SEEKING ACCOUNTANT RECOMENDATIONS

Looking for recommendations from fellow real estate investors for a new accountant.
Looking for someone :
Who is pro active.
Who is conservative and works within legal limits but will also seek out all possible options.
Who is accurate and doesn't need me to check their math and mistakes.
Who actually knows the ins and outs of the real estate rental business.
Who makes suggestions of deductions and ways to min tax.
Who is creative.
Possibly do everything online????

 

Not sure what "creative" means. I would argue someone experienced and knowedgeable in ALL areas of property tax is the key issue.

My tax test - Do they provide one....and tell you why ALL property owners (even a main residence) should always have a CGT record ?

Tip - We all make mistakes or mis-interpret client information. You should always check before signing.

 

I've been using @Paul@PFI for many years now for our properties, development and business entities and can highly recommend him, especially for his knowledge, systems and availability to answer questions when needed.

 

... No fee discounts !!

 

Hey Paul,
Looking to buy my second IP in the coming weeks/months, and looking for an accountant so I can structure everything properly from the beginning.
Due to settle top up shortly, so will be ready to buy soon.

Hope to have an initial consultation with you.

Cheers

 

On this point what if the accountant makes a mistake such as below. Who should be responsible and would it have any serious implications for ato:

Accountant specifically advises business owner that superannuation is not required on directors fees. After a couple of years he advises he made a mistake and it was/is required. Would there be any serious fallout and what could be the correction steps. Would it involve advising ATO or just rectifying directly?

 

You will need to prepare super guarantee shortfall statement (Nat 9599).

 

The adviser is not liable for the shortfall nor any excess tax penalties as a consequence of the late amounts. That is a legal obligation that is neither varied or waived by error. The liability can even be imposed upon a Director rather than the company. They could be liable for the interest and penalty portion however they will likely defend it (PI insurers will aggressively defend it) based on the principle that they are no less liable than the employer who is the focus of the super guarantee charge. The information is readily available in the public domain. If the adviser wasnt engaged to specifically address and advise on the issue during payroll setup, super reporting and even paying and maintaining super liabilities its possibly a tough ask to suggest they were at fault.

The correcting step is to report the shortfall in a SGC shortfall retunrn. There was a amnesty a year or two back for some. It was well publicised.
The super guarantee charge
Its a PITA as you must produce a report for each quarter affected. And it does calculate the fee and interest which gets paid to the staff members super accoun eventually aftre it passes through the ATO. It must be paid to the ATO.

Ordiinary times earnings (OTE) has changed marginally over time ...but not that.

The ATO dont take complaints. The Tax Practitioners Board will and I will argue they will find in favour of the accountant unless they prepared a return or provided a "tax agent service" concerning the liability.

 

If you ask your accountant a specifc question and they provide a specific answer then who are you to argue with the paid expert professional. Makes no logical sense at all. Its basically saying don't trust what your accountant says? Cross verify and doubt everything they tell you?

 

The taxpayer is always the one who wears liability. The ATO dont assess tax practitioners for client liabilities

However a adviser can create a element of penalty and other costs beyond the primary tax eg interest for the delays. If you feel they didnt advise you correctly and this added to your cost you may have a fair request to seek them to consider how they may make that good. Lawyers etc are a waste of money. They wont want a PI claim either. If you can be specific to the amount of their error that its a start. Then ask them how much of that they should consider contributing to... Consider something perhaps that can be split.

The ATO views were published and known at least in 2009 in https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=SGR/SGR20092/NAT/ATO/00001 para 40 and its reasonable for a tax adviser to be capable of access to such rulings as a element of their advice. Took me 10seconds to find. That may indicate they didnt actually check if that was their ADVICE. However if you didnt ask and they didnt tell this is very different.

Q : If the entity still pays Directors Fees outside the PAYG withholding and reporting (and STP regime) are you aware that this is now non-deductible to the entity ?
Removing tax deductibility of non-compliant payments

This issue is still common and something I find myself saying to new clients who are surprised. The penalty for failure to withhold can be 100% of the sum not withheld (or doubled)

 

If you pay for advice and the advice causes you damage you potentially have a claim against the advisor.

If you start to make noise about pursuing a claim against the advisor the insurers will often take over. And the insurers quite often will prefer to settle a potential claim than go to court. This action will likely burn the relationship with the advisor.

Also Check your engagement letter with your advisor.

 

What if Directors are invoicing their fee via their company or trust?

For payroll tax purposes these payments are included.

 

PSI issues need to be considered. A Director is a person. Hence the income is always some form of PSI. And the company cant claim deductions as it wont necessarily incur any costs for Mr X to act as a Director. PSI rules limit the deductions in any event.

 

and the superannuation guarantee charge is another non deductible expense.

 

And the late payment interest runs to the date the form is lodged - not the date of payment!

 

Thanks Paul,

we beleive the Directors are allocating this as PSI in their own returns but don't act for them so it's only the entity paying the Directors fees I am concerned about.