TaxRambling.com

If you have always want to lodge your tax return through a smartphone, tablet or computer using their web browser you only have to wait till 1 July.

From 1 July, the new “MyTax” website will allow certain taxpayers to review prefilled information before lodging their return.

So who can use MyTax?

– Australian residents
– income only from salary, wages, allowances, bank interest, dividends and/or Australian government payments;
– deductions are for work-related expenses, expenses related to interest or dividend income, donations and/or the costs of managing their tax affairs; and
– only offsets they want to claim are the senior and pensioner tax offset and/or zone and overseas forces tax offset.

But the most interesting thing is that if you fit within these categories last year, you are going to get an SMS or email from the ATO telling you that your return is prefilled and ready to go.

Which young tech savy taxpayer is not going to log on to check out this return… And if all they need is to complete some work related deductions they will be very tempted to lodge… Even if they have used a tax agent before.

It is expected that more than 10% of the 12.7 million individual taxpayers will use this. My guess it will be even more.

So if you don’t have…

– business income or losses
– rental properties
– partnerships or trusts income
– capital gains or losses
– foreign income
– lump sum payments
– employee share schemes
– superannuation income streams and – superannuation lump sum payments

You might never use a tax agent again…

And if you make money preparing “basic” returns…