Whether you decide to talk to a tax accountant face-to-face or do your tax return online yourself, there are certain documents you should have to hand before you even think about completing your tax return. If the following paragraphs we at www.onlinetaxreturns.com.au will outline some of the paperwork that you may need to find before get can get your tax rebate underway. Clearly, not every piece of documentation will apply to everyone filing a tax return and there may be other items that you personally should include in your submission.

Your Income

Payment Summary –this is your group certificate. If you have worked for more than one employer, you will need to provide a Group Certificate from each for your tax return.

Unemployment Benefits – you will need to find any unemployment statements that you may have received.

Eligible Termination Payment Statements (ETP) – ETP refers to a lump sum payment made by either a superfund or employer when an employee leaves the workforce under specific circumstances.

Austudy Statements – if you qualified for Austudy payments, you will need to provide details for your tax return.

Aged Pension Statements.

Superannuation Payments.

Parenting Payments.

Newstart Allowance Payments.

Dividends – many people overlook this when it come to completing their tax return, but you must supply all documents related to either dividend statements or the total dividends received be it franked or unfranked dividends or imputation credits.

Interest – if you have received interest on any bank account at all, not matter how small it may seem to you, you have to declare it in your tax return.

Rental Income – you need to submit details of any rent received and also any interest paid or other deductions for any rental properties you might own.

Property Purchase Documents – if you have bought a property of any type during the current tax period, you will have to submit a number of details, such as the purchase contract, information about the term of the loan and borrowing costs, the contract date and the settlement date and details of both legal costs paid and stamp duty.

Capital Gains Tax – if you sold any assets (property, shares etc) during the tax year you may be eligible for Capital Gains Tax. If you have sold anything, you need to provide information on the purchase and sale prices, the purchase and sale dates and an accurate description of the sold item.

Foreign Income or Pensions – if you have either worked overseas or have strong family connections to another country, you may have pensions or an income stream set up abroad. If this is the case, you need to provide full and accurate details for your tax returns.

Managed Fund Statements – before you can submit your online tax return, you will need full statements from your managed fund provider.

Other Income – this is the grey area where it is up to you to be honest about any other income that you may have received during the taxation period so that you can complete an accurate and thorough tax return.

Your Deductions

Motor Vehicle Expenses – if your employer requires you to use your car as part of your job description, you may be eligible for a tax deduction on your tax return.

Vocational Self-Education – if you have completed a course which was related to your work, you may be able to claim something back. Make sure you include details of the course and its costs as part of your tax return.

Clothing – have you had to spend money on specific work wear, such as protective clothing or a uniform? Have you incurred expenses for laundering your work clothes? If so, you can claim such expenses at tax time.

Travel – work related travel expenses can be anything from taxi receipts to paying for airline tickets to take to you work related conferences. You need to provide all receipts and payments details as part of your tax return.

Home Office Expenses – this covers things such as expenses incurred in running a home office, if you work from home.

Other Work Related Expenses – this covers a number of other possible expenses such as mobile phone bills, union fees, car parking, tools and equipment, stationery, seminars and conferences and others.

Sickness and Accident Insurance Costs or Income Insurance Costs – if you pay into any such insurance schemes, you may be able to claim something back in your online tax return.

Donations – did you donate to a charity over the tax year? If so, you may be able to get a tax deduction.

Investment Costs – if you have paid managements fees or made any other payments on your investments, you may get some money back as part of a tax rebate.

As you can see, filling in an online tax return is not something that you can just rush into. You need to be sure that you have all the relevant documents up to date and available before you can start. However, once you have collected together all the relevant paperwork, completing your tax return should be a relatively easy process. Once you've done you tax online once, you will know what you'll need for next time and after you've done your tax returns online a couple of times, it'll become second nature.