One of the most common questions we get every tax season is simple: “What do I actually need to bring?” A bit of preparation before your appointment makes a real difference – it means less back-and-forth chasing documents afterwards, and a better chance we’ve captured everything you’re entitled to claim.

Here’s a rundown of what to have ready, whether you’re an individual, a business owner, or a rental property owner.

Income Not Already Reported to the ATO

Most of your income (wages, most bank interest, dividends) now pre-fills automatically. But a few things don’t show up on myGov and need to be brought along separately:

• Bank interest from online accounts or accounts you’ve since closed
• Managed funds end-of-financial-year statements
• Cryptocurrency activity – a printout from your wallet showing transactions
• “Side hustle” or gig income – Uber, Uber Eats, YouTube and similar
• Income from renting out part or all of your home, Airbnb, or a holiday home

If you have sold shares, an investment property, land, or a holiday rental we will need a copy of the settlement statement for both the sale and the original purchase.

Work-Related Expenses

The best way to reduce your tax payable is simply to keep your receipts. Bring along documentation (receipts, logbooks, or app records) for:

• Hours worked from home
• Motor vehicle costs and kilometres travelled
  For both home office and motor vehicle expenses, you will need to be able to prove that you were required, by your employer, to use your own vehicle, or work remotely.
• Uniforms and protective clothing or gear, as well as laundering costs
• Tools of trade
• Union fees, memberships and subscriptions
• Self education
  This must directly relate to the your employment at the time of the education, you cannot claim education costs for a job you are hoping to get or applying for.
• Notice of intent to claim a personal superannuation contribution
  This needs to be requested from your Super fund and can take some time for them to process

If you have received allowances from your employer, this would be detailed on your pay slip and EoFY Income Summary supplied to the ATO. You sill need to provide receipts to claim for these. Without receipts, the allowances are treated as income alone.

Business Owners and ABN Holders

If you use bookkeeping software such as Xero or MYOB, we would need access to this file. Alternatively, if you use Excel, or a ledger book, or simply a shoe box filing system, we would need access to these.

In addition to items listed for work related expenses, you may need to keep track of the following

• Equipment purchases and maintenance
• Finance paperwork and interest paid on loans
• Insurance costs

Rental Property Owners

We will need your agent’s end-of-financial-year statement for each property. For anything you paid for directly (rather than through the agent), bring records of:

• Bank interest and insurance
• Agent fees and body corporate rates
• Council and water rates
• Emergency services levy and land tax
• Cleaning, repairs and maintenance

If you manage the property yourself, we recommend using Excel or a similar bookkeeping system to keep track of your expenses.

Have you just purchased your rental property? We’ll also need a quantity surveyor’s report or depreciation schedule, your purchase settlement statement or bank loan agreement, and details of any borrowing costs or mortgage guarantee insurance.

And a reminder — you don’t have to wait until the end of the financial year to get your books in order. We offer year-round bookkeeping if you’d rather stay on top of things as you go.

This Isn’t an Exhaustive List

Every situation is a little different, so if in doubt, bring it along anyway – details of any income you received, and receipts for any work-related expenses you paid for, are always worth having on hand.

Anytime during the financial year, you can contact us before you spend your money, to discuss if you can claim an expense.