Tax Planning

Put simply, tax planning is the arrangement of a taxpayer’s affairs so as to comply with the tax law at the lowest possible cost.

A common mistake is to believe that tax planning is optimized when every opportunity to reduce tax is taken. This is because some opportunities to reduce tax rely on strained interpretations of the law. Therefore, tax planning involves much more than taking the option that at first appears to result in lower tax costs. It involves objectively assessing and actively managing tax risk.

Common tax planning techniques that can be deployed are deferring the derivation of assessable income and applying techniques to bring forward deductions. It is important to realize that consideration may also need to be given to the general and any relevant specific anti-avoidance measures contained in tax law.