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.