You will be well aware that the 2017 tax season is underway.

Some of you may have even started or completed your 2017 tax return – if this is you, please remember that refunds won’t be issued  by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) until after 18th July.

But the advice I want to give you today is…start preparing for your 2018 tax return NOW!

That’s right, I want you to start thinking about your 2018 tax return so that every time you make a decision this financial year, you think about the documentation you need to keep.

I have always found it surprising how much documentation I have to support my deductions when I make a conscious effort to file it away – and sorting through a few papers is far less traumatic than racing around at the end of the year looking for paperwork I can’t even remember the details of!

I make a point of not accepting any ‘shoeboxes’ of documents anymore, but I do accept summaries of shoeboxes, after all the onus is on you to keep the records. And if a manual system is not for you, you may like to look at the ATO myDeductions tool.

Regards