We have prepared income tax returns for salaried professionals, tradespeople and other employees for over 25 years. We ask you probing questions to maximise your refund or minimise tax payable. And we give the ATO nothing to argue with. Doing it yourself and making mistakes can be costly - you can be fined between 25% and 75% of any avoided tax, which you have to pay on top of the actual additional tax owed. You could end up with a huge tax bill.
We know what you can claim. Two areas frequently missed by the untrained are motor vehicle costs associated with work and self-education expenses. You need to know the law to claim these expenses. Most don't, yet the deductions can add up to thousands.
The higher the amount of tax deductions claimed, the more likely it is that the ATO will apply a review strategy, which may delay tax refunds for up to six months in some cases. So it's smart to seek guidance through the 10,000 plus pages of the Tax Act.
The ATO has withheld 106,000 assessments back in the 2012 financial year and amended 80% of them - reducing the refunds that were expected. We believe most have been taxpayers who prepared and lodged tax returns themselves.