It's hard to believe we are now over half way through the calendar year and this chilly weather has us dreaming of summer.
We are also looking forward to gaining some certainty around who our government will be after the election, as it's difficult to plan and forecast when current policy announcements have little detail.
In this issue, we explore:
IN THE NEWS
Trust 39% Tax Rate
As mentioned in a previous newsletter, we have been reviewing what effects the change to the trust tax rate to 39% will have. While the National Party have not released their tax policy as part of their election campaign just yet, we are still hoping that a change of government might mean we have nothing to worry about.
Having said that, we will continue to assess each of your situations and discuss the options available when we meet to go over your 2023 financial statements and tax returns.
Our Economy
The OCR was reviewed by the Reserve Bank last week and has remained unchanged at 5.5% with inflation dropping to 6%.
However, economists say both the rate of inflation and the underlying measures remain much too high for comfort and that there has been no signs the Reserve Bank will be easing monetary policy until at least the middle of next year.
In addition, there is still uncertainty in the economy on how long the lag will be from when the Reserve Bank increased the OCR to when consumers feel the effects of the higher interest rates. This is largely due to an estimated 50% of fixed term lending that is still to be rolled onto higher interest rates in the next 6 months.
This leads us to believe that the recession is expected to have a U-shaped trajectory rather than a V-shaped one, which means a more prolonged period of economic downturn where the recovery is slower and more gradual is expected.
Key Tax Dates
As a reminder, the first instalment of Provisional tax is due on the 28th August 2023 for those with 31 March balance dates.
Due to the current economic climate, if your financial results have changed from the previous year, please get in touch and we can review your tax position based on your earnings to date.
The 2024 Provisional Tax Dates are:
1st Prov Tax Due 28th August 2023
2nd Prov Tax Due 15th January 2024
3rd Prov Tax Due 7th May 2024
What we've been up to
Staff Updates
You may have noticed a few new faces around the office recently. First up we have Mitchell, who joined us on a temporary basis back in March helping us with our migration to Xero Reporting. He is now working with us in a full-time capacity as a Junior Accountant and will be completing his accounting degree at Wintec at the end of the year.
Next we have Quinn, who started with us 6 weeks ago as an intern. Quinn has an economics degree and will be pursuing her Masters in Accounting next year. She has a real hunger for knowledge and we're excited to have her as part of the team, particularly assisting Chui with tax compliance.
Emily also joined the team in June. She has jumped on board to assist Morgan in the admin space part-time while studying at the University of Waikato. We're sure you will get a chance to talk to her, as part of her role is assisting with reception duties.
We are also enjoying having Sokunthy in the office more as she is now working 4 days a week, Monday to Thursday.
Recently we celebrated Alex completing his CA entry requirements and he has now become a Chartered Accountant with CAANZ - congratulations Alex on all your hard work!
And finally, Kirstyn will be heading to Europe on a 4 week cycle trip in early September where she'll be cycling over 2,000km for charity, starting in Barcelona and ending up in Croatia.
The rest of the team will be busy holding down the fort while she's away, so please feel free to reach out to any of our team with your queries over this time (and rest assured she will be checking in with the team in-between fixing tyre punctures and eating baguettes).
Community Support
With the cost of living continuing to rise, we wanted to find a way to give back directly to those families struggling to stay afloat. So we jumped at the opportunity to support The Aunties, a Charitable Organisation focused on supporting woman and families who have suffered domestic violence. The team have volunteered as Food Fairies and now financially supports a family with their monthly grocery bill.
Beyond The Boardroom: What's fuelling our minds?
Looking for your next read or listen? Here are some recommendations based on what we've been consuming lately:
The Diary of a CEO - a podcast hosted by Steven Bartlett who takes listeners on a journey into the remarkable stories of the world’s most influential people, experts and thinkers.
Analytics for Marketers - identifies four fundamental questions for your business: what is happening, why is it happening, what's going to happen next and what should we do about it?
What Strategy Questions are you asking? - a look at the concept of competitive advantage.
How to Do Great Work - food for thought on what qualities are required to do great work.
Have you got any recommendations you think we may like? We'd love to hear from you!
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