What IT gear should I be planning to purchase before year end to make the most of the 50% tax break?

This is really important to every small business that uses computers. I wrote about this back in April when it applied to all businesses but now the key message is to the smaller businesses out there.

If your business will turn over less than $2 million this financial year you have just enough time left to plan and purchase all the IT gear you need for the upturn that is clearly on the way. We all hope not to see the Government stimulating our economy like this again in the near future so now is the time.

As a result of the new shoots of growth we are seeing businesses are looking to upgrade their IT equipment. They are experiencing good sales and know they need to expand their capacity and capability in terms of the IT systems in their business to support the growth.

If you run a business with several computers, now is the time to be planning your server upgrades or deployments. With the tax break it is okay to finance the systems, so the total financial impact in the short-term is very small.

You will get the 50% rebate this financial year even though your repayments will be stretched across three or four years. With some great financial packages available from hardware vendors such as HP and Cisco or software companies such as Microsoft it is a perfect time to fortify your IT systems to ensure IT does not impede your growth going forward.

With the economy on the rise it is a great time to get the big ticket items taken care of. I would be considering the following big-ticket items for my growth business:

• Windows Small Business server
  
• Terminal server for remote access
  
• Printer/photocopier
  
• Large format printer/plotter
  
• Backup and disaster recovery box
  
• Phone system
  
• Firewall
  
• Uninterruptable power supply (UPS) for servers and phone systems
  
• PCs/laptops/workstations
  
• Upgrade PCs to dual screens (so the set is over $1,000)
  
• Data projector
  
• HD TV for displays
  
• New car with company logos (okay so that one is not IT but it feels good!)

The purpose of all of this equipment is to improve the communication, presentation and security of your company and to ensure you are working as productively as possible while maximising the tax benefit available. By fixing IT systems you remove the impediments to growth.

With the downturn behind us many of us will be hiring more staff over the year ahead and the war on talent will force us to look for every strategic advantage we can find. IT is one of the biggest drivers of strategic advantage in growing businesses.

Remember, you must order and be invoiced before December 31, 2009 and you will be assessed on this year's income, so if you tip over the $2 million mark this year you will not be able to claim it. You have until the end of 2010 to install and use the equipment.

David Markus is the founder of Combo - the IT services company that ensures IT is never an impediment to growth.