Our basic individual tax return is just $185 including GST.

Tax time – Argh! Are you dreading filing your personal income tax return? It’s a tedious process, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. Unsure how you can get the maximum refund? If you are ready to lodge your tax return – we are ready to help.

There are many ways that you can lower the amount of tax you owe and get your taxes filed quickly and easily.

We’ve put together some tax advice that will help guide you through the tax refund process.

An individual tax return is an income tax return for singles or married people who have dependents.

The majority of Australian residents need to complete a personal tax return at the end of each financial year. Our accountants can help you and ensure that you receive all deductions and credits entitled to you based on your circumstances.

Are you a sole trader with an ABN? No problem! Our team specialise in these and will be happy to assist.

Our accountants can help you and ensure that you receive all deductions and credits entitled to you based on your circumstances.

We are here to help you every step of the way and there are numerous benefits in having your tax return completed by a professional, including:

Where a car is jointly owned, a mistake many people make when claiming deductions for work-related travel is that they assume that, because the car is already being claimed by one person, expenses cannot be claimed by a second person. This is incorrect.

Under the cents per kilometre method, where a car is jointly owned, each owner is entitled to claim up to 5,000 kilometres for their work-related travel.

The 5,000 kilometre limit applies to each joint owner, not to each car. If you travel more than 5,000 kilometres remember to keep a detailed logbook for a period of at least 13 weeks.

When you use your car a lot for work, the car logbook method will generally give you a bigger tax refund than using the cents per kilometre method, potentially saving you thousands of dollars each year.

Claiming car expenses as cents per kilometre misses out on claiming a percentage of all your car-related expenses. You only have the option to claim for a set rate for fuel, but this means you will miss out on claiming for registration, maintenance and interest payments in relation to any loans associated with the vehicle.

Keeping a logbook is simple using modern technology like a basic spreadsheet or even a phone app designed specifically for that purpose.

Filing individual tax returns can be difficult, but when you’re organized with all the necessary paperwork, it can be much easier for you. You need to have information from last year’s tax return, your current pay summaries of taxable income, private health statement, directly related work related expenses, tax file number, bank statements and any other statements that you might have received in order to complete the return.

Expenditure on a home office where claims can be made for a proportion of interest, rates etc. will normally expose the residence to capital gains tax.

Let’s assume an architect conducts his business from a home office and the space devoted to this activity is 25% of the total floor space area. Claims can be made for 25% of interest, rates and proportions of utility costs, insurance, etc as part of the tax return.

The Australian Taxation Office considers that on disposal the property will be proportionately subject to capital gains. This may be of concern particularly where the property has enjoyed real gains in value.

Where such a claim may be optional, consideration should be given to not including the home office claim in the return in the first place. By not including in the personal tax return, this could save thousands of dollars in capital gains tax.

The ATO announced a new way to make it easier for people who work from home. It is called the shortcut method and you can claim 80c per hour for each hour worked at home. You can use the shortcut method to calculate your working at home expenses for the period between: 1 March to 30 June 2020 in your 2019–20 tax return and/or 1 July to 30 June 2021 in your 2020–21 tax return.

Note under this new method you can’t claim items such as phone, internet, office supplies or furniture for your home as a separate deduction on your taxes. Whilst easier, this can result in a smaller tax refund. The ATO is recommending this “80 cents – shortcut method” method but it doesn’t work for all people.

A part-time or full-time student studying at university, college, school or another place of education maybe able to claim the cost of self-education in their tax returns. There must be a direct connection between the study and current work activities.

No claim is allowable where study is undertaken to get a new job, or to open up a new business or income-earning opportunity. Speak to a tax agent and/or accountant if you have any questions about including a self-education refund on your tax return.

ATO audit reviews are increasing for individuals, businesses and self-managed superannuation funds. Sophisticated data matching technology is enabling detailed cross-referencing from an assortment of government departments, which increased the frequency and scope of audits, reviews and investigations in recent years. Audit insurance can protect you from any additional costs that might be incurred should your accountant need to liaise with the ATO on your behalf in relation to an audit. It can be a small expense for considerable peace of mind.

If you get income from a rental property, then you can deduct any expenses related to owning and operating the property. There are lots of them but some aren’t a straightforward claim and it can easily become confusing if you don’t know the in’s and out’s of each claim criteria. Bank charges, cleaning, council rates, gardening, land tax, pest control, capital works, water charges, repairs, insurance, tax agent fees – they are all claimable! Join hundreds of our Penrith clients receiving top service every year in lodging their tax returns for rental properties.

A tax offset is an amount of money that you can claim for tax purposes. The ATO will reduce the amount of income tax that you owe from your gross income by the value of the tax offset. Offsets are not rewards or rebates, but rather they are a reduction in the amount of tax that you owe. There are two main types of offsets: non-refundable and refundable. Non-refundable tax offsets are calculated before any other deductions whereas refundable tax offsets are calculated after other deductions.

An accountant might be able to offset some your tax if you are a Senior Australian or pensioner, receive specific government allowances or payments, have certain dependants, are a carer or low-income earner.

4.6/5 from 35+ Reviews

Made a booking and saw Max Connelly who took the time to listen and work through our tax. Max has also gone through our previous two tax returns which has resulted in a larger return. I have found Max and his team approachable and professional. Great Job.

I thoroughly recommend A Grade Taxation Accountants to handle your accounting needs. Allana was an absolute pleasure to deal with. Furthermore, my wife and I felt that Max was incredibly attentive to every detail and took a personal interest in making sure we understood every process.

This is the second year my husband & I have gone to A Grade Tax & we highly recommend them. Max in particular spent quality time explaining various things without the tax / accounting jargon to ensure we both understood which we really appreciated. Thanks A Grade Tax!

I have been using A Grade Tax for the past 3 years. Tynna always goes above and beyond! On my last return, she even advised me of certain items that I could claim which I had no idea of. I would highly recommend this service to anyone (and have already told a few colleagues). A+