With the end of the financial year just around the corner, we're not wasting any time helping you get on the front foot for tax time 2022. Each year the ATO has specific items that they put under the microscope and watch closely in the way of tax deductions, and this year is no different.   In this episode, we touch on bringing the same deductions across from the previous year's tax return, the shoebox full of receipts, working from home expenses, and how the ATO has the ability to cross-check your deductions, rental property income and deductions as well as the big area of capital gains from cryptocurrency, property and shares!

Who doesn't love a little tax planning in their lives if it's going to save them the stress and sometimes the shock down the track when it comes to lodging your tax returns? Starting season three off with a bang, our Accounting superstars, Jamie Arrington and Adam Ramage go into why you need to plan for tax and that it isn't just something that is taken out of your wages every week as well as the relevance of tax planning and the state of the world over the last two years *cough cough global pandemic*. We also cover what tax planning means for you - if you're a business owner, the trusty use of a logbook, purchasing of new equipment, rental properties as well as understanding what a bucket company is and how it can help you and your business in the long run.

Ever wanted to know if you have a leg to stand on when it comes to contesting an Estate? Previously we've spoken a lot about how to protect your estate from being contested but in this episode, we're doing a 180 and getting into a different avenue when it comes to estates and whether or not you are entitled to make a claim.  It's not as simple as wanting a piece of the pie from your mate down the road who lent you a whipper snipper three years ago, there are specific requirements that you would have to meet to be entitled to make a claim towards contesting someone's estates. We touch on the process from start to finish, including a basic roadmap of what it would look like to contest an estate, who is involved in the process when the court starts to be involved as well as the length of time that this can take from start to finish. 

There are lots of specialised areas when it comes to practising the Law; Wills and Estates, Litigation, Contracts and Employment - the list goes on!  Something that sets our legal team apart from the rest is the fact that our Senior Lawyer, Karlene Wightman specialises in Special Disability Trusts.  Organising a time to see a lawyer to get your life plan down on paper can be a little daunting, to say the least, but when there is someone with a disability involved, it is important to understand that that process changes and you need a specialist lawyer. In this episode, we cover off in "layman's terms" what a Special Disability Trust (actually) is and how you start the process of finding out if you or your loved one would qualify and/or be eligible for a Special Disability Trust.  We touch on what can and can't go into this trust as well as the current restrictions, what the other options are if you don't qualify and what is the likelihood of a Special Disability Trust being contested.

Let's talk INVESTMENT PROPERTIES... the hot topic with even hotter (and lowest ever) interest rates! In this episode, we're joined by Director, Amanda Wilkens to deep dive into what all the fuss is about, with voluntarily putting up your hand to pay off a second mortgage.  We go in-depth around the tax incentives that come with investment properties as well as what this means for your tax return at the end of each financial year.  And we can't forget "those words" that are on everyone's lips after an investment property has come up in the conversation, good old capital gains tax!   With an investment property comes extra risk, it's basic maths.  We also cover off what you need to have in place, in the bigger picture side of things, so that if things start to take a wrong turn, you have the right protection in place.

Blended Families being the outcasts in society are finally a thing of the past!  In another life you would have been frowned upon, given the side eye and in some cases even shunned from society... but not anymore!  It's more common in todays day and age to have a blended family or to be part of one.  And there are so many reasons that this should be celebrated, one in particular that our Marketing Manager, Edwina Wilkens decided it was time that she weighed in on the topic, having a blended family herself.  With a blended family can sometimes bring extra legal worries and concerns which is why we get into the nitty gritty legal elements of having a blended family.  We start from the start with what is actually considered by law a blended family, why when it comes to estate planning that we should take extra time to get the right advice and what happens when things go south!

As the saying goes... where there's a will, there's a way and there's also a reason why you don't just pop down to your local post office to grab a do-it-yourself will kit, trust us when we say that it is worth speaking to a solicitor and spending that little bit extra money to have it done properly from the start.  We cover assets, the family food chain of receiving these assets, what happens if you're marriage goes south - does that mean you still have a valid Will?  What does it mean if you have a blended family?  We are covering all of this AND more in this episode, and it's definitely not one to be missed.

The NDIS is often referred to as 'a beast' and when it comes to NDIS Plan Management there are all kinds of words that we have heard it being referred to as!  Canny Plan Management are closing in on their 1st birthday, celebrating some pretty amazing milestones that they have achieved for their clients, working alongside them as part of their support network.   We get into, why Canny Plan Management, registered NDIS provider doesn't just 'pay invoices' as a lot of other Plan Managers do and also what the benefits are of taking into consideration moving your NDIS plan to be Plan Managed by Canny Plan Management.  Little secret... you're not going to regret it!

Donna Lindsay is a long time client of Canny Group and isn't shy about using all of our services we offer - starting with us with her business Bodhi & Co which is a health and rehabilitation clinic based in Belmont.   Donna is passionate about pre and post-natal treatments - from giving mum's some much needed relaxation time, helping relieve sciatic and PGP pain to post-natal rehabilitation programs that she has built over time.  This is were New Mumma Boxes came to life!   So many times leading up to and post giving birth, the spotlight is on the new bub, which it should be - but Donna found that there was something missing for the new mumma's and looking after them - so she did it herself!

This episode we bring in the big guns as we gear up for ensuring our clients don't find themselves as April Fool's!  We sit down with Director, Krystine Canny-Smith and Senior Business Adviser + Accountant, Adam Ramage to talk all things audits.  Discussing some big cases of clients and people we know that have fallen victim to being an April Fool, how to cover yourself with the correct insurance right through to who is most at risk when it comes to being audited by the ATO!