Tax Time Preparation: Get Organised Before EOFY

Every year, millions of Australians scramble through shoeboxes of receipts and bank statements in late June, trying to piece together their finances before the End of Financial Year. It's stressful, time-consuming, and almost certainly costs you money — because rushed preparation means missed deductions.

It doesn't have to be this way. With a bit of planning and the right tools, tax time can be straightforward. And since EOFY is just around the corner, now is the perfect time to get organised.

Why Preparation Matters

The ATO reports that Australians claim billions in work-related deductions each year. But for every legitimate deduction claimed, there are countless more that go unclaimed — simply because people didn't keep records or forgot about them.

Good preparation means:

• More deductions claimed — You won't miss legitimate expenses you're entitled to deduct
• Less stress — No last-minute scrambling through bank statements
• Faster processing — Organised returns with clear records get processed more quickly
• Lower risk — If the ATO queries something, you have the records to back it up

Key Dates to Know

If you use a tax agent, you generally get an extended deadline — but you still need your records organised before you meet with them.

What You Can Claim: Common Deductions

This isn't tax advice (always check with the ATO or your accountant), but here are common deduction categories many Australians can claim:

Work-Related Expenses

• Working from home — Electricity, internet, phone, office furniture, and equipment used for work. The ATO has specific methods for calculating this (fixed rate or actual cost).
• Uniforms and protective clothing — Including laundry costs for required work clothing
• Tools and equipment — Items you buy for work and aren't reimbursed for. Items under $300 can be claimed immediately; items over $300 are depreciated.
• Professional development — Courses, conferences, seminars, and study related to your current employment
• Travel — Work-related travel (not your regular commute), including accommodation, meals, and transport
• Union fees and professional memberships

Investment-Related Expenses

• Interest on investment loans — Including margin loans for shares
• Property management fees — For investment properties
• Accounting fees — The cost of managing your tax affairs
• Financial advisor fees — Related to earning investment income

Other Deductions

• Private health insurance — Check if you're eligible for the offset
• Income protection insurance premiums
• Charitable donations — To registered deductible gift recipients (DGRs)
• Super contributions — Personal deductible contributions above the compulsory amount

How to Use Financio for Tax Preparation

Financio isn't a tax tool, but it's excellent for the part that matters most: organising your financial records so nothing gets missed.

Categorise with Tax in Mind

If you haven't already, review your categories to ensure tax-relevant expenses have their own subcategory. This makes reporting much easier come tax time.

Consider categories like:

• Work Expenses > Home Office
• Work Expenses > Professional Development
• Work Expenses > Tools & Equipment
• Donations > Charitable
• Insurance > Income Protection

When transactions are properly categorised throughout the year, pulling a tax summary is as simple as running a report.

Tag Tax-Deductible Transactions

Financio's tagging system is perfect for tax preparation. Create a tag like "Tax Deductible" and apply it to any transaction you plan to claim. This gives you a single, filterable view of all deductible expenses regardless of their category.

You can also create more specific tags:

• "Tax - Work" for work-related deductions
• "Tax - Investment" for investment-related expenses
• "Tax - Donation" for charitable contributions

Run Your Reports

Use the Expenses Report to review spending by category over the financial year (1 July to 30 June). Filter by your tax-relevant categories or tags to get a clear picture of your deductible expenses.

The Income Report is equally important — it shows all your income sources in one place, which you'll need for your return.

Track Investment Income

If you hold investments in Financio, your transaction history covers dividends, interest, and capital events. This data feeds directly into the investment income section of your tax return.

For shares, you'll need to know:

• Dividend income received during the financial year
• Capital gains or losses from any shares you sold
• Purchase dates and prices for calculating capital gains

Review Your Assets

If you own investment property tracked in Financio, your asset records help with:

• Depreciation claims based on asset value
• Equity tracking for loan deductibility purposes
• Capital gains calculations if you sell

The EOFY Checklist

Two Months Before (April–May)

• Review your categories — Ensure tax-relevant expenses are properly categorised
• Catch up on transaction categorisation — Don't leave months of uncategorised transactions to the last minute
• Start tagging deductible expenses — If you haven't been tagging throughout the year, go back and tag what you can
• Gather non-transaction records — Logbooks, home office diaries, receipt photos for cash expenses

One Month Before (June)

• Consider pre-paying deductible expenses — Bringing forward deductible expenses like insurance premiums, professional memberships, or charitable donations into this financial year
• Review super contributions — Consider making a personal deductible contribution before 30 June if you have capacity. Check your concessional contribution cap.
• Check private health insurance — Ensure you have your statement ready for the Medicare Levy Surcharge assessment
• Review investment positions — Consider whether to crystallise any capital losses to offset gains (but be aware of wash sale rules)

After 30 June (July)

• Import final transactions — Make sure all June transactions are in Financio
• Run your full-year Expenses Report — Filter to 1 July – 30 June
• Run your full-year Income Report — Capture all income sources
• Export your data — Use Financio's export feature to create a backup and a working file for your accountant
• Collect external documents — Payment summaries, PAYG summaries, bank interest statements, health insurance statements, dividend statements
• Book your accountant — If you use one, book early to avoid the rush

Tips for a Smoother Tax Time

Track Throughout the Year

The single best thing you can do is categorise and tag transactions as they happen, not all at once in June. Five minutes a week beats five hours in July.

If you're reading this and it's already April, that's okay — you still have time to review the current financial year's transactions and tag the deductible ones.

Keep Receipts for Anything Over $300

The ATO generally accepts bank or credit card statements as proof for expenses under $300. For items over $300, keep the actual receipt. Take a photo and store it digitally — physical receipts fade.

Don't Forget the Small Things

Deductions add up. That $200 professional membership, $150 in work-related phone costs, and $50 in union fees might seem minor individually, but together they're $400 off your taxable income.

Separate Personal and Work Expenses

If you use the same phone, internet connection, or car for both work and personal use, you can only claim the work-related portion. Track the split — even a reasonable estimate is better than nothing, and Financio's category system makes this easy to maintain.

Review Last Year's Return

Look at what you claimed last year. Are there deductions you claimed then that you should be tracking this year? Are there new expenses this year that you didn't have before? Your previous return is a good checklist.

Working with an Accountant

If you use a tax agent, being organised saves you money (accountants charge by the hour) and gets you a better result (they can focus on strategy instead of data entry).

What to bring:

• A categorised expense summary from Financio (filtered to the financial year)
• Your income summary from Financio's Income Report
• External statements (PAYG, bank interest, dividends, health insurance)
• Details of any assets bought or sold
• Records of any working-from-home arrangements
• Your previous year's tax return for reference

A well-organised client is an accountant's favourite client.

Start Now

Tax time doesn't have to be stressful. The earlier you start organising, the easier it is. Even if you're reading this the week before EOFY, spending an hour in Financio categorising and tagging your transactions will pay for itself in deductions you'd otherwise miss.

Open Financio, review your transactions for this financial year, and start tagging anything that might be deductible. Future-you, sitting calmly while everyone else panics about tax, will be grateful.