What to Take to an Accountant for Your Tax Return

Having paperwork ready before the appointment rather than during it makes the tax return much easier—see how to prepare tax information for accountant.

Good records make the return simpler to deal with. If the accountant has to hunt for paperwork during the appointment, they can’t prepare an accurate return without the right records. Having everything ready before arrival helps make the most of deductions and reduce delays with the ATO.

This checklist sets out what to take to accountant for tax return preparation in Australia. The records should be sorted into clear groups.

Preparation has two parts. The accountant needs both when preparing the return: proof of every income source, plus receipts and other supporting records. Receipts and supporting records that could lower taxable income should be included.

What to Take to Accountant for Tax Return?

Accurate records are expected by the tax office, so your tax accountant needs complete details to prepare your return without errors.

Personal and Banking Information

Personal records show both your identity and your current position. If anything has changed, send the new details before your accountant starts the return.

• Tax File Number (TFN): This identifies you within the tax system.
• Australian Business Number (ABN) (if applicable): Provide this number if you are a sole trader or business owner.
• Contact Information: Give your current phone number, email, and address.
• Changes in Personal Circumstances: Tell your accountant if you have married, divorced, had a child, or gained/dependent. These events may change your tax obligations or entitlements.

Current personal details cut filing errors and support any benefits you may claim.

For an electronic refund, give your accountant the BSB and account number. Check both numbers before you send them. The refund will not be lost if they are wrong, but correct bank details must still be provided.

Tell your accountant the account where money is to be deposited. The refund can be split among up to three accounts, including savings, transaction, or other eligible accounts, if you give the BSB and account number for each.

A previous return gives a new accountant a useful starting point when you switch accountants. It shows details that may carry forward, including personal details, your Tax File Number (TFN), income streams, tax offsets, deductions, and other earlier claims. If you have one, include the previous return with the rest of your records.

Employment and Pension Income Statements

Bring records for every work or retirement payment, and collect the documents that apply to you before the appointment.

• PAYG summaries from employees
• Personal services income
• Lump sum termination payments
• Employment Income: Provide a P60 or P45 if you received employment income.
• P11d: Include this when you received benefits-in-kind through employment that were not taxed through payroll.
• Pensions and allowances
• Superannuation lump sum payments

They cover employment earnings, benefits, pensions, and other payments, letting your accountant enter the correct income figures on the return.

Investment and Interest Income Records

The tax office wants every investment income amount on your return, backed by records from each account, fund, or investment.

• Distributions from trusts, partnerships, and managed superfunds
• Dividends
• Capital gains
• Bank Interest Received: Include interest paid during the year, excluding ISAs.
• Interest Earned: Supply statements showing interest received during the year.
• Bank Interest: Bank records can confirm the amount credited during the year.
• Dividend Income: Bring statements relating to share investments.
• Managed Fund Distributions: Provide the yearly tax summaries issued by the fund.

Bring records for any interest, dividends, distributions, or gains you received, rather than trying to use incomplete estimates.

Business and Property Income Summaries

Business and property records should show the full income total, plus the detail behind it, for the relevant period.

• Rental Income: Include statements from property managers or rental records of direct rental payments.
• Business Income: Provide profit/loss statements and invoices if you are self-employed.
• Net income/loss from business: This should show the result of business activity for the relevant period.
• Rental income: Include the rental amounts received during the year.

A letting agent can provide these records. If the agent manages your property, send your accountant that agent’s monthly statements so they can confirm the rental income figures.

Records for Other Income Sources

The tax office expects you to declare on the return any taxable amounts from outside work, investments, business, or property.

• Foreign Income: Report earnings from overseas employment, investments, or pensions.
• Foreign income: Include any other foreign amounts that may need to be declared.
• Royalties: Bring records for income from books, music, patents, or mineral rights. Payers must issue a Form 1099-MISC for royalty payments of $10 or more. These amounts are generally shown in Box 2, while surface royalties appear in Box 1 and working interests in oil or gas are reported on Form 1099-NEC in Box 1a.
• Government Payments: Provide records of Centrelink payments such as JobSeeker or Family Tax Benefits.
• Other income or gains: Tell your accountant about anything else you received that may be taxable, including side hustle income or a capital gain from selling a rental property, shares, or other assets.

Once you have all income records together, turn to the documents supporting deductions that could reduce your final tax bill.

Optional Documents to Maximize Your Refund

A separate deduction file should go to your accountant. It gives proof for every claim, helps show it is allowable, and can limit Australian Taxation Office scrutiny because deductions reduce taxable income.

Optional papers can still cut your tax bill. Leave them at home and deductions may stay unclaimed, even though the records have value because they back those claims.

Work-Related and Home Office Expenses

You may claim work costs as deductions when they earn income and your records support them.

