The best taxes are most certainly no taxes, but in Australia, that can get you into serious trouble. If you cannot avoid paying taxes, your next best bet is to pay exactly what is due and not a dollar more, always abiding by the law and submitting all tax declarations on time and without errors or omissions.
This can be a challenge, especially for busy business owners that can’t afford to spend a day or more doing it all themselves, which is why a tax agent can be one of the best ways to take care of the matter on your behalf. What should you be looking for in a tax agent?
01. Trust & Reputation
Far too often, people choose a tax agent out of convenience rather than scrutinising their reputation. Convenience is important, yes, but it should not come at the expense of the tax agent’s reputation. Just because a tax agent is located a few kilometres away from your business is not on its own an indicator of this.
Trust and reputation are extremely important because, although they will lodge taxes on your behalf, you are ultimately responsible and will be held accountable should there be any obvious errors or omissions. This can lead to costly audits from the ATO, so always make sure you choose a reputable tax firm.
02. Professional Credentials
Does your tax agent know the difference between GAAP and IFRS? Do they know what is tax deductible and what isn’t? Anyone can read tax legislation in Australia, but it’s not something that can be learnt overnight.
Professional credentials signal that you are dealing with a trustworthy tax agent with the academic background and expertise needed to lodge taxes on your behalf. Some credentials to look for include a relevant bachelor’s degree or higher in a field such as accounting or business and professional accreditation such as being a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA), Chartered Tax Advisor and/or a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management.
03. Value-Added Services
While at the end of the day, a tax firm should be able to competently lodge taxes on your behalf and thereby fulfil your obligations to the ATO, a good tax agent will go beyond. How can they do this? Good tax agents will help you find legal ways of reducing your taxable burden, such as maximising your tax deductions and classifying expenses and revenue in a way that is simultaneously compliant with the law whilst also reducing how much you have to pay.
04. Tax Specialisation
No two clients have the exact same circumstances, so it stands to reason that you shouldn’t settle for a one-size-fits-all tax scheme either. A good tax agent will be competent in lodging taxes for single or married employed individuals’ income taxes, taking into account property ownership, stocks & bonds, and so on, just as much as they should be competent at lodging taxes for businesses, no matter whether they’re structured as sole proprietorships, partnership or company.
05. Proactive, Not Just Reactive
Although you might think that a good tax accountant should be able to simply take a few documents from you and handle everything on their own, the opposite is true. A good tax agent is not simply reactive but instead will engage you as much as necessary for clarification, specific documents and more in order to provide better value. In other words, they will behave proactively, which can reduce errors, minimise your tax burden, and assist with audits when required.
Badawy Large & Powers
Choose Badawy Large & Powers for professional tax services.
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