Thinking about what you could possibly gift your accountant with this Christmas? Your Kennas accountant has a suggestion or two – and a couple of ‘gifts’ for you too!

We’ll go first!  Our first gift is a heads-up on what you can and can’t do regarding parties and staff rewards, if you’d like to stay on the right side of FBT and the taxman.

$300 Minor Benefits Rule

If you hold your Christmas party during a business day just for your current employees, and on your own premises, and keep the costs below $300 per head (including GST), you can utilise the $300 minor benefits rule. This means you won’t be able to claim tax deductions or GST credits on the event, but you won’t be liable for FBT.

Keep in mind if you have associates and clients attending your party on your premises, and the cost goes over $300 per head, FBT will be payable for the associates. Prefer to go to an external venue? No problem. Just be aware to keep costs below $300 per head, including GST, for staff and associates, to avoid FBT implications.

What about paying for the taxi home? A great idea, but in certain circumstances, you can incur FBT. Generally, if the taxi cost is inclusive to the $300 per head amount, no FBT will apply. There are similar tax implications associated with recreation at the event, accommodation and providing gifts to employees and associates.

A rule of thumb guide:

• Your business will attract FBT based on the venue and day of the week of the party.
• No Christmas parties are claimable as an income tax deduction.
• Gifts should cost less than $300 per head to claim the minor benefits exemption.

Our second gift to you? It’s this – when the season is over and the statements start to roll in, we’ll be on standby to help you out! Whether you need a hand budgeting for the New Year or managing that credit card before it manages you, remember our team is available to answer any of your queries.

And gifts for your accountants? Glad you asked! While we wouldn’t say no to a trip away, we’d all much rather you gifted us with these two things:

Keep good records

Taking care of those small housekeeping tasks during every day activity does make a massive difference come tax time. Think about how you can improve recordkeeping. It’s simple things –

• Keep those receipts or scan them straight away into an app.
• If you need to keep a diary for mileage or events, whether manually or electronically, just do it (3 weeks to make a habit, they say).
• A summary of any other records for which there are no receipts.

Tell us you’re keen to go digital

We’d be thrilled to hear that you’re ready to transition to cloud-based accounting with an online system like Xero. This would truly be the gift that keeps giving – both ways! It makes our job faster and more cost-effective for you, and also saves you time and frustration with so many automated features and processes. You’ll wonder how you managed without it.

Remember that Kennas are Xero Platinum Partners. Our experience and depth of knowledge means we’re able to train your staff with the latest in the system and associated apps that enable banking and finance tasks anywhere on any device.

We’re looking forward to connecting with all our valued clients in 2022 and helping you to shape your financial success. Wishing you much joy and relaxation over the holidays with family, friends and some well-deserved downtime.