What to bring/prepare to my Tax Return Meeting with BB4u
1. Bank account details
If you did not fill this out in our client form, bring the BSB and ACC details to the meeting.
2. Bank account Statements
Please upload into our Portal or email to services@bb4u.au the Bank Statements of the bank account you have received income and/or paid bills from, for the whole Financial Year (from 1st July till 30 June next year) in CVS format (preferred) or PDF format.
See below on this page how to download
3. Your Last Payslip of the Financial Year (for Future-year Tax returns only)
If you are doing a Future-Year tax return, please send me the last payslip (s) of each employment(s) you had during this period you are applying the tax return.
4. Sum of all your Income received on your ABN
If you have worked as a subcontractor, or have a small business as a Sole Trader or Partnership, please sum all the income received from each employee for the financial year for each. Please also have handy the ABN of your Payers (if they are Businesses; not necessary if your services were done for individuals).
If you do not bring it organised, we will have to sum it during our meeting, using your bank statements and/or invoices you have issued to them. This might require more time processing, hence could result in extra charges.
5. Motor Vehicle Expenses (if applicable)
For those who can claim Motor vehicle expenses - we can use Cents x km, Logbook or Actual Cost methods.
For Cents x Km you need a record of how many km you have travelled during the financial year. No receipts needed, only the km travelled recorded. However, on this method you cannot claim any other motor vehicle expenses, such as fuel, services, Registration, insurance ou depreciation of your car. For these, you must use the Logbook method.
For the Logbook method, if you choose to use this method, you'll be able to deduct all the car-related costs you incur throughout the financial year, but only for the portion that relates to your business use. This includes expenses like fuel, servicing, registration, insurance, and even depreciation.
To ensure your claims are valid, it's important to keep all your receipts for these expenses and maintain a compliant logbook. There are apps available that can help with logbook record-keeping, and one you might find useful is called Drivers Note.
Even if your Motor Vehicle is registered for business, you still need to substantiate your expenses by maintaining all your receipts and your valid logbooks.
If you are a Sole Trader and have an UTE that holds more than 1 Tonnes or a Van, then you must use the Actual Cost Method. All receipts must be kept to substantiate your claims, and a diary showing the kilometres made for private use (if applicable).
For small Companies and Trusts, the Actual Cost Method must be used. Please note that using Business assets for private use will result in a Fringe Benefit Tax, which is an extra lodgement that needs to be done in April each year at 47% tax rate.
6. Clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning expenses
You can’t claim a deduction for buying, hiring, repairing or cleaning conventional clothing (everyday clothing, such as black trousers worn by waiters, business attire worn by office workers, or jeans or drill shirts worn by tradesperson) you buy for work, even if your employer says the clothing is compulsory or you only wear it at work. You can claim your costs to buy or clean occupation-specific clothing or clothing and footwear you wear to protect you from the real and likely risk of illness or injury from your work activities or your work environment.
7. Tools and equipment to perform your work (if applicable)
To claim a deduction for tools and equipment expenses that you must use to perform your work duties. When you use the items for both private and work purposes, you need to apportion your deduction. You can only claim the work-related use of the item as a deduction. You must keep records to support your claim for work use of tools and equipment.
8. Self-Education Expenses (if applicable)
Self-education expenses are costs incurred for courses, conferences, and seminars that maintain or improve skills or knowledge required for your current employment. You can claim a deduction for these expenses if they are sufficiently connected to your employment activities. However, you cannot claim a deduction if the expenses are only generally related to your employment, enable you to get new employment, or change employment. Additionally, there are restrictions for international students undertaking training to comply with their visa conditions.
9. Working from home Logbook (if applicable)
You can calculate your deduction using either the actual cost method or the fixed rate method.
● The actual cost method includes decline in value of depreciating assets, electricity and gas, phone and internet expenses, stationery and computer consumables and cleaning costs.
● The fixed rate method is a set rate for each hour worked and includes phone and internet, electricity and gas, and stationery and computer consumables.
You must keep records to show you incur expenses as a result of working from home.
10. Crypto Currency
For those investing in any kind, must declare the capital gain or loss you incurred during the Financial Year.
You can use the App Koinly to calculate your profit or loss (if you need help, please send all the reports you have since the beginning of your trading, and send the reports also in CVS format).
