Christmas Shutdown
The office will be closing on Friday 23rd of December at 12.00pm and will be re-opening on Monday 16th January 2012.  Clients with GST returns to be prepared by us are to have their Banklink coding reports and other GST information to us by Monday 12th December to ensure the returns are completed by Christmas.  If you require urgent assistance during this period, please leave a message on our answer phone as it will be cleared regularly.


New Staff Member
You may have noticed a new face behind our front desk.  We are pleased to welcome Dendra Berryman to our team.


Christmas Entertainment

The tax treatment of Christmas entertainment and gifts depends on mainly three factors – who to, what and how much?  

Who	What	Tax Treatment
Employees	Christmas Party	50% deductible
	Gifts < $300 per Employee per Quarter	Fully deductible
	Gifts > $300 per Employee per Quarter	Fully deductible but subject to FBT
	Cash Bonuses	Fully deductible but taxable to the employee as an Extra Emolument
Customers	Gifts of Food or Drink	50% deductible
	Other Gifts	Fully deductible as marketing and promotion expenditure
	Meals	50% deductible

For more detail on client gift expenses and their tax deductibility Click here


Caution re Abolition of Gift Duty
Gift Duty was abolished on all gifts from 1 October 2011.  Before gifting off all the money you are currently owed by your Family Trust a note of caution.  In our opinion, gifting off your entire asset may not be wise in some circumstances, and you should continue with your current gifting programme i.e. $27,000 per year.  For instance at present to be eligible for a Rest Home Subsidy you must have joint assets of under $210,000.  The total asset amount includes any gifts over $6,000 each for the five years prior to the application, and all gifts over $27,000 per year per couple outside the five year period.


IRD Hoax Emails
A number of our clients have received hoax emails from the IRD advising them of refunds.  These emails should be ignored, however if you are unsure please do not hesitate to contact us. To view a copy of the email Click here


Depreciation on Buildings
The rate of depreciation for buildings with an estimated useful life of 50 years or more (as set out in Commissioner's depreciation determinations) - such as rental housing and office buildings - will reduce to 0%. This change came into effect from the 1st of April 2011.  The fit-out of commercial and industrial buildings continues to be depreciable.  

If you have an article or news that you would like to share with us please contact us on (03) 218 7111