• Work-Related Expenses: Include uniforms, tools, professional memberships, and costs specific to your industry.
• Work uniforms and other clothing expenses: Keep receipts and records for eligible clothing purchases.
• Home Office Expenses: Gather electricity, internet, furniture, and supplies records, plus a log of hours worked from home.
• Self-education Expenses: Provide course fees and material costs when study improves skills used in your current work.
• Education and Training: Include costs for job-related courses, seminars, or certifications.
• Computer, software and repairs
• Tools and equipment
• Rent/lease payments
• Building or maintenance costs
• Utilities: Electricity, gas, and water records may be relevant.
• Telephone and internet

The Australian Taxation Office sets out two methods for home-office costs. With the fixed rate method, home hours are claimed at 70 cents per hour in 2024-25 and 2025-26. The rate was 67 cents in 2022-23 and 2023-24, then 52 cents in 2020-21 and 2021-22, covering electricity and internet running costs.

The actual cost method claims the work-related portion of actual expenses. Under either method, you may claim office-furniture depreciation separately, while an item costing $300 or less may qualify for an immediate deduction.

Car and Travel Expense Records

Keep business driving and travel records that show how each cost relates to your work.

• Vehicle Expenses and Travel Costs: Include logbook records for work-related car use, fuel receipts, and parking records.
• Motor vehicle expenses based on business use percentage (include your log book if applicable): Support the percentage with the relevant vehicle records.
• Travel and accommodation, domestic and overseas
• Car and vehicle allowances
• Travel allowances

Your logbook must cover at least 12 continuous weeks. Include the car’s make, model, engine capacity and registration number. For every journey, write down the date, both odometer readings, and the specific reason for the trip.

If your total travel is 11,000 kilometres and 6,600 km is business travel, those entries set your business-use percentage. You may rely on a compliant logbook for five years. Note the odometer reading at the beginning and end of every income year.

Receipts for Charitable Donations

A donation can qualify for a deduction only when both the organisation and payment meet the rules. Pass the following records to your accountant.

• Receipts for Donations Over $2: The receipt should show the charity’s name, date, and amount.
• Workplace Giving Statements: Include statements for donations taken directly from your salary.
• Donations

Tax deductions apply only to gifts given to Deductible Gift Recipients, known as DGRs. Check a charity on the government business register. In Australia, the ABN Lookup tool lets you check its “Charity tax concession” status.

Health and Personal Insurance Details

Relevant insurance and health records can change your tax calculation or support a claim that applies to you.

• Private Health Insurance Statement: This helps determine whether the Medicare Levy Surcharge applies.
• Income Protection Insurance Premiums: These may be deductible when they were not paid through superannuation.

Childcare costs have their own rules. In the US, the Child and Dependent Care Credit covers work-related expenses for a qualifying individual. The calculation can include up to $3,000 for one person, or $6,000 for two or more.

Employer-provided dependent care benefits cut the amount used if you received them. The credit is a percentage of qualifying expenses based on adjusted gross income, and you need the taxpayer identification number for every qualifying individual.

Records for Complex Financial Situations

Business, investment, retirement, and asset activity often require records beyond what standard income statements show. Send the underlying records for each activity to your accountant, because they decide the tax treatment.

What Does My Accountant Need for Tax Return?

What records should support your business return across the financial year, from income to spending? Scan or photocopy all relevant paperwork before sending it to your accountant, so you have what to take to accountant for tax return review.

• Bank statements and credit card statements
• Lease, hire purchase, chattel mortgage, or other loan agreements connected with the business
• Business Activity Statements, Instalment Activity Statements, and related working papers

Money going out deserves the same attention as records of money coming in. These records show your accountant the amount spent by you or your business to produce income.

Put your Business Activity Statements, Instalment Activity Statements, and their working papers in with all other financial records.

Rules on paperwork vary by country. In the United States, your working papers can include IRS Schedule C, which records profit or loss from a sole proprietor’s business. IRS figures show that, in tax year 2006, taxpayers submitted over 21 million Schedule C forms and declared more than $269 billion in net profits. Those with straightforward affairs, business expenses under $5,000, and no employees could instead use Schedule C-EZ.

Your accountant also needs records covering these business areas as well:

• Sales income: Provide details of every sales invoice raised. If you keep sales invoices on paper, send copies or give access to your online accounting package. The sales invoices and related reports help establish the business income reported.
• Invoices and expenses: For guidance on how do i generate tax reports for my accountant?, gather purchase invoices and expense receipts for the relevant period.
• Petty cash receipts: Keep a record of cash spending and show the petty cash balance at year end.
• Payroll records: If your accountant does not manage payroll, provide a printout or digital version of each month’s pay run. Reports should show employees’ gross pay, tax payments, and national insurance payments.
• Stock value: If the business holds stock, send the stock value at the end of the financial year.
• Loan statements: Supply statements for business loans and, where relevant, details of the interest charged.
• Finance agreements: Send copies of agreements entered into during the year, including interest rates and duration.
• Business credit card: Tell your accountant about business credit card statements. Mention any occasional use of a personal credit card for work-related costs.

Taken together, these records tie business activity to the income and expenses shown in the return. They let your accountant check loans, stock, payroll, and business spending against firmer details.

Investment and superannuation activity can bring separate tax consequences, so put together records for those as well.

