It's hard to believe that we are already halfway through 2015! Everything is ticking along smoothly here at Tyler Price and we are keeping the office nice and warm for when you pop in to see us with your information or queries.

A big thank you to clients who have recommended our services to friends and colleagues, we appreciate your support. You can also direct people to our website for information on our services and to keep regularly updated.

Tyler Price Questionnaire available online

Just a reminder you can now access the Tyler Price client questionnaire on our website. We need this to be signed and sent to us as authority for us to complete your work. All you need to do is download, sign and scan the form from this link:http://www.tylerprice.co.nz/our_services/questionnaire,

Upcoming tax payments

By now you should have filed and paid your May GST if you are registered on a monthly or 2 monthly basis. If you are having any problems with this, please let us know if we can assist.

The July GST will be due on the 28thof August, along with the first provisional tax instalment for all provisional tax payers who are either not registered for GST, or are registered monthly or 2 monthly.

We'll be sending tax notices out in early August, so watch for those popping into your inboxes.

If you have no tax to pay, you won't get an email from us which brings us to our next important point…

Have you changed your email?

In order to save some trees, we are sending most of our correspondence to clients via email. If your email or any other contact details change, please let us know. We don't want you to miss any important reminders!

Claiming Expenses

We've recently taken on some new clients who have been filing tax returns through the on-line tax agents or "the man in the mall". Please note that these agent's services are aimed at salaried tax payers who overpay their PAYE. As such, they do not claim expenses in their client's tax returns.

Unfortunately they do not appear to be communicating the limitation of their services and are filing for contractors who pay withholding tax and receiving considerably smaller refunds than if expenses were claimed. We have been busy re-filing previous year's tax returns on behalf of these people and claiming the expenses – but IRD imposed times bars are preventing us from going back more than 4 years. If you have contractor friends or colleagues using the services of these agents, please make them aware that they are potentially missing out on refunds.

For information on the types of expenses you can claim visit our websitehttp://www.tylerprice.co.nz/resources/claiming_expensesor give us a call on 09 360 8425.

GST – Inland Revenue on the prowl

We have noticed that Inland Revenue are now focussing on taxpayers who are just starting to exceed the GST threshold of $60,000 p.a. Whereas, in the past we were able to pick it up in the course of our work and simply register moving forward, we are now finding that Inland Revenue are forcing taxpayers to go back and retrospectively register. The risk here is the potential lost income if you can't go back and claim the GST from your customer, and the late payment penalties imposed on that GST.

If you aren't registered for GST but suspect that you should be, please give us a call to discuss.

Please note the rules:

You must register for GST if you carry out a taxable activity and if your turnover:

was over $60,000 for the last 12 months, or

is expected to go over $60,000 for the next 12 months

(This equates to $5,000 per month. If your turnover is $5,000 per month and you expect to maintain that level all year, you'll need to register for GST.), or

was less than $60,000, but you include GST in your prices, for example taxi drivers who have included 15% in their taxi fares.

And other areas of focus

You will have heard in the media that the government is putting more funding into Inland Revenue to identify and tax property traders and speculators. With no end in sight to the escalating Auckland market, they believe that there are considerable numbers of people buying properties solely with the purpose of flicking them at a profit, and as such, want their slice of the pie.

Please be aware that Inland Revenue know when properties are bought and sold. They have sub-dividable properties tagged and they know which taxpayers have a history of buying and selling properties in short periods of time. If you are considering getting into property trading, please be aware that the profits will be taxable, so talk to us first.

However, for those of you that have recently bought rental properties and are concerned about being taxed if you sell within 2 years, please note that this only applies to rental properties purchased after 1 October 2015.

The other big area of focus at the moment is the "hidden economy" – cash jobs. Our recommendation is simple – don't do it!

Random Health and Safety Checks – are you prepared?

With the new Workplace Health and Safety Reform bill approaching, business owners (regardless of how small) and company directors need to get their work place safety procedures and processes documented and complied with, to reduce the risk of severe penalties. We have heard of businesses being targeted randomly to see if they comply with the new requirements and regulations.

Tyler Price Accountants now have an ACC approved Health and Safety Manual, and we are able to assist you in meeting these requirements. If you would like to discuss, please call our office.



Companies Office Requirements

From 1 July the Companies Office will require additional information when you register a company or file an annual return. Each director will need to provide their place and date of birth – so don't be offended when we request this information from you.

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. If you have any questions or need further information please do not hesitate to pop in to our Grey Lynn office or give us a call. We look forward to hearing from you.