The Australian financial year starts on 01 July and finishes on 30 June of the following year.

The Tax return can only be processed from 1st July each year (when the financial year has ended). You can do it yourself on your MyGov account until 31 October each year. By using an accountant, from your 2nd year you receive an extension until 15 May of the next year to process it.

After the ATO processes your Tax return, if you have anything to be refunded to you, ATO will make the payment within 7-10 days to your bank account nominated in your Tax Return. In some cases where further investigation is required, it might take longer. However, if you have an existing Debt with ATO, instead of receiving this refund, it will be credited towards your Debt.

It's hard to say without being able to access your details. But in general, if you have only worked on your TFN and earned up to $18,200 in the financial year, you will receive all the Tax that you have taken from your paycheck by your employer.
Above this amount, the ATO starts charging a percentage of your total income, and this Tax is progressive, that is, the more you receive, the more Tax you will pay.
Also there will be some deductions you might be eligible to claim in your Tax Return depending on your profession

If you are a Resident for tax purposes - the individual rates 2024/2025 are:

Taxable income $0 – $18,200 = Nil
Taxable income $18,201 – $45,000 = 16c for each $1 over $18,200

Taxable income $45,001 – $135,000 = $4,288 plus 30c for each $1 over $45,000

Taxable income $135,001 – $190,000 = $31,288 plus 37c for each $1 over $135,000

Taxable income $190,001 and over = $51,638 plus 45c for each $1 over $190,000

As you can see on the table above, a progressive Tax will be charged according to your total income.

But with the ABN, in several professions there are possible deductions that help to offset a little of this Tax. I can only estimate your income tax payable (if any) after accessing all your full process.

On average, it is important to save around 10%- 20% of your total ABN Income in a separate bank account, as a savings account, to be able to pay your debt to the ATO.

For the day of our meeting, we will need the total ABN payments from each employer, and each employer's ABN number. For Uber, Doordash, etc., their apps display Tax summary for the fiscal year, with Total paid and km driven. 

If you issued invoices to employers, just sum them all. You can also ask your employer for a payment statement. And finally, a copy of your Bank Statement showing the payments made to your account.

If your tax bill is less than $100,000.00, the easiest way to set up a payment plan is using your MyGov or through your Tax/BAS agent. However, when you have an overdue lodgement or other circumstances, the only way to set it up is via Phone.

The minimum deposit ATO will ask is 5%-10% of the total of your Debt, and the remaining amount can be payable weekly, fortnightly etc. The length of the installments and the amount payable depend on the total amount of the Debt. Use the ATO Payment Plan Estimator to work out a plan you can afford.

Once you’ve signed into myGov:

1. Select Australian Taxation Office in your services

2. In the menu select Tax, Payments, and then Payment plans.

3. Select Add to set up a new payment plan for an account.

Yes we can. But you must request it by email. Then we will send you the ATO Direct Debit form authorisation to be filled out and signed. Once we receive your form, we will then set it up for you online.

Before you phone ATO, have the details of your outstanding amount and your TFN ready so you can access your account.

Call 13 28 65 (for individuals), or 13 72 26 (for businesses)

1. Enter your TFN then  #

2. Choose option 3 to make an arrangement to pay

3. Enter your debt amount.

YES. When you dispose of an asset that is subject to capital gains tax (CGT), it is called a CGT event. This is the point at which you make a capital gain or loss.

Common disposals that will trigger a CGT event include:

● selling an asset

● trading, exchanging or swapping assets

● loss or destruction of an asset or creating contractual or other rights (this is known as an involuntary disposal).

The type of CGT event that applies to your situation may affect:

● the time when the CGT event happens

●how to calculate your capital gain or loss.

If you have a loss, this loss will be carried forward to the next financial year and can be used to offset any future capital gains, if applicable.

It will depend on the type of Profession you have. Each case/situation is different, and it will be accessed on the day we process your Tax Return.

Here is the Occupancy & Industry Specifications Guide.

Remember to keep all the receipts that you have spent (work related) and bring it to the day we are processing the Tax Return.

You can’t claim a deduction for buying, hiring, repairing or cleaning conventional clothing (everyday clothing, such as black trousers worn by waiters, business attire worn by office workers, or jeans or drill shirts worn by tradesperson) you buy for work, even if your employer says the clothing is compulsory or you only wear it at work.

You can claim your costs to buy or clean occupation-specific clothing that distinctly identifies you as a person associated with a particular occupation, such as:

● a chef's chequered pants

● a judge's robe.