Records for Asset Sales and Capital Gains

A sale can result in a capital gain or capital loss. When you’ve sold property, shares, or crypto, give your accountant records for both the purchase and later sale.

Your accountant starts with two figures, what the asset cost and what it sold for. Add stamp duty or legal fees to its original cost. They compare that total with the sale amount, which gives the gain or loss.

• Capital Gains or Losses: Include purchase and sale details for property, shares, or crypto.
• Records of Investment Property Purchases: Keep purchase records, including stamp duty and legal fees.

With transaction documents and related costs, your accountant can work out the actual result from records instead of an estimate.

Retirement Account Contributions

At tax time, retirement contributions can change the available deductions on your return. Give your accountant statements for voluntary superannuation contributions, including those that may be tax-deductible.

Confirm personal pension payments as well. When you’ve made private pension contributions, send the supporting evidence. Mark superannuation contributions clearly, so your accountant doesn’t miss them while preparing the return.

How to Organize What to Give Accountant for Tax Return

Before your appointment, put your financial records in order. If you send your accountant the details quickly, you lower the chance of penalties and interest.

Hold onto receipts for each expense and deduction you plan to claim. Scanning and saving them digitally means you can find them more easily if records are requested during an audit.

Paper records on their own become less handy as cloud accounting grows. Online software can hold your income and expenses together. Link electronic documents to the transactions they back up, so the original paperwork stays with the matching entry. That way, each document remains tied to the correct record.

A basic digital folder setup can save a lot of hassle. Create a main folder on your computer, such as Taxes 2024, then add sub-folders for the categories below:

• 01_Income_Statements (for W-2s, 1099s, etc.)
• 02_Business_and_Rental (for P&L statements, invoices)
• 03_Work_Expenses (for receipts, logs)
• 04_Donations
• 05_Investments_and_Assets

Put each document or scanned receipt in its matching folder as soon as it comes in. Use Taxes 2024 as the main folder on your computer, then use sub-folders for the categories above. This habit makes a frantic tax-time search a simple job of sharing files with your accountant.

Digital files are easy to search and send, but a hard-drive crash can wipe them out when there is no backup. Paper folders do not rely on technology, though they take up more space and can be damaged or lost if they are not stored safely. Your record-keeping system should weigh the ease of electronic storage against the risks that come with either method.

Prepare Questions for Your Accountant

A written list helps at the appointment. It gives you somewhere to flag points that need explaining or Process & Clarification, and choices that could affect your next tax filing, so the meeting goes beyond simply checking the figures.

• Future Planning, “Looking at this year’s result, what is one change I could make next year to improve my tax position? Are any tax law changes coming that I should know about?”
• Missed Opportunities, “Are there deductions commonly available in my profession that I have not claimed?”
• Process & Clarification, “Which steps remain in the lodgement process? When should I expect my notice of assessment or refund?”

– Future Planning: “Looking at this year’s result, what one change could improve my tax position next year? Which tax law changes should I know about?”

– Missed Opportunities: “Are there deductions in my profession that I have not claimed?”

– Process & Clarification: “Which lodgement process steps remain? When should I expect my notice of assessment or refund?”

Ask whether small business tax concessions may apply to your industry, including asset write-offs and deductions, and whether relevant government rebates or grants might offer offsets or incentives.

Ask about tax incentives that could raise your deductions. For work-from-home costs, check whether the flat rate or detailed expense records suit you.

Once the tax filing is done, your accountant may ask if anything still needs clearing up. Keep the list close by. It shows you are involved in the process and can shift the meeting from a basic compliance check to a planning conversation for next year.

FAQ

When is the deadline to file a tax return?

For self-assessment, the deadline for online forms is 31st January; paper forms must be sent in by 31st October.

Registered tax agents may, in some cases, have extra time for lodgement beyond the usual October 31 deadline.

Who is legally required to file a tax return?

Landlords, business partnerships and self-employed people may be required to submit a return. A return may also be needed if child benefit is paid and earnings are more than £60,000. The same can apply when savings and investment income is more than £10,000.

Check HMRC’s guidance on who has to send a tax return, where the full list of situations appears.

Do I need to provide my spouse’s information?

Yes, in many cases. Even when separate, rather than joint, returns are filed, the accountant may need the spouse’s total income.

A spouse’s total may be needed to work out certain tax rates and levies, including the Medicare Levy Surcharge. It may also affect eligibility for family-related tax credits or government benefits.

What records do I need for cryptocurrency transactions?

Bring complete records from every cryptocurrency exchange and wallet used. Each purchase, sale, trade or spending transaction should include the details set out below.

• The transaction date
• The cryptocurrency type and amount
• The value in your local currency at the time of the transaction

The accountant uses these details to work out capital gains or losses accurately.

Put income proof and deduction evidence into one usable system, so you know what to take to accountant for tax return preparation before the appointment. That gives the accountant a clear, practical starting point. Keep records, figures and questions together, then check which return rules apply.

Filing dates, income thresholds, spouse details and cryptocurrency transactions each call for their own evidence. The accountant then has what is needed to work through the return and calculate capital gains or losses accurately.