Taxation & Accounting

You can stop worrying about complying with the myriad of taxation law changes, lodgement deadlines, financial reporting requirements and the ever-changing “red tape” that envelops small business owners and every taxpayer these days.

Let Castletons do that for you.

The Castletons team is always up to date with the latest taxation changes and business & industry information to make sure that your personal and business reporting requirements are met with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of efficiency;
Our aim is to make life less stressful for you and your family by relieving you of your compliance burden and making sure you have regularly thought about your financial position, insurances, superannuation and estate plans.
That way, you can sleep easily each night knowing that your compliance work is in great shape and everything is lodged on time – peace of mind when you need it most.

The Castletons “Tax Plus” approach gives you peace of mind on a wide range of tax and personal issues, including:

• Your tax returns are expertly completed ensuring your refund is maximised; 
• Your returns are lodged on time;
• Any capital gains matters are thoroughly resolved with all possible costs included to reduce CGT payable;
• Tax refunds and assessments are confirmed by us – all you need to do is bank the refund or make the payment;
• Tax instalment notices are checked by us then sent to you for payment;
• Your financial plan will be looked at and we will point you in the right direction for any updating required in respect of:
• Your overall financial plan;
• Your personal and family insurances;
• Your will and estate planning matters;

The Castletons “Tax Plus” approach produces just that – your TAX return PLUS a raft of other comfort factors designed to give you peace of mind.

As a small business owner, you want to get on with running your business and making it worth as much as possible for you and your family in the future.

So, why not hand your compliance and reporting burden over to us at Castletons – your small business specialists – and feel the freedom to get on with the much more productive and enjoyable task of growing your own business.

While you do that, the Castletons “Business Compliance” approach will look after that “other stuff” for you, including:

• Annual financial statements for your business entity (company, trust or partnership);
• Income tax returns for the business entity and yourself;
• BAS and GST reporting - each month or quarter;
• Annual GST reconciliation;
• PAYGW reporting and annual Payroll reporting for employees;
• Fringe Benefits Tax calculations and reporting;
• Superannuation Guarantee requirements and contributions.

We make sure all of these items, plus any others which may be applicable, are dealt with accurately and in a timely manner.

In short – TRANSFER YOUR COMPLIANCE BURDEN to Castletons, because we are great at performing those roles, just like you are great at performing your own business activities!!

Yes, that Self-Managed Superannuation Fund (“SMSF”) of yours needs to be properly accounted for each year and the numerous obligations of the trustee (most likely, yourself) need to be fulfilled.

So, the Castletons “SMSF Reporting” approach enables you to transfer the compliance part of your SMSF trustee obligations to us.   We will:

• Produce financial statements in line with current reporting requirements;
• Ensure your Fund complies with the SIS Act and Regulations; 
• Produce Member Statements for each member as required;
• Prepare minutes of trustee meetings covering all statutory and reporting obligations;
• Prepare the SMSF income tax return for lodgement with the ATO;
• Arrange for the accounts to be audited and liaise with the auditor to ensure a smooth process.

There are numerous other matters which may be applicable to your SMSF in any given year, such as:

• Pension and minimum payment calculations;
• Minutes and documentation to commence or commute pensions;
• Obtaining actuarial calculations for tax or pension purposes;
• Determining capital gains on sale of investments;
• Recommending updates to your Fund’s investment strategy;
• Payment of death benefits; etc.

Again, we can take care of and advise you on all of these matters so that your SMSF trustee obligations are fulfilled with the minimum of stress and fuss from yourself.

Every individual and business needs tax advice of some nature from time to time. 

Just some of the items that may be applicable include:

• Capital Gains Tax (CGT), which applies to the sale of most assets and investments;
• Personal income tax planning – including negative gearing;
• Family income tax planning – income splitting, maximising rebates & tax offsets;
• Working overseas or deriving income from overseas;
• Tax residency – are you an Australian for tax purposes or not?
• Business tax planning and advice, such as:
• selecting the best structure for your circumstances;
• varying the timing of some income and deductions for your benefit;
• international tax advice:

PLANNING is the key to most of these items.  It can be VERY beneficial in minimising or even eliminating the amount of income tax or capital gains tax payable in many instances.

So, PLAN the best way you can by utilising the Castletons team to assist with your tax planning matters because:

• our team is up to date in all relevant matters to assist your tax plan;
• we have access to networks of professionals, both throughout Australia and internationally, who can help whenever required.  

Remember, “FAILING TO PLAN means you are actually PLANNING TO FAIL”!

This monthly or quarterly reporting process has become one of the biggest “bugbears” in Australian business since the introduction of GST back in the year 2000.

BAS returns include not only GST, but also salary & PAYGW details, FBT instalments and PAYG income tax instalments. 

To assist you and help relieve you of that compliance burden, Castletons can help at a variety of levels, depending upon your internal processes, staff capabilities and reporting systems.   Prime examples are as follows:

• We prepare your BAS returns, based on information produced by you from your reporting system, after reviewing the information in case of obvious errors.  A more detailed review of GST will be performed as a part of our annual accounts preparation process;
• We can perform the data entry function for you by processing details from source documents and then producing BAS returns from those records; 
• You can simply send us your final information as required for your BAS returns and we will attend to lodgement with the ATO.

It is really only larger businesses with an internal accounting structure which are capable and confident of producing and lodging their own BAS returns without some consultation or assistance from us.

So why not let Castletons take at least the majority of your BAS reporting burden off your shoulders to free you up for working productively on your own business.

Numerous other taxes and impositions are placed on business and individuals which require reporting if applicable to your situation. These include:

• Capital Gains Tax:
• may apply to personal or business situations and some planning can be very beneficial in minimising or elimination CGT payable;
• Fringe Benefits Tax:
• may apply to almost any employer, depending upon circumstances;
• Payroll Tax:
• which may be payable in more than one Australian State;
• Land Tax:
• applicable to any premises other than your main residence;
• even applies to your main residence if the land is large enough; 
• Stamp Duty:
• on share transfers, property acquisitions, business acquisitions, trust deeds;
• on business mortgages and loan documentation;
• Workers Compensation Insurance:
• required by every employer, even if you as an individual are your own company’s only employee;

With all the changes that take place in such a wide range of items, there is no way that any small business person can be up to date in all requirements – but that’s what’s expected of you!

Our team at Castletons is always up to date on these matters – we have to be - so why not use us as your resource to keep you reporting on the right track in these areas.