Preparing Your Tax Return
Completing the Australian tax return could be a complicated matter and as a result, many Australians - up to 74% according to the Australian treasury - make use of an income tax accountant (generally called tax agents) to assist them with their tax return forms.
Income tax accountants charge for their expertise and may either request an upfront fee or deduct their fees from your refund.
The benefit of availing yourself of their services in completing your tax return, is that an income tax accountant is required to remain abreast of taxation legislation and meet certain criteria such as ‘fit and proper person’ test, a certain level of education and relevant experience to be registered to provide tax return services.
Registration with the Tax Agents Board is compulsory and rendering services as an income tax accountant without registration is considered illegal.
The benefits of making use of an income tax accountant to complete your tax return are:
- You have recourse to the Board if you need to lodge a complaint.
- You are guaranteed that the income tax accountant has met the stringent multi-level requirements of the Board, and that he or she is suitably qualified to render the tax return service.
- As professional conduct is also addressed, you have the assurance that the income tax accountant has to adhere to ethical and legal practices in rendering the tax return service to you.
If you are a part of the 26% of the populartion who prefers completing and submitting your own tax return, here are some guidelines:
- Obtain your tax file number from the Australian tax office (ATO).
- Obtain your PAYG Payment Summary or Summaries from your employer. The summary contains information on your Gross Earnings for the year and the PAYG Tax deducted by your employer.
- Understand what is construed as 'income'. This could include interest on investments, earnings from investments, dividends you were paid, etc.
- Understand which expenses are considered tax deductible. Normally these would include those expenses that you had to incur in order to produce an assessable income and those business expenses associated with generating or increasing your assessable income.
The Australian tax office (ATO) offers a tax return deductibles checklist.
It may be a good idea to solicit the help of the Australian tax office (ATO) when you complete your first tax return. You can call 13 28 61 to arrange for an appointment at one of the Australian tax office (ATO) shop fronts across Australia or request one of their many brochures and information booklets about tax online.
Just remember that you only have from the 1st of July to 31 October to lodge your tax return. Your submission can either be online at ato.gov.au or by snail mail.
If you opt for the latter, bear in mind that you will need to post your tax return well before the due date in order to meet the deadline.
