Personal tax in Australia

[CoopsA]

Have been advised by the HR at work that we'll need to file a tax return every year in Australia and have been referred to the ATO website - not the most helpful. Would appreciate it if there's any advise regarding this and whether it pays to invest in paying for an accoutant to do the work on our behalf. Cheers

[Colonial]

Yes.

You can do it yourself, I do, but it's a bit of a hassle.

You can claim the cost of using an accountant as a deduction the following year

[toomuchbeer]

Yes, I've just done it myself for the second year, and found filing it on line to be easy. Although my accounts are simple, get paid, tax deducted so nothing to hard.

What I find scarey in a big borther way, is once you logon with your tax ref number, they already know how much interest you've been paid on any savings........ I'm not sure they know my inside leg measurement, but I wouldn't put it past them.!!

So, just go to the web site, download and install the 2009 - 2010 personal tax thingy and off you go. If your taxes are simple, should take about an hour.

[custardtart]

Mine wasn't simple but I ran a company car and claimed LAFHA plus had off setting with UK property so was glad to pay a tax accountant a few hundred $$'s to sort it out. Seemed good value compared to the UK.

Got my Tax rebate through yesterday after about a 3 week wait and it was massive so a very happy chappy right now Plus it means I'm all set up for next years return which should take a fraction of the time.

[deviant]

It's worth chatting to a few people as there are all sorts of things you can claim for without needing receipts but the ATO website and E-Tax program are hardly forthcoming with exactly what and how much you can claim.

You DO have a work uniform that costs $300 a year to launder right

[CoopsA]

Thanks everyone, I think I will find an accountant, we have get lafha etc and so probably best to get someone to fill in the forms. Presume a fee of around 200AUD will be ok?

[brettdaniels]

$200 is nice.. I paid $350 for my return last financial year.. Maybe i'm being taken for a ride