You can claim a deduction for clothing and footwear you wear to protect you from the real and likely risk of illness or injury from your work activities or your work environment.

● protective features or functions

● a sufficient degree of protection against the risk of illness and injury you are exposed to in carrying out your work.

To claim a deduction for tools and equipment expenses:

1. You must use the items to perform your work duties

2. You must work out if you can claim the cost of the item in the income year you buy it or the decline in value over its effective life

3. You must have a record of your expenses and use of the items.

When you use the items for both private and work purposes, you need to apportion your deduction. You can only claim the work-related use of the item as a deduction.

You can't claim a deduction for

1. your use of the tools or equipment for private purposes

2. expenses for tools and equipment that someone else supplies for your use.

You must keep records to support your claim for work use of tools and equipment.

Self-education expenses are the costs you incur when you:

undertake courses at an educational institution (whether or not the courses lead to a formal qualification)

● undertake courses provided by a professional or industry organisation

● attend work-related conferences or seminars

● do self-paced learning and study tours (whether within Australia or overseas).

You can claim a deduction for a self-education expense if, at the time you incur the expense, it has a sufficient connection to earning income from your employment activities, such as:

● maintains or improves the specific skills or knowledge you require for your current employment activities

● results in, or is likely to result in, an increase in your income from your current employment activities.

You can't claim a deduction for a self-education expense if, at the time you incur the expenses:

● it doesn't have a sufficient connection to your employment activities at that time

● you are not employed

● it only relates in a general way to your employment activities at that time – such as undertaking a full-time fashion photography course and working as a casual sales assistant on the weekends

● it enables you to get new employment or change employment – such as moving from employment as a nurse to employment as a doctor.

There are restrictions for International Students who are undertaking training to comply with their Visa's conditions.

To claim working from home expenses, you must:

1. be working from home to fulfil your employment duties, not just carrying out minimal tasks, such as occasionally checking emails or taking calls

2. incur additional running expenses as a result of working from home

3. have records that show you incur these expenses, such as a logbook of hours worked.

4. where you incur running expenses for both private and work purposes, you need to apportion your deduction. You can only claim the work-related portion as a deduction.

   To calculate your deduction for working from home expenses, you must use one of the methods set out below.

   Actual costs method, you work out your deduction by calculating the actual additional expenses you incur when working from home. 

   This includes expenses you incur for:

   ● the decline in value of depreciating assets – for example, home office furniture (desk, chair) and furnishings, phones and computers, laptops or similar devices

   ● electricity and gas (energy expenses) for heating, cooling and lighting

   ● home and mobile phone, data and internet expenses

   ● stationery and computer consumables, such as printer ink and paper

   ● cleaning your dedicated home office.

   In limited circumstances, you may also be able to claim occupancy expenses (such as mortgage interest or rent).

   Or a Fixed rate for each hour you work from home during the relevant income year.

   The rate includes the additional running expenses you incur for:

   ● home and mobile internet or data expenses

   ● mobile and home phone usage expenses

   ●electricity and gas (energy expenses) for heating, cooling and lighting

   ● stationery and computer consumables, such as printer ink and paper.

   The rate per work hour includes the total deductible expenses for the above additional running expenses. If you're using this method, you can't claim an additional separate deduction for these expenses.

   You must keep records to show you incur expenses as a result of working from home. The type of records you need to keep will depend on the method you choose to calculate your expenses.

For those who can claim Motor vehicle expenses - we can use Cents x km, Logbook or Actual Cost methods.

For Cents x Km you need a record of how many km you have travelled during the financial year. No receipts needed, only the km travelled recorded.

For the Logbook method you can use this app Drivers Note

Even if your Motor Vehicle is registered for business, you still need to substantiate your expenses by maintaining all your receipts and your valid logbooks.

If you are a Sole Trader and have an UTE that holds more than 1 Tonnes or a Van, then you must use the Actual Cost Method. All receipts must be kept to substantiate your claims, and a diary showing the kilometres made for private use (if applicable). 

For small Companies and Trusts, the Actual Cost Method must be used. Please note that using Business assets for private use will result in a Fringe Benefit Tax, which is an extra lodgement that needs to be done in April each year at 47% tax rate.

When you use the logbook method, you record every trip in your vehicle (both private and business) for a 12-week period. Your logbook is then used to calculate the “business use percentage” of your car across the year.

Your business use percentage is the percentage of kilometres you travel in your car for work-related purposes. It’s also the percentage of all of your car expenses you paid during the year that you can claim on your return. By keeping a car logbook, it’s easy to calculate your business use percentage and provide the evidence the ATO requires.

