Category: Tax Planning

Gerald would like it known that there are 91 days until the end of the year. He would also like it known that he has said this to the same clients in the same words since 2019, and that most of them were asleep.

This is the period in which small decisions carry weight. Pay the vet bill in December rather than January and the deduction moves a year. Buy the new bed before the thirty first and it can be depreciated. Delay the catnip until the second and it cannot.

Book your planning appointment now. Slots are limited to 14, and Dumpling has already declined six on your behalf.

As kittens leave the nest and set up their own baskets, their filing status needs attention. A cat under 12 months who earns less than $400 a year in purring is generally still a dependant of the household.

Once the kitten takes a job, even a casual one such as lap warmer to a retired schoolteacher, the status changes. They may file as single, provided they are not still sleeping in the old basket and eating from the old bowl.

Many young cats resist this. They describe it as moving out in spirit. Gerald replies that the Revenue Service does not recognise spirit and asks to see the lease.

Estimated payments are due four times a year, which many clients find to be three more times than necessary. They exist because the Revenue Service prefers to be paid as you earn, in the way a cat prefers to be fed as it looks hungry.

Gerald’s rule of thumb: pay 25 percent of last year’s liability each quarter, mark the dates on a calendar, and place the calendar somewhere you cannot sleep on it. The most common error we see is a calendar that has been sat upon continuously since March.

• 15 April, the first payment
• 15 June, the second payment
• 15 September, the third payment
• 15 January, the last one and the one you forgot