Top 15 end-of-year tax tips for entrepreneurs

11. Self-education expenses

One of the more controversial changes in the budget was the introduction of a $2000 cap for self-education expenses. Currently, these are free.

While the cap isn’t set to start until 2014, Pitcher Partners partner Ali Suleyman says you should take advantage of the deduction while you can.

“A lot of people hate studying, but you might look to do some further education before the cap is introduced,” he says.

However, as Suleyman warns, the cap hasn’t been legislated, and as is the case with government, anything can happen. Best to keep an eye on this over the next several months.

12. Medical expense tax offset

As part of this year’s budget, the government announced it would phase out the Medical Expenses Tax Offset from July this year.

This one is a big savings initiative for the government – it’s set to save $1.7 billion over the next four years. Taxpayers can use it to claim an offset on 20% of net medical expenses over $2060, with no limit on how much you can claim.

Given the offset will start phasing out from next year, tax experts say if you can take advantage of the offset this year, you should.

However, the Australian Tax Office has issued a clarification regarding the tax offset. For those taxpayers who received the offset in their 2012-13 return, they can still claim in the 2013-14 year if they have eligible out-of-pocket expenses.

Also, the offset will still be available for taxpayer expenses relating to disability, attendant care or aged care expenses until July 2019.

13. Instant asset tax write-off

There are still plenty of business owners who don’t know about the government’s instant asset write-off. These tax experts say you need to get up to speed if you don’t.

The write-off increased was increased from $1000 to $6500 in order to help small businesses with turnover less than $2 million. Any asset worth less than $6500 can instantly be written off.

The only catch? The asset has to be installed and ready for use. You can’t just purchase it and not have the equipment delivered.

14. Fixed asset register

Tristan Webb says businesses need to have a look at their fixed asset registers and identify any depreciating assets.

“They may not even be effectively used or have no prospect of being used ever again,” he says. “There may be an opportunity to write off those assets similar to the way you might write off trading stock.”

15. Trading stock

And speaking of trading stock, you should have a look at that as well. Any company which hangs on to a lot of inventory needs to review their stock.

You can write off any obsolete stock, and value your inventory based on one of the acceptable methods approved by the ATO. These include the market valuation method, or the replacement value method. Check with your tax advisor first to make sure you’re using the right method for your particular circumstances.