Today, the 25th April, is a very special day in Australia…ANZAC Day.

I’ve written this post in advance, so by the time you’re reading this…hopefully I’ve been up to attend the Dawn Service and consumed half a dozen ANZAC biscuits (yum!)

ANZAC Day marks the first occasion where Australian and New Zealand forces joined in a major military action…and it is one of Australia’s most significant national occasions.

The Ode (see below), and the playing of The Last Post, never fails to give me goose bumps and always brings a tear to my eyes…as we remember them:

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.”

For overseas visitors to The Tax Chic, you can hear The Last Post here.

Lest we forget…

On a lighter note, today I’m looking at a battle of a different kind, and a victory…each year on ANZAC Day, the mighty Collingwood Magpies take on the Essendon Bombers as part of the Australian Football League home and away season.

This is the biggest game ALL year outside of the Grand Final!

While it’s usually a sell-out, I’ve been lucky enough to attend the game on a number of occasions…and it never ceases to amaze me how a minute of silence can bring a crowd of thousands, all standing, to be so quiet…you could hear a pin drop.

I know I’m going to cop some flack for being a “Pies” supporter…but I don’t care!  I’m even (almost) proud to say I don’t have all my own teeth…but that’s a story for another time (and one only AFL supporters will understand)!!

Go Pies!!

Regards

Earlier in the A-Z Blogging Challenge I posted “L is for Lost Members Register“…did anyone find any lost superannuation?

What about cold hard cash?  Have you ever wondered if there’s some money out there you’ve forgotten about or never knew you had?

Perhaps an old bank account, some dividends or shares, a deceased estate or a life insurance policy?

Today I’m going to point you in the direction of how you can search for Unclaimed Money.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) is responsible for handling unclaimed moneys from banks and life insurance companies, among other items.

But it’s our State governments who are responsible for holding unclaimed money from deceased estates, share dividends, salaries and wages, cheques, trust money, over-payments and proceeds on sale.

How can you search through all these avenues to find unclaimed money?

Start with ASIC’s MoneySmart website, where you can search the ASIC unclaimed money, in addition there are links to the ATO’s SuperSeeker (as discussed in “L is for Lost Members Register”), as well as individual state registers and the Fair Work Ombudsman’s website.

You never know what you might find…good luck!

Regards

PS I have not included links in this post as I had some trouble loading them on my laptop, but they worked fine on my tablet…below is the relevant URL to copy and paste in your browser:

MoneySmart: www.moneysmart.gov.au

What’s that saying?  There’s only two certainties in life…death and taxes.  Personally I think that’s a really negative saying…and I don’t really like it.

By definition (via Wikipedia) “tax is a financial charge or other levy imposed upon a taxpayer by a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law“…wow, that sounds nasty.

In all seriousness though, paying taxes is important and essential…the government uses our taxes to invest in our community by way of infrastructure, roads, hospitals and schools…even if you don’t agree with their decisions or how they do it…it does happen!

In Australia, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is the principal revenue collection agency and it is the role of the ATO to “ensure the community has confidence in the administration of Australia’s taxation and superannuation systems”

For me, as an Accountant and Registered Tax Agent, it is my job to maintain familiarity with the taxation laws and it is my role to communicate with and advise clients on tax-related issues, and assist them to understand their obligations.

By working together, tax needn’t be that “nasty” thing that no one wants to talk about…rather with the right knowledge, you can take control of your tax situation and be well prepared to avoid any taxation surprises!

Regards

Smart phones, tablets, laptops, computers and even smart TV’s…it’s all a bit much for this “technology challenged” little miss!  Lucky for me I have a step-dad who is brilliant with all of this…so he’s my go to person for everything technology related!

A few years ago I was lucky enough to win an iPad!  I was very excited, even though I had no idea what you did with them or how you would use it…within a week I was hooked and it has barely left my side since!

After having some success with the iPad, I moved onto an iPhone and have been happy with that combination…until recently…I decided it might be time to take a look at the Samsung phenomenon that’s been sweeping the world.

I bought myself a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 with the intention of using it for a hotspot with my laptop when out and about as well as an electronic diary and maybe moving to the Samsung phone, but I can’t get the battery life to last a decent amount of time which means I’m already back to using a manual diary…so now I’m just confused!

I seriously can’t decide what to do!  Part of me says stay with the Apple technology because I “kinda” know how to use it, and part of me wants to move with the Samsung platform since it appears to be a bit more flexible…

I’m not sure if I want to ask this…but what are your thoughts?

Regards