“I just keep paying tax”

• Owners whose profit has grown and whose tax has grown with it — without a plan.
• People paying last year’s bill and this year’s instalments at the same time.
• Businesses whose structure was set up years ago and never reviewed.

• Tax bills arrive as a surprise, often when cash is already tight.
• Instalment notices on top of the annual bill feel like paying twice.
• You are not sure what you can claim, so you assume nothing.
• You hear about “planning” but nobody has done any with you.

Questions worth asking — we’d rather ask than assume.

• Is tax being calculated on profit that you have already spent on stock, loan repayments or equipment — so it feels like tax on money you never had?
• Are PAYG instalments being worked out from a year that no longer reflects your business?
• Could legitimate expenses be going unrecorded because receipts and records are scattered?
• Does your structure still suit the business you run today — and has anyone asked?

• Before 30 June is when planning can still make a difference; after it, the year is mostly history.
• When you receive a PAYG instalment notice that does not reflect how the year is going.

• Your last two tax returns and notices of assessment.
• Your ATO account — what you have paid, what is owing and what instalments are set.
• Your profit and loss for the year so far.

1. 1

   Explain the bill

   We walk through why your tax is what it is, line by line, so it stops feeling arbitrary.

2. 2

   Check what is being missed

   We look for entitlements and expenses that should be recorded but are not — within the law, nothing aggressive.

3. 3

   Plan before year end

   A conversation before 30 June about what is coming, so the bill is expected, not a shock.

4. 4

   Set aside as you go

   A simple rhythm for putting tax, GST and super aside, so the money is there when it is due.

This is how we would start with you — general information, not a do-it-yourself checklist or personal advice.

• The aim is not to promise less tax. It is that tax stops being a surprise, and what you pay reflects your real position, properly recorded.
• As a registered tax agent we can see your ATO account and talk to the ATO on your behalf.

• You talk to Graham Chee FCPA, the principal — the same person from the first conversation onwards, with 25 years in public practice. About Graham
• Local Knowledge Pty Ltd is a CPA public practice and a registered tax agent — you can check us on the Tax Practitioners Board public register. TPB register
• Finalist, Accountants Daily Australian Accounting Awards — Multiservice Firm of the Year (2025 and 2026) and Marketing Program of the Year (2025).
• We show our reasoning in the open, so you can see how we think before you ever pick up the phone. Watch it think