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INDIVIDUAL TAX RETURNS

Next month will be our Individual Tax Season and clients have been calling now making their appointments from the second week of July.

If you need to book your appointment give us a call on 5366 1000 and press 2

We will also be doing some late night appointments on a Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday evening.

Don’t leave it to the last minute to get organised, start gathering your documents now and save yourself the stress of trying to find them at the last minute.

Here is a list of items that may relate to you that we will need.

Documents you will need to gather up:

Payment summaries – Outlines the income you have received from your employer, super fund or government payment like Centrelink and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Bank statements – Details any interest you have earned during the period and fees you have paid. Your bank may have summarised these for you, either online or at the bottom of your bank statement.

Shares, unit trusts or managed funds statements – Information on dividends or distributions you’ve received. Dividends that you’ve elected to reinvest must be declared as income.

Buy and sell investment statements – Needed to calculate capital gains and losses. If you bought or sold any shares you can access the details on your online broking account or you can get them from your investment adviser or stockbroker.

Records from your rental property – If you use a property manager, you will probably get an annual tax statement that details income and expenses. Otherwise you will need to gather details of income received and expenses paid, including any capital gains or capital losses if you have sold the property.

Foreign income – Details of foreign pensions or other foreign income.

Private health insurance policy statement – Information needed to complete the private health insurance section of your tax return

Tax deductions you can claim

• you must have spent the money yourself and not been reimbursed
• it must be directly related to earning your income
• you must have a record to prove you paid for it.

Vehicle and travel expenses – This does not normally include the cost of travel between work and home but, if you use your car for work or work in different locations, then you may be able to claim a deduction.

Clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning expenses – To legitimately claim the cost of a uniform, it needs be unique and distinctive, for example it contains your employer’s logo, or is specific to your occupation, like chef’s pants or coloured safety vests.

Gifts and donations – to organisations that are endorsed by the ATO as deductible gift recipients..

Home office expenses – Costs could include your computer, phone or other electronic device and running costs such as an internet service. You can only claim the proportion of expenses that relate to work, not private use.

Interest, dividend and other investment income deductions – Examples include interest, account fees, investing magazines and subscriptions, internet access, depreciation on your computer.

Self-education expenses – If the study relates to your current job, you can claim expenses like course fees, student union fees, textbooks, stationery, internet, home office expenses, professional journals and some travel.

Tools, equipment and other equipment – If you buy tools or equipment to help earn your income, you can claim a deduction for some or all of the cost. Examples include protective gear, including sunscreen, sunglasses and hats if you work outside, office equipment, safety equipment and technical instruments.

Other deductions – Other items you can claim include: union fees, the cost of managing your tax affairs, income protection insurance (if it’s not through super), overtime meals, personal super contributions and other expenses incurred in the course of earning an income.

Of course everyone’s circumstances are different and if you would like any more information just give us a call, we are only to happy to help.