The Tax Audit

Thursday, August 11, 2011

• I’ve never had one

• I don’t want one

• Here’s why

From what I hear, the days(!) are booked and either they come to you or you go to them.

I, and my colleagues, as far as I can tell, keep reasonably good records.

We sign things that read “To the best of my knowledge”, and might be out by $20 over the course of the year, but nothing to bring the government to its knees.

Yes, we stick meals on our expense sheets, but they are all too often a $3.95 cheeseburger at The Montreal Deli rather than chateaubriand at Ed’s Steakhouse.

And we rarely drink.

The bottom line is that if cash flow is low, you just don’t have the cash to throw on good stuff, so you can’t claim on it anyway.

We keep our records for seven years, and we have our statements prepared by a regular, experienced and old-fashioned accountant.

So Why do we Dread the Tax Audit?

Because it represents two or more days wasted, from our point of view.

Days spent re-hashing receipts and invoices, calculations we’ve made twice already.

Time that could be better spent marketing, staying in touch with clients, meeting new prospects, or even (perish the thought!) spending a day in a park contemplating our direction to make the business more profitable.

And more highly-taxed.

Talk to Me !

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