It’s important to record every trip you make in your car for 12 weeks – not just work trips. If you don’t do this, the ATO will consider your logbook as invalid and may reject all of your car expense claims.

The logbook is valid for 5 years, as long as you keep registering the beginning and end of your odometer each financial year, and your Income circumstances have not changed!

For Income: you can add manually the amount you have earned each week on your ABN on this app. 

For Expenses: you can take a photo through the App of all the receipts you used for your work (not for personal use). At the end of the financial year you will have the list of everything you have spent, and we can evaluate what can be deducted from your tax, depending on your profession. At least that way you don't forget to deduct anything.

MyDeductions APP

You can boost your super by adding your own personal contributions, which are the amounts you contribute directly to your super fund. If you claim a tax deduction for them, they're concessional contributions and are effectively from your pre-tax income. They are taxed in the fund at a rate of 15%. The concessional contributions cap is the maximum amount of before-tax contributions you can contribute to your super each year without contributions being subject to extra tax. From 1 July 2024, the concessional contributions cap is $30,000.

You must enter in contact with your Super Fund and ask them how you can make a ‘voluntary concessional contribution’ to your fund. Some funds will just give you the bank details for the deposits to be made, while others might ask you to fill out an authorisation form. Payments must be made to your Super Fund until the 14 June each financial year.

You can keep track of your concessional contributions by using ATO online services.

Select Super, then Information, then Concessional contributions.

Or you can login into your Super fund and check contributions.

To claim a deduction for a work-related expense for your client:
● they must have spent the money themselves and weren't reimbursed

● the expense must be directly related to earning their income

● they must have a record to prove it.

If there was a private component, your client can only claim a deduction for the work-related portion of the expense.

There are a few expenses you can claim as a deduction even though they don't relate to your work. These include:

● gifts and donations (have their receipt and ABN to check if acceptable)

● expenses related to earning income from investments

● personal super contributions

● income protection insurance

● the cost of managing your tax affairs.

Personal services income (PSI) is income produced mainly (more than 50%) from your skills or efforts as an individual. When working out if your income is PSI, you need to look at the income you have received from each contract separately.The terms and conditions of the contract, as well as invoices and written agreements that detail the work arrangement, are important in working out if the income is PSI. These can help you to work out what percentage of income from each contract was for:

● your labour, skills, knowledge, expertise or efforts, and

● anything else, such as the materials supplied or tools and equipment used.

You can receive PSI in almost any industry, trade or profession. Common examples include but are not limited to:

● financial professionals

● information technology consultants

● engineers

● construction workers

● medical practitioners.

As PSI is mainly a reward for an individual's personal efforts or skills, only individuals can earn PSI. Individuals can earn PSI either directly as a sole trader, or through another entity such as a company, partnership or trust. 

When an individual earns PSI indirectly through another entity, that entity is referred to as a 'personal services entity' (PSE).

In general, when you earn PSI you are treated as though you are in the same position as an employee. This means your business may claim deductions against PSI received, if:

● the expenses are incurred in producing the income

● you (as an individual who earns the income) would be entitled to the deduction.

This applies to all PSI, whether it is earned as a sole trader or through a company, partnership or trust.

When the PSI rules apply, you cannot claim deductions against the PSI for the following:

● rent, mortgage interest, rates and land tax payments to associates for non-principal work

● super contributions for associates for non-principal work.

If a taxpayer's total work-related expense claims exceed $300, they must provide written evidence for the entire amount (not just the amount over $300).

Documents (such as invoices and receipts) that the taxpayer acquires from the supplier must set out the:
● supplier's name or business name

● amount of the expense or the cost of the asset, expressed in the currency in which it was incurred

● nature of the goods, services or asset

● day on which the expense was incurred or the asset was acquired

● day on which the document was made out.

Where the documents supplied are insufficient, ATO may accept the following documents (or combinations of documents) as acceptable evidence of expenses:

● bank statements

● credit card statements

● personal super contributions

● email receipts; payment reference numbers (such as BPAY, Post Billpay, PayID, Poli, and so on), combined with bank statements or tax invoices.

Please note: If payments are made by cash, and no receipts are shown, the expense won’t be able to be deducted.

As part of the requirement for the Tax Returns in Australia of a Temporary Visa Holder (student, covid, etc) is to apply for their Medicare Levy exemption.

And now you can apply for this Exemption through your MyGov account. 

See instructions here