Happy New Financial Year

Now we’re just a few days into the new financial year tax accountants and tax advisors start to get busy with their clients.  Now is peak tax time with the Australian Tax Office requiring tax returns to be submitted by the end of October.  If you are a personal or PAYE tax payer there is normally a lot to be considered.  This is because the ATO in effect consider you “guilty” until proved innocent.  This really means you have justify all your legitimate tax deductions and if you don’t you are very likely to overpay tax to the tax man.  Don’t expect a thank you card from him if you do. 

It was the late Kerry Packer who said “I am not evading tax in any way, shape or form. Now of course I am minimizing my tax and if anybody in this country doesn't minimize their tax they want their heads read because as a government I can tell you you're not spending it that well that we should be donating extra.”

Many of us become anxious at tax time but even if you engage a tax accountant or tax agent you should also consider the help of harnessing sophisticated technology to also assist you. Xpnsit, an online tax manager is an example of an online system for storing, tracking and monitoring expense and work related activities. It also stores up to date detailed tax information specific to each industry and job.    Xpnsit’s unique feature is its logbook and diary functions which – for the first time – enable users to track and store work related and regular patterns of activity that the ATO needs in order for a return to be lodged

In the past, individuals would have missed out on claiming these expenses thanks to the difficulty and effort required to monitor and store this data. Once the relevant information has been entered, users can track – in real time using the ‘Tax-back-odometer’– the estimated value of their tax return for any given period.

It seems most Aussies fail to get the biggest potential tax return through lack of information and ignorance where an online tax manager guides you and takes the guesswork out of an otherwise complicated process making it even easier to get the best return possible. Also,importantly if you have an tax agent or accountant they will appreciate the accurate information you are storing.   Now’s the time to start.