Joyce Ong, founder of Tax Nuggets Academy, is a “comedian trapped in an accountant’s body” and is well-known to her LinkedIn followers for her lighthearted take on heavy, legislative-dense topics.
Division 296 tax was no exception.
“I’ve been writing tax parodies for a few years now, and this is just the latest drop,” Ong told SMSF Adviser.
“The last one was on the Bendel case about unpaid present entitlements. This was a way of keeping sane amongst all the doom and gloom that is part of our industry.”
The Div 296 rap doesn’t just focus on the negative aspects of the controversial legislation, and Ong said that she always tries to present both sides of the argument.
However, she admits that the proposed legislation has garnered a lot of consternation among the financial sector, from both professionals and the general public.
“I think it’s a little bit absurd [the legislation] and so I wanted to just showcase how absurd it is, but without really being that opinionated.”
“This rap is more about poking fun at this issue, and then presenting both sides of the argument, which are both very extreme.”
She continued that her musical presentations are also a way to raise awareness about topics in the accounting and finance sector, and although this particular legislation has not yet been passed, it is an issue that is generating a lot of interest among her regular clientele.
“The Tax Nuggets Academy provides online CPD, and I often get asked to present sessions on various issues, and Div 296 was one of them.”
“Everyone is just waiting to see what will happen [with Div 296], and I think they are sceptical that it will start on 1 July 2025. Although I’m not in practice, we do provide CPD, and I get topic requests from our subscribers to see what is happening in this space.”
“The rap is also a way of trying to make the topic a little bit more fun. I hope that it brings a bit of joy into the lives of practicing accountants because it is such a tough time for them. It just gets worse every year, with more and more burden and legislation changes, and this legislation doesn’t help with all the uncertainty and the complexity, as well as having to explain it to clients.
“I’m part of a Facebook group with 8,000 members, and I see the daily grind [they are going through] and having to answer clients’ questions about this new tax. But practitioners themselves don’t know what’s going on, so I thought I would put a light-hearted spin on it, and hopefully, it puts a smile on their face.”
