I got a refund last year, why did I get a tax bill on my tax return this year?
There are many reasons for variations in tax refunds or tax bills from year-to-year even when you feel you're circumstances haven't changed. Some of the common situations that we see include: - A change in government legislation which impacts the amount of tax payable for certain groups - Higher income than previous years - Lower deductible expenses then prior years - More earnt from salaries and wages when also receiving centrelink payments We will always do a breakdown for you to explain major differences in tax refunds/bills from year-to-year.
I worked from home this year what can I claim?
This is one of the common questions we get and also one that is catching a lot of people out. During the peak of Covid, the ATO recognised an increase of people working from home and to simplify the tax process of claiming deductions related to working for home, introduced what was known as the 'Shortcut Method'. This method was a simple hourly rate multiplied by the number of hours worked from home. This method is no-longer available. There are now two methods for calculating costs related to working from home: - Fixed Rate Method - Similar to the former 'Shortcut Method' this is an hourly rate multiplied by the number of hours worked from home and covers expenses for phone, internet, electricity, computer consumable expenses incurred when working from home. There is no need to keep a record of these costs, however, the ATO requires you keep a detailed account of the hours you worked from home (eg. through diary entries or timesheets). - Actual Cost Method - As the name suggests, this method is the claiming of actual costs incurred. The record-keeping for this is somewhat more onerous in that you need to keep a record of all of your working from home related expenses (phone bills, internet bills, electricity bills etc.) but you have to be able to show how you've reliably calculated what proportion of these bills is related to work/business compared to what is personal. For example, to claim your actual expenditure on internet, the ATO requires that you use a 4-week period to breakdown the data used on your internet which relates to work compared to what is personal use. The percentage relating to work/business can then be applied to the whole year's cost for internet. We will help you to ensure you comply to ATO requirements.