Tax Return Q's (From a Pom)

[MoparKevUk]

Hello chaps! Another Aussie Tradition to get me melon round!

We get all these leaflets saying "Tax Returns $60/$80/$100" etc etc and see the little Shoppes at the Mall with similar deals.

Are they all much of a muchness, or are some better than others? I assume you'll end up paying the same at a $60 one as a $100 one once they have striped you up for a few add ons, or is that the old cynical Kev idea and everyone goes to a $60 office......

Thanks in advance,

Kev

PS If it's "Brisbanesque", ie "It's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know", any recommendation(s) around the Wynnum/Manly/Tingalpa/Capalaba/Carindale/Gumdale area much appreciated!

[nadders]

you can do it yourself online with e-tax for a big fat $0 mate, helps if you get someone who knows what they're doing (read: knows all the generic items you can claim w/o needing receipts etc hahaha) to sit next to you and walk you through it the first time

[MoparKevUk]

Top Tip Nadders! I'll spend the $60 on piss and find a switched on Ozzy to sit next to me, once the "file your tax form" button is pushed, it's beer o'clock!!

[Davo_Dinkum]

i spent year's paying some1 to do my simple personal tax return.

would take them 15 min max.

once the price got to 130$ i decided to do it myself .

online etax easy as.

been doing mine for a few years this way now all good and easy.

and by now means am on switched on ,but a few questions here and there and from the old tax return paper work not to hard.

if u do pay them ,next year u can clam it as a deduction .managing your tax

used them little shop ones in the mall and some bigger ones like h&r block and even a few accountants my mate's recommended .

and i reckon it wasn't worth it, never got anymore back.

[ellicat]

Being your first time I recommend heading to a local pro (i.e. registered tax agent/accountant that has their office staffed all year). Then do it yourself for the following years if you only have straight forward items.

There's plenty of poms living in the Redlands, so choosing one from there should see you jag one that'll be familiar with your UK income issues etc.

H&R Block, ITP and other churn and burn type places you can often end up with someone who has done a short course on how to fill in the form, but very little knowledge of tax legislation. There's a good reason they're that cheap.

Davo, having had a practice for 15 years, I can assure you no-one has a return that requires only 15 minutes - if only ! :pinch:

[Brian D]

This is like ging to the brother inlaw dentist with a tooth ache. aouch

Don't cheat the ato, use a pro 1st year and follow the lead hereafter.

Or ring Eli .....I don't do tax

[bootyinblue]

ellicat wrote:

Davo, having had a practice for 15 years, I can assure you no-one has a return that requires only 15 minutes - if only ! :pinch:

I put 20c in the parkig meter (I know I am cheap) and was out of the tax office today with 1 minute left on the meter.... $95 lighter but still had a minute on the meter, so I sat in my car till the time expired :laugh: :side:

[Davo_Dinkum]

well maybe not 15 min maybe 1/2 a hr but it was fast .

they had a fair bit of info from the year before as i used them for a few years.so it was payment summary's and deductions then yes and no answers .

as i said i have a really easy plain tax return.

i do it in about a hr myself.did the education tax refund bit this year something new,little bit more to do .

the times i went to accountants /all year round tax people they where more through.

i reckon elli and brain are right go the good tax person .definitely for the first time .

since u come from uk to here .it's prob not a straight forward ,plain jane tax return u got to do.

[ellicat]

bootyinblue wrote:

I put 20c in the parkig meter (I know I am cheap) and was out of the tax office today with 1 minute left on the meter.... $95 lighter but still had a minute on the meter, so I sat in my car till the time expired :laugh: :side:

Thought you would have ridden the police bike in and just chained it to the post ...anyway that's a free tip for next year :dry:

Yeah Davo, 15 minutes face time for a simple one, but there's all the other guff to contend with...pulling files, a look over last years, updating knowledge continuously, actually lodging, checking assessments, mailing out assessments, updating file (paper and data), answering those unbillable 5 minute phone queries during the year....

I'm happily retired from that now, so don't call me Kev :laugh:

[Terry H]

Firstly, before anyone goes and follows anything I've said and get into trouble.. well.. fool on you! Follow advice of a registered tax accountant Not an auditor (there's a reason we get the tax guys to look after tax!)

Nadders: There's not really much to do for the average joe. All you can really do is whack your income and allowances in, put in your deductions and send her off.

Everyone has $300 worth of work expenses. Just put something that sounds reasonable. You dont' need to proove it with receipts, rather just to say how you reasonably came to that amount. (If you use your phone and spend $600 a year on it, then $300 phone could be reasonable!)

If you use your car for work (not travelling to/from your normal place of work) and dont keep receipts use the cents per kilometre method. Great way to get a a few hundred to a few thousand of dollars worth of tax deductions, requiring no receipts (just an explanation of how its reasonable should the commissioner come knocking)

Other than that, for the average joe there's not a lot in it.

If you earn more than $70,000 be aware you're going to be hit with Medicare Levy Surcharge (1%) in addition to the Medicare Levy (1.5%). Once over this $70k you're probably best getting private health insurance, even if you don't use it, simply to get rid of the surcharge (and thus more money in your pocket at the end of the financial year!)

I don't think Kev's tax would be too difficult, unless he's got rental properties, a host of investments, trusts, and his own business going or bought and sold property, or any other capital.

The fact he came from UK just means he's not an australian resident for the full financial year. Rather just part year. E-Tax will basically step him through it though.

Kev: just ignore peoples comments when they say "it's tax deductible!" I find nothing more amusing than watching someone pay for something because "it's tax deductible!"

[FREEWILLY]

Moparkev, it depends totally on wether you are doing a simple personal tax return or a subb contractors /small business return, if its your first, go to an accountant just to see wether you can do it properly yourself next year.

I bought generators, some camping gear and a ute for camping/fishing and claimed the lot on tax, I am a contractor, so claiming is a bit easier. :woohoo: