3 Ultimate Tax Record Keeping Tips
A year can be a long time, and when tax time finally rolls around again, we can tend to forget what we bought for work during the year, so we are left doing one of these three things:
- Scrambling around trying to find our receipts
- Leaving the deductions out of our tax return and missing out on a better tax refund
- Adding the deductions in and hoping we don’t get pulled up for an audit
Your tax records are needed to prove to the ATO that you spent the money on the tax deductions you’re claiming, so it’s important that you keep them for five years from the date you lodge your tax return.
Before we get into our top tax recording keeping tips, lets look at the type of tax documents you may need for an Individual Tax Return:
- Receipts or Invoices for work expenses, subscriptions etc.
- Logbooks for work usage (e.g. Motor Vehicle. Home Office, Phone etc.)
- Private Health Insurance statements
- Medicare Levy Exemption certificates (if eligible)
Now, let’s go through the top ways you can keep track of your tax records all year round so you can get the best tax refund and keep the tax man happy.
Tip #1
Download our Deduction Grabber app, it’s free to download through the Google Play Store or App Store.
You can snap a photo of your receipt and record the expense as soon as you have made it and allocate it to the correct expense category.
You can also record your Motor Vehicle usage with our ATO compliant logbook (more logbooks coming soon).
Tip #2
Upload your tax records to your tax return (additional $10) and we’ll look after them for you.
Tip #3
Take a photo of your receipts as soon as you make a purchase, email the photo to yourself and save in a Tax folder for the current financial year. E.g. ‘TAX 2021 FY’
There you have it, 3 of the best ways to keep track of your tax records.
They’re simple, easy and will give your tax refund a boost.
