Proactive tax planning means making structural and timing decisions before the financial year closes, so your tax outcome is planned rather than discovered. It covers things like trust distributions, superannuation contributions, asset purchases, and the timing of income and expenses, all within ATO rules. The alternative is reactive tax work, where your accountant simply reports the bill after the year has already ended and nothing can be changed.
Where the Planning Actually Happens Before 30 June
The core of proactive planning is a projection. Well before year-end, your accountant estimates the current year’s profit and the tax position it produces across you, your entities and your family group. Only with that projection in hand can anything be genuinely planned.
From the projection come the levers. Trust distribution decisions and their documentation, deductible super contributions, bringing forward legitimate expenses or asset purchases, deferring income where commercially sensible, and reviewing whether your structure is still directing profit to the right places. Each lever has rules and deadlines, and most stop being available the moment 30 June passes.
Timing is what separates planning from paperwork. A tax planning conversation in May can change the outcome. The same conversation in August can only explain it. That is why the pattern of an accountant who only appears at tax time is such a reliable sign of a reactive, compliance-only relationship.
Proper planning is also strictly legal. It works within the rules the ATO sets, and it is documented as it happens. As a Chartered Accountants ANZ firm and Registered Tax Agent practice, MYC Partners Accountants builds tax planning into the ongoing relationship rather than treating it as a year-end extra, and publishes a free Tax Planning Guide for business owners who want to understand the basics first.
Wanting Your Next Tax Bill to Be a Decision, Not a Surprise?
If no one has projected your position for this financial year yet, there is likely still room to move. Read about tax planning on the Central Coast with MYC Partners Accountants, or contact our team before the year closes on you.