A Survivor’s Guide: Being organised for tax-time

Do you dread tax time?
Do you spend hours searching for stray documents you know you put “somewhere”?
Do you get tax refund envy?

Then this guide is for you!

Here are our top 7 tips for reducing tax-time stress:

Have a system and make it EASY
Folders are by far the best way to go for paper records. Have a different folder for each person or entity in your family, and set up some divider tabs at the start of the year for different income and expense items (wages, car expenses, rental property, insurance etc). You can have one folder per year, or keep the same folder and just keep adding to it.As silly as it sounds, something as simple as having to hole-punch a page before filing it can be the difference between “I’ll file that away right now” and “Urgh! Too hard. I’ll add it to this pile for later”. If that sounds like you, go for a display folder with plastic sleeves, rather than a ring binder.
If you hate the sound of paper rustling, scan all your documents as soon as you receive them, and keep them in organised folders on your computer.
Create a folder or tag in your email inbox
We all know more and more things come by email these days. Set up a sub-folder in your email inbox to keep all your tax-related emails in. Or, if your email provider has a tagging function (like Gmail), create a “taxes” tag to make it easy to find the emails when you need them.
Keep your postal address consistent
If all your mail goes to the same place, you’re more likely to file it away in the right place and not lose it in transit. If you’re moving house, make a list of all the places you need to change your address so you don’t miss any. Don’t forget to tell your old employer if you’ve changed jobs during the year.
Declare your TFN
When you declare your TFN to institutions such as banks, funds you own investments with, companies you own shares in etc, any income they pay to you gets reported to the ATO, so your tax agent can access this information directly from the ATO, which means less paperwork for you and a more efficient process for us.
Make sure you know what you can claim
Make sure you know at the start of the tax year what deductions you can claim, so you don’t throw out any receipts that you might need at tax-time. “Better safe than sorry” is a good motto to live by when it comes to tax. If you’re not sure whether it’s relevant or not, keep it until the end of the year and ask your accountant.
Know your due date
Make sure you are aware of the lodgement due dates for your tax return. All 2017 returns are due by 31 October 2017, unless you lodge through a tax agent. Lodgement due dates for returns lodged by a tax agent range from 31 October 2017 through to 5 June 2018, depending on your circumstances.
Ask your accountant!
Not sure if you’re doing it right? Ask us! We’ll be able to tell you exactly what we need. •