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Focusing on what’s good for us:
carbon credits, the arts, women’s wealth and saving.

Do you understand the Climate Change Response Act, sometimes referred to as the Emissions Trading scheme or ETS? Are you a landowner? Doing nothing is not an option in the ETS so Carey Smith & Co has partnered with Stuart Orme of Woodnet to bring ETS expertise to Whanganui. Stuart is a registered forestry consultant and an expert on the ETS. An excellent speaker, he will present a range of case studies and examples from his experience to provide an overview of the forestry emission trading scheme. If you are a landowner you should attend one of our free, informative sessions. We can help make the whole carbon credit process easy for you. Thursday 23 June 2011 2.30pm & 5.30pm. To book visit our website, email: growth@careysmith.co.nz or phone Astria on 345 8179

Carey Smith & Co Art Review The CSC Art review is an important annual event on Whanganui’s arts calendar with artists from a wide range of media and experience keen to have their work selected and exhibited in our beautiful Sarjeant Gallery. It’s a great opportunity for the public to see the wealth of creative talent that their local community has to offer, and there is considerable kudos for the prize winning artists. Carey Smith & Co is proud to once again sponsor this event, which runs from 2 July to 4 September 2011.

Women’s Wealth Series More than 90 women squeezed into the Sarjeant Art Gallery on April 13 to hear national investment expert Gretchen Williamson talk about investing from a female perspective. The free seminar was a team effort. Our Carey Smith director Prue Anderson hosted the evening, and Craigs Investment Partners bought Gretchen to Whanganui for the event. Based in Auckland, she has presented share market updates for TV One’s business breakfast and daytime news bulletins. Her honest and down-to-earth approach to investing was much appreciated by our guests. Anyone wanting to contact Gretchen can do so by emailing: gretchen.williamson@craigsip.com. Thanks to the team at Craigs in Whanganui and to Jolt Coffee House for providing some of the prizes on the night. Given the great response we had to Gretchen’s talk and the overwhelming positive feedback and interest in further sessions we will be holding more events in our Women’s Wealth series. We see it as one way we can get industry experts to Whanganui and support our community. We’ll give you details of dates and the presenter for our next event soon.

KiwiSaver

While KiwiSaver is topical with Budget changes and the recent women’s wealth series presentation by Gretchen we think it’s a good time to remind you that even a minimal investment in any scheme has some benefits. Just because you own your own business doesn’t mean you should miss out on saving for your retirement. The thing we like is that if you invest $20 by 30 June 2011 you will receive a $1,000 kick start, and $20 as a member tax credit, then the following year you can put in your voluntary contribution whenever you like and receive the full amount of the tax credit (although this will be halved to $520 as a result of the budget). If you’re a business owner putting 2% of your salary into KiwiSaver, it is essentially tax free income until the budget changes take effect... From 1 April 2012: The tax-free status of employer contributions will be removed. These will be taxed at your marginal tax rate. For the year to 30 June 2012 and beyond: The Member Tax Credit rate will be halved from $1 to 50c for every $1 contributed by members, up to $521 a year - half the current maximum. From 1 April 2013: The minimum employee contribution rate will rise from 2 per cent to 3 per cent and compulsory employer contributions will also rise from 2 per cent to 3 per cent. KiwiSaver benefits from the Government’s website link to http://www.kiwisaver.govt.nz/new/benefits/ KiwiSaver has a range of membership benefits including contributions from your employer and the Government, as well as help buying your first home.

$1,000 kick-start To get your savings off to a good start, the Government will kick-start your account with a tax-free contribution of $1,000. Member tax credit To help you save, the Government will match your contributions by up to $1,042.86 each year. This works out to about $20 a week, reducing to $10 a week as a result of the budget. Compulsory employer contributions If you’re eligible, your employer will also contribute an amount currently equal to 2% of your pay to your KiwiSaver savings, increasing to 3% from April 2013. Savings withdrawal for first home You may be able to withdraw some or all of your KiwiSaver savings to put towards buying your first home. First home deposit subsidy After 3 years of contributing to KiwiSaver, you may be entitled to a first home deposit subsidy. The subsidy is administered by Housing New Zealand and will be paid to your solicitor on the day the purchase of the property is settled.

Introducing Graham and June

Carey Smith & Co staff members Graham Rouse and June Signal both hailed from the IRD office when we had one in Whanganui. They are both Senior Accountants and work with clients to complete annual accounts and tax returns, and are happy to assist with queries throughout the year. June has taken up the challenge of becoming certified as a advisor with the xero online accounting package and completes accounts for a number of clients who use xero as well those using other packages. Outside of work hours she is a regular mountain biker and enjoys the occasional pinot noir. Graham looks after some of our accounting software in house and has an active interest in training new staff. To break the myth that accountants are boring (although who believes that anyway!) he is a keen heavy metal musician and is particularly fond of his cat.