You either love tax or hate tax.... which are you?

I guess that if you are not working with us at Northwest Accountancy, you are probably more on the hate side than the love side?

Luckily for you, our team loves tax time, helping you get the best claims, without trying to make it confusing for you.

Here are some tips for you.

Tip #1: Refunds to the right people (we will check your ID)

As a part of security updates to ensure your identity doesn't get stolen, we are required to check your identification to prove who you say you are. We may ask you for your ID. This means that only you can get your refund (no one is stealing your identity or your refund on our watch!). 

Tip #2: What is a refund?

When you lodge your tax return it is an adjustment to the tax you have paid over the whole year. If you have paid too much tax, you get some back as a refund. If you have not paid enough, you are required to pay it back.
There is no minimum refund amount, and every person's situation is different - so please don't compare your refund to your workmate's refund - it's not a competition!

Tip #3: What is a tax claim? (or tax deduction?)

A tax deduction is something that can lower your income so you pay less tax. If you have a job, and work pays your tax, they should be paying the right amount of tax. If you have tax deductions, this will reduce your taxable income and therefore you pay less tax - refunded at the same percentage as the tax you pay.

Tip #4: Selling property (or shares)?

We have some resources to help you understand more about capital gains tax, main residence exemption and the information you need to calculate your capital gains tax. See this blog post for more details: https://www.northwestaccountancy.com.au/blog/capitalgainstax

Tip #5: What are you doing with your refund?

If you have a plan for your money, then you are doing better than most people.

I have been teaching people how to manage their money and make plans to use it wisely for over 5 years. Just recently, I have started up a new business to dedicate to just this - called Intentional Money Management.

My mission is to reduce the number of suicides, trauma, family breakdowns, mortgagee sales and desperation caused by the lack of understanding about money.

The Money Matters membership is open to teach families and individuals how to manage their money with purpose - to know what you want to focus on with your money, so that depression, anxiety and mental health issues caused by money are reduced.

If you are stressed about your money or know that you could probably do better with your money but are not sure where to start, then this is for you. Join like-minded people who want to make a change, to learn and implement great tips to manage your money more effectively.  Find out more here: https://intentionalmoney.com.au/moneymatters

Tip #6: Preparing for your tax return

Our website makes it easy for you to book and prepare for your tax return.

We have a number of ways that you can do your tax with us, from a face-to-face appointment, a "Drop off service", a phone call or using our new Check My Tax service.

Go to www.northwestaccountancy.com.au/tax for more information.

Tip #7: Digital Paperwork

With the ATO going digital in 2020, it has made it difficult to know where your paperwork is. We don't get sent all of your ATO mail in the post anymore, it may come to us digitally. You may go directly to your MyGov account. We recommend checking your myGov account every 3 months to make sure you don't miss any important ATO mail.

We have a new service called ATO Check - that gets us to review your ATO Login details to make sure all your mail is going where it needs to go, that you know what's coming up and even checking your superannuation balances (sorry - no advice though).

Book an appointment here: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=18230665&appointmentType=30401038