It’s Tax Time!
Love it or loathe it, if you earned income in the last financial year, you have to lodge a tax return.
I have always lodged my own return with the exception of one year where I paid a Tax Agent to do it and saw no benefit at all. Not wasting that money again!
First it was the Tax Pack paper system, and then eTax came along. I got used to it, and the only thing that annoyed me was wading through so many pages that did not apply to me.
Fortunately my financial affairs are quite straight forward, so I decided to get on the band wagon early this year and instead of putting it off until I HAD to do it, I jumped on the ATO website to download eTax 2014 and made a very pleasant discovery.
There is a fabulous new, simplified version of eTax called MyTax.
You will need a Mygov account to access MyTax.
If you already have one, you simply login and add the Australian Taxation Office link.
If you don’t have one, just like me, it took me all of 2 minutes to have it set up and active.
With just 10 straightforward pages to complete you are done. Thanks to ‘pre-fill’ a lot of my information such as wages and bank interest was automatically added for me, which saves time and helps avoid mistakes. If you have all your figures worked out before you log in, it will only take 5 – 10 minutes!
If you need help to clarify anything, MyTax contains clickable links just like eTax.
The Australian Taxation Office has a quick check guide to help you work out if you are eligible and you can access it here.
If you think you are due for a refund, get lodging!
MyTax is just awesome and you won’t believe how easy it is.
Do you do your own tax returns?
What will you spend or save your refund?
Sharing for #IBOT with Essentially Jess.com
I used to do our tax returns on eTax prior to them becoming a little complicated with investment property, earnings as a contractor and a home business. Now I pay a tax agent (friend of mine) the grand sum of $99 which I can claim back the following year. I have spreadsheets that I get all the info together on, send it off to him and he comes back with the completed forms which we sign and send back – best $99 I spend each year !
This year K did her tax through My Tax, I checked it and she got her refund within about a week.
Have the best day !
Me
I go to an accountant because I’m an ABN and I’m useless at figures… she is also quite creative! Must get on to ours, thanks for reminder – it’s the hubby I have to get organised really! Em – also visiting from #teamIBOT
I would love to do this however with six kids in the family I have found my accountant the absolute best for getting me the most refund possible. He’s so up to date and finances are not my best point when it comes to forms etc.
Thanks for letting me know about it though.
As a teacher my claims receipt box is overflowing!
I am too embarassed to go to the accountant until I have them all neatly in order! Aiming for November!!
I do mine and hubby’s returns as they’re quite straightforward but man, the whole MyGov account thing makes me stabby! I already had Centrelink and Medicare accounts, now I have to scrap them and link them all to this new one. I’m sure I’ll get used to it, I’m just not good at change…
I do the preparation of our tax but always get the tax accountant to lodge it. It removes me from the equation. He always finds something I haven’t claimed. His fee is also a tax dedication the next year.
Thanks so much for sharing this! As the person responsible for finances in our house, I’ve been dreading doing our returns and it seems this might just help!