A well-prepared tax appointment takes half the time and usually finds more deductions. Here is what we ask our clients to gather before we prepare an individual tax return.
1. Income records
- Employment income — your income statement is usually pre-filled from the ATO, but bring payslips if you changed jobs during the year.
- Interest and dividends — bank interest summaries, dividend statements, and details of any dividend reinvestment plans.
- Managed funds and ETFs — annual tax statements (these often arrive late, around August–September).
- Rental income — agent annual summaries or your own income and expense records.
- Capital gains — purchase and sale contracts for any shares, crypto or property sold during the year.
- Business or side income — invoices and records for any ABN, gig or freelance income.
2. Deductions
- Work-related expenses — uniforms, tools, professional memberships, licences, union fees, self-education connected to your current job.
- Working from home — a record of hours worked from home (a diary or timesheet) and receipts for home-office equipment.
- Vehicle and travel — logbook or kilometre records for work-related travel (not your normal commute).
- Donations — receipts for gifts of $2 or more to deductible gift recipients.
- Tax agent fees — last year's fee for managing your tax affairs is deductible this year.
- Income protection insurance — premiums paid outside superannuation.
Tip: the ATO requires records for most deductions. A photo of a receipt stored in a folder on your phone is perfectly acceptable — the habit matters more than the system.
3. Other items that change your result
- Private health insurance statement (affects the Medicare levy surcharge).
- Spouse details and income — several offsets and thresholds depend on family income.
- HECS/HELP balance — repayments are calculated through your return.
- Personal super contributions you intend to claim — including the notice of intent acknowledgement from your fund.
4. First time with us?
Bring photo ID, your tax file number, your bank details for the refund, and last year's tax return if it was lodged elsewhere. Our downloadable ITR checklist covers everything in one page.
This article is general information only and does not take your personal circumstances into account. It is not tax, legal or financial advice. Speak to a registered tax agent about your own situation before acting.