Seasons Greetings from Withers Tsang & the WT Team
Withers Tsang in New Zealand’s Top 30 Accounting Firms for 2019.
We are thrilled and humbled to be named as one of the Top 30 Accounting Firms for 2019 as published by stuff.co.nz, with the support of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and 9 Media.
Participation in the survey considered the firm’s revenue, involvement in pro bono work, sustainability, diversity, and technical innovations and how these played an integral role in business. Improvements and technology create change and come with their own set of challenges.
This showcases how accountants can use these tools as a way to educate clients on improving business performance, interpreting the data to help them succeed in their business decision making.
Being selected as one of the Top 30 reinforced Withers Tsang’s decision to embrace and overcome the IT challenges and change to a cloud-based practice this year.
Thank you for your patience in accompanying us through this journey of change. It has not been an easy transition but we are confident it will pay dividend in the future for us all. It is the way of the future.
More importantly, we want to express our heartfelt appreciation to you for supporting us in the past 21-years, without your support this would not have been possible.
The New Trust Bill and what you need to know
The new Trust Bill has been passed a few months ago. It modernises existing Trust law and will take effect from 31 January 2021 – 18-months away.
Some notable highlights:
Trustees will face increased compliance requirements with greater transparency – both mandatory as well as default trustee duties
Trustees will need to provide greater transparency around trust activity
Trustees will need to provide beneficiaries with information about the trust including financial statements and their claims under the trust
Trust period may be extended beyond the current 80 years
Please use the next 18-months to organise your trust file (collate all the trust documentation), particularly for those that only hold non-income producing lifestyle assets; as they may not have kept updated financial position for the trust.
This is a timely opportunity to meet with your legal and tax advisor to assess whether your Trust deed needs amending and whether it is still meeting its original intention.
