The Etax Blog | Tax Tips for Australians

How to protect your income AND improve your tax refund

Many of us insure our cars, our houses and our possessions, but how many Etax Accountants Income Protection Image of us actually insure our ability to earn income? The answer to that is very few! In fact we surveyed a sample of our clients and discovered that only 2% of last year’s returns had a deduction for income protection.

Income protection can be claimed as a tax deduction, yet most people still do not have any!

Now consider this: More than 25% of people over 30 years old will take more than 6 months off work between now and retirement due to illness or injury. Can you afford to live without your pay for six months?

So what is Income Protection?

Income protection is one of the most basic forms of life insurance.

October 31st Individual Tax Deadline is Fast Approaching

With the October 31st deadline for lodging Individual Tax Returns now October 31st is the Tax Return Deadline less than three weeks away, let’s take a look at what you should do between now and then to ensure you don’t miss the deadline.

To lodge your 2011 tax return, follow these easy steps:

Find your 2010-2011 PAYG summaries which should have been issued by your employer.
Collect all expense receipts from the past financial year.

Making money with your Super

Are you able to get more money into your superannuation with very little sacrifice? If you are an employee and your taxable income is less than $61,920 then the answer is probably yes – you may be entitled to the superannuation co-contribution scheme.

What is it?

The superannuation co-contribution scheme means that on top of your employer putting some of your income into your super fund, you can also add a little extra. And, the best part is this: The government will match your donations up to $1000* per year!