A guide to help you get ready for tax season, with tips from the ATO and our tax experts.
Why You Should Start Preparing For Your Tax Return Now
Tax time is here, and it’s time to start getting your financial records in order. Whether you are an employee, a sole trader, or a business owner, you need to lodge your tax return by 31 October 2024. But don’t rush to submit it as soon as possible. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) advises that you wait until the end of July before lodging your tax return. Why? Because the ATO pre-fills some of the information for you, such as your income from employers, banks, and government agencies. This can save you time and reduce the risk of errors. However, the ATO needs time to receive and process this data from various sources, so it may not be available until late July. If you lodge your tax return too early, you may miss out on some deductions or income that could affect your tax outcome.
What You Need to Do Before Lodging Your Tax Return
While you wait for the ATO to pre-fill your tax return, you can start preparing your own records and documents. This will help you maximise your deductions and ensure you report your income correctly. To help you with this task, we have created a tax time checklist that you can print and use as a guide.
The checklist covers the following categories:
- Personal details, such as your tax file number, bank account details, and contact information.
- Income, such as your payment summaries, interest statements, dividend statements, rental income, and foreign income.
- Deductions, such as your work-related expenses, car expenses, home office expenses, donations, and self-education expenses.
- Offsets and rebates, such as your private health insurance statement, spouse details, and dependant details.
- Other information, such as your capital gains or losses, foreign assets or liabilities, and tax agent details.
You can download and print our tax time checklist from our website. You can also find more information and examples on how to claim deductions and report income on the ATO website.
How We Can Help You With Your Tax Return
If you need professional assistance with your tax return, we are here to help. We are a team of qualified and experienced tax agents who can help you with your individual or business tax needs. We offer online and phone consultations, as well as a convenient online questionnaire that you can fill out and email to us. The questionnaire will ask you some questions about your personal and financial situation and help us prepare your tax return accurately and efficiently. To request our online questionnaire, please get in touch with us by phone or email. We will send you the questionnaire, and you can complete it at your own pace. Once you submit the questionnaire, we will go over it and reach out to you to confirm your details and discuss your tax outcome. We will then lodge your tax return on your behalf and send you a copy of your notice of assessment. Our fees are affordable and tax-deductible, and we guarantee a fast and reliable service.
Contact Us Today
You can start preparing your documents now and contact us for our online questionnaire. We will help you get the best possible tax result and save you time and hassle. You can reach us by phone at 07 3999 9751 or by email at accounting@holzworth.com.au. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you with your tax needs.