11. Share and Dividends
Please provide a full report by the end of the Financial Year from your Portfolio showing all the profit or loss you have made, as well the dividends you have received.
12. Rental Investment & Airbnb (additional charges will apply on your Tax return)
You must declare the gross Income received from your investment property during the financial year you will need to prove all expenses related to maintenance or improvements or the property.
Usually Real Estate agents have a full report of expenses, including their fees, advertisement fees, water rates, maintenance and other expenses you can also claim the interest on your mortgage, any other bills that might be relevant, such council rates, insurance etc some improvements are allowed only for Capital gain only.
It is recommended to maintain a Property Depreciation Schedule (we recommend the services of BMT Tax Depreciation
13. Subcontractors (for those carrying a small businesses only)
If you pay subcontractors (someone who works for you on ABN), then you must have a list of their full names, their ABNs and amount paid to each one.
14. Other expenses
To claim a deduction for a work-related expense for your client:
● they must have spent the money themselves and weren't reimbursed
● the expense must be directly related to earning their income
● they must have a record to prove it.
There are a few expenses you can claim as a deduction even though they don't relate to your work. These include:
● gifts and donations (have their receipt and ABN to check if acceptable)
● expenses related to earning income from investments
● personal super contributions
● income protection insurance
●the cost of managing your tax affairs.
Bills / Receipts
Please keep a copy of all the Receipts you wish to claim on a digital form.
You can use the app My Deductions from ATO to keep these receipts - more info about this method on the FAQ on Tax Services page.
If you have more than one expense per item, it is a good idea to sum them up before our meeting - ie: training, mobile/internet costs, safety equipment, travel, donation, etc
Please note - we will have to assess what you can or cannot claim during our meeting, based on your employment condition or profession.
Substantiation of Deductions for Individuals & Sole Traders
If a taxpayer's total work-related expense claims exceed $300, they must provide written evidence for the entire amount (not just the amount over $300).
Documents (such as invoices and receipts) that the taxpayer acquires from the supplier must set out the:
● supplier's name or business name
● amount of the expense or the cost of the asset, expressed in the currency in which it was incurred
● nature of the goods, services or asset
● day on which the expense was incurred or the asset was acquired
● day on which the document was made out.
Where the documents supplied are insufficient, ATO may accept the following documents (or combinations of documents) as acceptable evidence of expenses:
● bank statements
● credit card statements
● email receipts; payment reference numbers (such as BPAY, Post Billpay, PayID, Poli, and so on), combined with bank statements or tax invoices.
Please note: If payments are made by cash, and no receipts are shown, the expense won’t be able to be deducted.
Downloading Bank Statements from Commonwealth Bank or Mobile App
Download via CommBank App (Mobile)
Log in to the CommBank app.
Tap “Accounts” and select the desired account.
Tap the settings cog or “Manage Account”.
Tap “Statements”.
Select the statement period you wish to download.
Tap “Download” to save the statement as a PDF.
Download via NetBank (Desktop)
Log in to NetBank with your client number and password.
Click on “View accounts”.
Select “Statements”.
Choose your account from the list.
Click “Download”to save the statement as a PDF.
For exporting transactions in CSV format (ideal for Businesses and Sole Traders):
Choose the account you want to export transactions from.
Click on the dropdown box labeled ‘Date’ next to the search box and enter the required time period (up to the last 2 years).
Click “Export” and select the CSV format.
Click “Export” to download the file.
For International Students Only
Medicare Levy Exemption Certificate
You can apply for this exemption online through your MyGov login, preferably before the Tax return has been lodged.
You will need one application for each Tax Return you lodge while holding a temporary visa (such as international student, graduate visas etc).
If you do not apply for the Medicare Levy Exemption, ATO might charge you 2% of your Taxable income for the Medicare Levy- and the only way to request a refund is by showing ATO your Medicare exemption certificate.
If you cannot use your MyGov to apply for the exemption certificate
We will need to apply for the exemption on paper done by email. Then please send me the copy of your VISA(s) held during the financial year plus a copy of your Certified Passport (if it’s not certified by a Justice of Peace, they won’t accept it. Just go to the nearest shopping Center and ask if they have the services of a JP which is free of charge here in Australia).
