Tax Refunds: How to get the most out of your tax return

We asked five veteran tax accountants for simple ways to get a better tax refund. And, here are their top tips that almost any Australian can use!

1. Claim all the tax deductions you are allowed to claim

Claiming deductions for every expense you are legally entitled to is the easiest way to increase your tax refund and get the most out of completing your tax return.

Do you ever pay for things that are work-related? If so, make sure you keep the receipt and a diary to document when or where you made the purchase. A diary can also make it easy to help remember what project or job the purchase is related to. Even if you aren’t sure whether you can claim an item, keep your receipt anyway – your Etax Accountant can let you know if you’ve claimed everything correctly.

Tax deductions are the single easiest way to improve your tax refund but it’s important to remember: you can only claim items that you have receipts for, are related to your work and that your employer hasn’t reimbursed you for.

‘Made-up claims’ or ‘generous guesses’ can lead to ATO reassessments, audits and even tax bills arriving from the ATO. There are honest ways to increase your tax refund and that’s what your tax agent, like Etax, will help you with.

2. Good tax refunds = good records and receipts

At tax time, Australians spend countless hours tracking down receipts for purchases they made over the past 12 months. Therefore, those people waste hours of time – and probably missed out on hundreds or even thousands of dollars in their tax refund because they lost or forgot about receipts!

So, if that sounds like you… you might be missing out on deductions that can boost your tax refund.

Need help keeping track of receipts and deductions? Here are two great resources:

A) The Etax Mobile App lets you save receipts and deductions, and snap photos into your tax return, all year round. You can use it right at the checkout, so you never lose or forget another receipt.

B) Use a simple method to manage those receipts.

3. Sweat the small stuff to boost your tax refund!

A $20 donation to charity or a $10 textbook might not seem like much at the time, but each of these small purchases across 12 months can add up to hundreds of dollars. And all the amounts you claim as deductions can improve your tax refund!

Get organised with your receipts for small purchases during the year and it’ll pay off in the long run.

4. Use a tax agent service (like etax.com.au)

A tax agent is a professional who’s on your side to help increase your tax refund and help you avoid any future ATO trouble.

Tax agents are here to help you. On the other hand, the ATO’s main job is to collect taxes, not to boost your tax refund.

Qualified tax agents lodge most of Australia’s tax returns each year.

Tax agents are not all the same. Some tax agent companies leave your tax return to be handled by someone who may not even be a tax agent or accountant, but more like a data entry worker.

Our qualified accountants check that your tax return correct. If you have questions while you use the Etax website, you can get help anytime – also from friendly, qualified accountants.

5. Learn more about tax deductions to boost your tax refund

The Etax online return helps you spot any deduction you might be missing, and the support team help make sure you’ve got it covered.

But another good source is the Etax Blog. Our articles are there to help you learn more about how to boost your tax refund. The series on tax deductions is a great place to start.