Core News

Is your business prepared for Random Government Audits, Reviews & Investigations? Our Audit Protection Service can help...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:09:00 GMT

What are Random Government Audits, Reviews & Investigations?

Random audits, reviews and investigations are conducted by the ATO and other State and Federal Government agencies to ensure business and taxpayer compliance with various tax and legislative requirements such as Income, Land and Payroll Tax, GST, Workers Compensation, Superannuation Guarantee and Compliance and Research and Development Grants.

How likely am I to get a random audit, review or investigation?

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) and other federal and state agencies continue to announce significant increases in their audit activity. Now more than ever, individuals, businesses and Self Managed Superannuation Funds are at risk of being selected for a random audit or review.

What are the costs to businesses and taxpayers in the event of a random audit, review or investigation?
If your business or individual return is subjected to a random audit, review or investigation, you are responsible for the costs involved in providing the required information.
Even the simplest enquiry can require hours of work by your accountant to respond effectively - even if there is nothing actually found to be amiss.
In some cases, when there are complex environments, unusual circumstances, multiple years or multiple companies and trusts, thousands of dollars in accounting and legal fees can be incurred.

How can I protect myself from the costs of random audits, reviews & investigations?
Core Business & Management Advice offers you and your business an Audit Protection Service which can provide you with comprehensive relief from these audit, review and investigation costs. The Audit Protection Service covers:

Accounting fees in responding to audits, reviews & investigations of your lodged returns, including those from previous years.
Random government audit, reviews & investigations for Payroll Tax, Workers Compensation, Self Managed Superannuation Funds, Income tax, BAS/GST, FBT, R&D, Superannuation Guarantee and Record Keeping - to name a few.
Specialist's professional fees if a tax expert or lawyer needs to be engaged for an opinion or defence.

The Audit Protection Insurance:

Provides 100% coverage of accountancy and legal fees involved in audit response - there is no excess for you to pay.
Is tax deductible.
Is simple to claim.
Is underwritten by Vero, a subsidiary of Suncorp Ltd.

If you would like a copy of your audit protection insurance quote or would like to know more - just call us on 5438 8088

Jenny Newport Now Has SMSF Specialist Advisor™ Accreditation with SPAA

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:26:00 GMT

Superannuation is now a highly specialised field; therefore we are continually updating and developing our knowledge in this area to keep up with the ever changing laws and regulations.

We feel this is such a specialised area that we have a specialist 'in house', Jenny Newport, who is an accredited SMSF Specialist Advisor™ with SPAA - Self-Managed Superannuation Professionals' Association of Australia. We also partner with other superannuation specialists and investment advisors to build strategies that will deliver the best financial outcome for your retirement.

For further information on SPAA please click on this link:

http://spaa.asn.au/portal/content/view/61/129/

Its Your Money.. But Not Yet! Self Managed Superannuation

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:45:00 GMT

Self Managed Superannuation allows great freedom in how you go about providing for your retirement. The ATO has recently issued a reminder to Trustees that this freedom has some responsibilities especially in relation to maintaining a written investment strategy for your Fund.

Here is an excerpt from an ATO publication which sets out the Trustees responsibilities and lists what is required of an Investment Strategy. How does your strategy measure up against this list? We have recently seen some cases where the ATO have taken action against trustees for a strategy that does not satisfy the requirements.

We are not licenced Financial Planners - however if you require assistance with preparing an investment strategy and do not have an established relationship with one, we can provide you with details of financial planners who work on a fee for service basis.

Excerpt from ATO Publication - "DIY Super - Its your money ... but not yet!"

Have an investment strategy and invest responsibly
Trustees of self managed super funds are required to prepare and implement an investment strategy for their fund, and regularly review the strategy. This requirement is to help ensure that the best possible investment decisions are being made for the fund.
The investment strategy must reflect the purpose and circumstances of the fund and consider:

investing in such a way as to provide sufficient member returns, taking into account the risk associated with the investment
appropriate diversification and the benefits of investing across a number of asset classes (for example, shares, property, fixed deposit) in a long-term investment strategy
the ability of the fund to pay benefits as members retire and pay other costs incurred by the fund, and
the needs of members (for example, age, income level, employment pattern and retirement needs).

An appropriate investment strategy should set out the investment objectives of the fund and detail the investment methods the trustees will adopt to achieve these objectives. An investment strategy should be unique to the requirements of a particular fund and its members, and should be reviewed regularly and updated as required. It should allow trustees to be able to measure investment performance against their retirement income goals.

Trustees must make sure that all investment decisions are made according to the investment strategy. If in any doubt, they should seek investment advice or appoint an investment manager in writing.

Do:

develop an investment strategy and review it regularly
ensure your investment strategy takes into account your retirement goals
take into consideration the risks involved in certain investments
take into consideration what bills the fund has to pay and allow enough cash to meet these expenses
take into consideration when benefits will need to be paid out
consider diversifying the fund’s investments.

Don’t:

invest without considering your strategy and your overall goals for retirement.

Example
The trustees of a self managed super fund are approaching retirement age. As a result, they have decided to amend their investment strategy with the aim of investing in assets which give a lower return but have less risk. They believe this will provide more stability for their benefits until they are paid out.

Keep proper records

Trustees must keep some records for a minimum of five years and other records for a minimum of 10 years. This is to ensure that they can verify their decision-making processes and an accurate history of the fund can be established. If problems arise in the future, these records can be used to determine the right course of action.

Records to be kept for five years are:

accurate and accessible accounting records that explain the transactions and financial position of the fund, and
an annual operating statement and an annual statement of the fund’s financial position.
Records to be kept for 10 years are:
minutes of trustee meetings and decisions (where matters affecting the fund were discussed), records of all changes of trustees and the members’ written consent to be appointed as trustees
copies of all annual returns lodged, and
copies of all reports given to members.

Do:

keep minutes outlining investment decisions
keep minutes to show how decisions are made
keep records to explain the transactions of your fund
keep annual operating statements and annual statements of your fund’s financial position
keep records to show who the trustees of your fund are and their consent to act as trustees
keep copies of returns and information provided to members.

Don’t:

make decisions without documenting the decision
throw out documents that explain what your fund has been doing
throw out documents after returns have been lodged.

Example
A married couple has a self managed super fund. They decide to buy some Australian mining shares. They prepare a minute to explain all the details of their decision to buy those shares, including the amount they are investing.