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ok here are some pointers for you
1. With the extra income of $10k to $20k, it’s likely going to be hard to justify establishing a company for the purposes of producing lower tax. It depends on your personal tax rate and whether you need access to the money (assume yes)
2. At that level any tax benefit will likely be consumed by the compliance costs (accounting fees) for the company. They would range from a super cheap HR block type service with no hand-holding, no advice, and questionable quality probably starting at $1000 pa to a professional grade firm that provides the best expertise and includes a dedicated mid year proactive tax planning solution as standard – normally between $2500 to $4000 for relatively simple operations depending on what assistance is needed.
3. As mentioned – PSI may impact any tax benefit if applicable.
4. Asset protection is an issue with any product or service. If there is a defect that causes someone loss then as a sole trader your assets might be exposed. Companies can help here but of course it comes at a cost and depends on the risk and the insurance you have.
Simple PAYG employee tax returns are a commodity and I would only recommend using an accounting firm for these if (a) you really don’t want to DIY because you have no knowledge at all (b) you have something other than a payment summary (rental property, business, cap gain etc) to complicate it.
Companies and trusts are a completely different story. The body of law and opportunities and potential issues are significantly different. Not to mention that if you ever go for a home loan the banks are required to do an ASIC director search and you will need to provide up-to-date “Accountants” financial reports for each company to demonstrate they are solvent. Internal management reports from Xero etc are not accepted for this (either are tax returns).
We don’t focus on price. We focus on identifying what problems you have and what solutions you need. If you can’t afford to pay for them that’s a separate issue (and frankly your problem to overcome). When someone asks me for a 10% discount I tell them sure – will can do 90% of the job for you. No problem.
