Our tax strategy for businesses

We work a lot with small business owners and when it comes to their finances, there’s something we hear from them a lot:

‘I’m a business owner, I work hard, my business makes good money - but I’m stuck paying too much in tax and I don’t know what to do about it’

We know that the best approach is to create a plan that looks at where you’re at and where you’d like to go, so we’ve broken down the steps to creating the best tax plan for your business.

1. Understand your business structure

Businesses can operate in a range of structures so an important first step is to understand how your business is structured so you can play to the strengths of your situation. Is your business a company? Is it a trust? Are you in partnership with a business partner?

2. Understand your cash flow

Once we understand the structure, we can look at strategies to make the most of the money your business makes. Some businesses might pay dividends, in others you might have wages and super contributions, or if the business is a trust there might be money that’s distributed to members. Understanding how money flows in and out of the business is key, so you can look at what tax savings might apply to your situation.

3. Understand the tax minimisation strategies that could apply to you

From here, we can look at what tax savings apply to your situation. You might be able to find some tax savings by putting extra money into super, or claiming things related to your business that you didn’t realise you could. Or there may be an opportunity for you to move money legally from a higher tax rate environment to a lower one - understanding these options is the final step.

Armed with this knowledge, we sit down with our clients who own businesses each year and make sure we have a solid plan in place to achieve the best overall tax result for them.

We also work with other financial experts to make sure our clients are getting the best results. Working with an accountant can be a great way to ensure that once we set up a tax minimisation strategy, this is applied in the business so you stay on the right track.

The overall result for our clients? We’ve set up their business so it works smarter not harder and they end up paying a lot less tax. If this sounds like you, get in touch anytime to have a chat about what tax minimisation strategies might apply to you and your business.