share the contact of this bloody good accountant?
Yeah I see what you're saying. I went to HR Block in the early days and the person I was asking continually referred to a tax book for every question I asked him. I don't expect you to know every question, but if you're having to look up EVERY question then what am I paying you for?
contrary to some views that the client signs the return - thats outdated.
Outdated ?? What ?? The taxpayer signing their return and taking responsibility for it when they submit it to the ATO is outdated ??
it's the taxpayer who is ultimately responsible.
I agree... we are not paying peanuts. That is even more annoying.
In contrast, etax with its pre-filling and cross checking is a breeze.
This. Etax it up!
It's so easy to use, plenty of explanations in the software and if you are not sure you can just look it up or call the ato. I have been doing my own personal tax returns for the past 10 years like this. Never had a problem. Takes about 30 minutes to an hour to do if you have your paper work in order. The most time consuming part is entering the depreciation for the properties as you acquire them but you only need to do it once and then it rolls it over the next year.
I would not trust myself with eTax. We have trust distributions which is split into different areas that I don't even understand - non-primary production, plus franked distributions, less franking credits. I have no clue where these figures come from, but I think they come from the accountant.
And we've had the winding up of estates, shared properties with parents etc. No way would I do it myself. Going forward, once all this is wound up, things will be simpler and that is when we will look around for a different accountant.
For a simple return, I could wade through eTax, but not our return.
It's all in there Wiley. At one stage I was doing trust distributions with it too.
Try it for fun (not that tax is fun!) Get the hard copy of your return last year, download etax, go through the questions and enter it in. You will see it's really very easy.
Sometimes I think accountants want to make it sound harder and more complex than it is to keep them in a job! The way Etax works by walking you through the questions I fail to see how you can make a mistake with it provided you are putting in the correct figures.
Try it for fun... yeah right
I think I'll stick with paying the accountant .
I used to work as a tax adviser to accountants / tax agents and lawyers. It would frighten you how many of them know jack.
. He asked me to do it.
I amended return, client signed and lodged. ATO called me and were unhappy. They know what I did. I reminded them they have no legal basis to deny income from a tax return. They are only allowed to deny deductions in a scheme / Part IVA !! Had a call later from an Asst Commr Super I know who was laughing and thought it was clever. He admitted it was OK and nothing they can do. He seemed surprised few had even tried this approach.
Outdated ?? What ?? The taxpayer signing their return and taking responsibility for it when they submit it to the ATO is outdated ??
Goodness me. Quivering with anticipation for you to quote the part of the Tax Act, with your 20 years of experience stating where the quaint notion of a taxpayer having to sign their return is "outdated" and therefore.....what ??
Confused by this. The ELS Declaration requires the taxpayer to sign the form saying that "the information provided to my registered tax agent for the preparation of this tax return is true and correct." So by overstating their income doesn't that make it a false declaration for which criminal penalties could apply ?
Sometimes I think accountants want to make it sound harder and more complex than it is to keep them in a job! The way Etax works by walking you through the questions I fail to see how you can make a mistake with it provided you are putting in the correct figures.
eTax sure does have issues. I always used to use the old manual form and studied tax accounting at uni as part of a post-grad degree. I also bought the master tax guide a couple of times so I'm across most of the issues with my tax return. If it's something I don't know then I've got pretty good at searching ATO.For my privacy I'm an agent and use etax - It sucks !! Its riddled with complexity. Often worded to discourage claims too. Its hides simplicity with loads of details at times and little detail at others.
A paper return or an amendment request doesnt have an ELS declaration. ?? A non-agent return ?? Only agent forms have it. I suspect the ELS declaration is a hangover from professional bodies.
"substantiation"
Income "substantiation" rules dont exist.
Division 900 ITAA97 defines the substantiation rules, combined with Division 28 for car expenses
I can call anything income and be wrong. Who would ?? Who wants to overstate income ? Its an overlooked strategy.
Specific anti-avoidance (e.g. s.26-35) or general anti-avoidance under Part IVA for income diversion
ie " My wife gives me $$ for shopping or I draw funds on my card. Hence its impossible to prove its wrong.Its akin to the fact nobody actually gets penalised for failing to lodge a return !! Instead they issue a Notice to Lodge and the criminal offence is failure to comply with a Notice. (s353-10).
Penalties for making a false or misleading statement do not require a tax shortfall amount
A paper return or an amendment request doesnt have an ELS declaration. ?? A non-agent return ?? Only agent forms have it. I suspect the ELS declaration is a hangover from professional bodies. Ditto many encourage client sign off on the substantiation rules too. ATO dont require it. And ELS declaration isnt actually lodged - Its not made to the Cmmr. Its made to the agent.The taxpayers declaration just refers to what was given to the agent too. And it refers to the self-assessed issue and cautions ATO may amend if there are inaccuracies....What law says I cant overstate income ?? Where are Commr powers to exclude excessive income declared by a taxpayer ?
See Part IVA, the Cmmissioner can adjust the income of ANY taxpayer, not just the one with a tax benefit.
You are looking for the magicians hands to move...Look at the assistant.