At Tax Doctor, we have a comprehensive service offering which has been providing wealth and financial security for Medical and Dental professionals. We offer tailored services specifically to the medical profession including:
- Preparation of Annual Financial Statements and Income Tax Returns for Doctors, Medical Practices and their related entities.
- Preparation of BAS/IAS.
- Bookkeeping.
- Corporate Secretarial – all the ASIC related administration.
We are here for you and can work with you as closely and as regularly as required. Some Doctors are quite hands on financially, whilst many others prefer to leave all administration chores to us.
Most of our clients prefer to leave the BAS preparation and lodgement to us. Not because it is too hard – it mostly isn’t – but because for many Doctors their time is better utilised seeing patients or enjoying time off….
Also using cloud based software’s like MYOB and Xero, we can handle your bookkeeping no matter where your practice is located, and you will always have access to business data.
We offer a 24 hour line for consulting free of charge in our golden package. Our service is highly confidential as our client list.
TAX PLANNING
Given the high incomes that Medical Professionals enjoy, Income Tax becomes one of the largest annual expenses. Tax planning is much more than simply finding Tax Deductions. We will claim all deductions that are legitimately claimable, but that is not the only thing we do…
Our approach is to discuss with you where you are, where you are going to and how. We try to understand your attitude towards business, employment, risk and other such matters. Obviously, a Doctor in Training will have much less complex issues to deal with than the owner of one or more Medical centres or a Specialist. Yet without having regard to the future, and being aware what the future Business and Tax issues might be, you can’t have a plan and any Tax Planning remains ad hoc and incomplete.
That doesn’t mean you have to make things unnecessary complexity. We help you we cut through the hype (and there is a lot of that!) and show you how to keep things simple, yet flexible and effective.
Our approach to Tax Planning is that we will do whatever we can legally to reduce your Tax burden, while giving due regard to the trade-offs. Is a lot of complexity for a small Tax saving worth the effort, costs and possible risks? We will tell you what to expect, so you can make an informed decision that suits your circumstances…
PS: We do not engage or support illegal Tax minimisation schemes or fraudulent activities.
BUSINESS ADVICE
For most Medical Professionals the time will come that, like it or not, they will have to be ‘in business’. We have many years’ experience in assisting Medical Professionals with a (relatively) smooth transition from being ‘Employed’ to becoming ‘Self Employed’, or setting up their own practice. Business advice to Medical Professionals is our Speciality. You may be a recently graduated Specialist who is invited to join an existing practice or you may wish to set up your own practice. We’ll help you to make an informed financial decision. When going into private practice for the first time there is much to consider:
- What will my business structure be?
- How will I pay for the equipment I require?
- What level of overdraft should I initially start with?
- How will I manage my billings and bookkeeping?.
We are here for you and can work with you as closely and as regularly as required. Litigation is also a major concern that all medicos have, so it makes sense to have assets protected to some degree. This can mean a trade-off between tax efficiency and asset security, so it is our approach to take a common sense view as to what assets should be held in trusts and what should be left outside. Experience also tells us that very few doctors ever have their assets taken from them due to litigation, this does not mean that you ignore asset protection, it simply means a balanced approach is what is required. Some practices go overboard here and this will end up costing significant amounts in accounting and legal fees.
GROWTH & RESTRUCTURING
All businesses go through different stages of life and Medical practices are no different. When in Growth phase, we can assist all medical and health professionals including Specialists, VMO, RMO, General practitioners, Dentists, Pharmacists, Psychologists, Chiropractors, Physiotherapists and related therapists benchmark their practices enabling them to understand the revenue and cost drivers that affect their bottom line. Growth also means, the businesses will face some new questions like:
- Should we have more Staff? ?
- Should we have larger rooms or buy our own rooms?
- Should we set up an additional practice?
- How to structure or restructure leases for maximum tax efficiency?
- How reasonable is the lease being offered for the new rooms?
- Which entity should own or lease the medical equipment?
- What should we pay a practice manager and do we need one?
As you grow, this growth may necessitate a change of your structure, or you may have decided to join forces with another practice that is set up differently. How do you deal with that? Property may be held in unit trusts – or in other entities. Can you change that to better suit your circumstances? What are the consequences of the various options.
We can assist you with finding answers to these questions….