​Get Ready Guide...

Everything you need to prepare for your Tax Return with Cooper's Accounting
How It Works
 Online Tax Return
  1. Gather all the information below before you begin. You will need copies of your payment summaries, private health insurance statement and any other information saved on your computer ready to upload to us (photos from your phone are fine!).
  2. The Uploads page asks for your personal details and tax deductions. There will be space at the end of the form for you to add any comments or extra information or questions. 
  3. Before submitting you’ll need to upload copies of your documents, such as your Payment Summary and Private Health Insurance annual statement.
  4. We will process your tax return once the form is submitted. If we have any queries, need more information, or have suggestions for extra tax deductions that you may not have thought of, we will ask you via email. Then once completed send back to you via our secure client portal for you to check over first, then sign once satisfied. 
Tax Bookings
  1. Book your face to face, drop off/pick up, email, phone or postal appointment with Vicki or Helen Cooper via our BOOK NOW page. When choosing your appointment date, please allow time for your Payment Summaries, Private Health Insurance statement and Tax Summaries of any investments to arrive, as they may not reach you until the end of July or even later.
  2. If you’re a new client to Cooper's Accounting we’ll require you provide all your details. It only takes a minute to fill in, and asks for your basic contact details. This allows us to set you up as a client in our system and to send you an online authority form to access your ATO Prefilling report before your appointment. You also have the opportunity to upload any files we may need for your appointment.
  3. Gather the information below, and have it ready for your appointment. Please upload your documents to us beforehand if you can, especially your Investment Statements, and your Private Health Insurance statement.
  4. During the appointment we’ll talk through your income and expenses and prepare your tax return on the spot. If there are any outstanding queries or extra details needed after your appointment we’ll email you a list, and liaise via email/phone to complete your return.

Completing Your Tax Return Online...

Once your tax return is complete, we’ll send a copy via email for you to review and sign. Our click to sign system makes this super easy. Together with your return we’ll also send your receipt.  Your payment is processed securely prior to lodging your tax return.
Once your return has been lodged the ATO’s processing time is usually 14 business days. If you have a refund they’ll deposit it directly into your bank account. If you have tax to pay they’ll send details of your due date and how to pay.

​Documents & Information Needed...

Income
  • PAYG Payment Summaries
  • Private Health Insurance Statement
  • Centrelink Income and any other Government Payments (only where a payment summary is issued, Family Tax Benefit and some other payments are not taxable)
  • Bank Interest earned for financial year
  • Dividends and other investment income received
  • Capital Gains – purchase and sale details for any shares, property or other assets sold
  • Spouse name, date of birth, and taxable income
We can often download your Centrelink Income from the ATO, but it takes a few weeks after the end of the year before they are available. If your appointment is in July you MUST still provide these items to us in case the ATO don’t have them yet! or the internet is down!
Rental Property
  • Real Estate Agent’s  Annual Statement
  • Interest paid on loan for the financial year
  • Quality Surveyors Report
  • Other Expenses – insurance, council rates, water rates, repairs & maintenance, body corporate
  • Depreciation Schedule – if available
  • You can download a rental property checklist from our Downloads page
Business or ABN Income
  • ABN
  • Total of Business Income
  • Expenses – we need a total for each category of expenses, (materials, tools, stationery etc).
  • The rules for motor vehicle expenses noted below are the same for businesses.
  • Prior Year Tax Return – if your tax return last year wasn’t prepared by Cooper's Accounting, and you claimed depreciation or had carried forward losses, please provide a copy of that prior year return and / or Financial report.
Tax Deductions

Receipts or records are required for all deductions, except where we’ve noted that an estimate is allowed. The ATO prefers receipts and tax invoices, but accepts bank statements or other records where a receipt isn’t available. Scanned or digital copies of your physical receipts are acceptable to the ATO. You need to keep your receipts and records for five years.
 If you’re sending us your expenses prior to a booking, please just send a list or summary via Email, Word or Excel. If you’re using Online Tax you’ll fill your deductions directly into the Tax form and upload your substantiation via the uploads page.
  • Car Deductions
    • Cents per Kilometre Method – you can claim cents per km (regardless of engine size) to a maximum of 5,000km of work/ business related travel. If you haven’t kept a logbook this financial year, the cents per km method is your only option. You don’t have to have detailed records of your kilometres. Instead you can claim your km's using a diary/notes/calculations from throughout the year.  Please bring your kilometres you worked out with you to be able to claim. 
    • Logbook Method – If you have kept a Valid Logbook  you may be eligible to claim a percentage of your car running costs, including fuel, registration, insurance, servicing, repairs, tyres and other maintenance costs. Please have a summary of these expenses ready. If applicable, you can also claim interest on your car loan (this requires your total interest paid, and/or copies of loan setup documents), and depreciation on your car (this requires your car purchase documents showing the date and price ).
  • Travel, accommodation, parking ( parking at work everyday is not tax deductible).
  • Tolls and public transport – you can either add up your receipts for business specific trips, or add up your total bills for the year and advise us what percentage is work use based on your log you have calculated.
  • Uniform and protective clothing
  • Union fees, registration fees, professional memberships
  • Education, courses and professional development
  • Police checks, working with children checks ( not to enable you to get the position)
  • Mobile phone and internet – monthly cost and estimated work percentage
  • Home office expenses – estimated hours worked from home per week (see WFH changes 2024)
  • Stationery, computer expenses, software, antivirus, apps used for work purposes
  • Assets over $300 – iPads, computers, mobile phones etc – receipt with purchase date and purchase price of each individual asset required
  • Donations
  • Tax Agent’s Fees from last year’s tax return
  • Income Protection Insurance
Tax Tips For Maximising Your Deductions
  • Our list above should give you quite a few ideas of what’s deductible. In addition, the ATO have information on their website about deductions you can claim.
  • The ATO also have some great deduction guides for specific occupations explaining what you can and can’t claim. There are guides for teachers, nurses, airline employees, police officers, fitness industry workers, hairdressers, sales reps, hospitality workers and many more. Be sure to check if there’s one for your industry.
  • Your bank statements are a great source of information. You may like to print your bank statements or export them to Excel and search through for potential tax deductions. Alternatively, use the search or filter function in your internet banking. Then you know what you need to find the matching receipts for!
  • Flick back through your diary or calendar to remind yourself of courses, seminars or travel expenses.
  • Search your email inbox for the words ‘receipt’ and ‘invoice’, you might find purchases you’ve forgotten about.
  • If you use your phone or iPad/tablet for work, you may have purchased apps that are tax deductible. Log onto your iTunes or Google Play account and see if you’ve paid for any apps that you use for work.
  • Don’t forget about monthly or yearly online subscriptions that you use for work, such as Microsoft Office, Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, Adobe, and your anti-virus.
  • If you don’t have one already, create a folder in your email inbox called ‘Tax’, and save all your incoming receipts there ready for next tax time. If you find it hard to hang onto physical receipts, just take a photo on your phone straight away (even while still standing at the checkout!) and email it to yourself to save in your ‘Tax’ inbox folder or simply search 'receipt' or 'invoice' in Google Photos to bring up all your documents at tax time!