Should I do my own Australian tax return or pay a company to do it for me?

Question

Ive been travelling Australia on a working holiday and worked quite a bit, is it worth paying for a company to sort my tax out or should I do I myself? Please give me information for both options ,thanks ;)

Answer 1

To most of my friends I generally say - do your own tax returns - don't pay anyone. But most of my friends are local Australians, none of them are very rich and they have been living breathing the Australian tax for a while. Even if they're not accountants, they know roughly how it works through osmosis.

Only you know exactly how much you know about our tax system. I was told - I have no idea whether this is true or not - our tax system is very similar to a lot of other Commonwealth countries.

If you don't feel comfortable, go see one of those H & R Block people. They're cheap, quick and should provide sufficient service for the preparation of individual tax return. If I were you, I won't bother turning up to a "proper Accounting firm". They're more expensive.... they generally charge by the hour, and they are not any better than H & R Block for individual tax return.

Here is the form, if you want to have a look at it. http://www.ato.gov.au/content/downloads/...

I like E-Tax better.

http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/conten...

Add:- All employers should send out some summary sheets that we call "PAYG Payment Summary" to all of their employees at the end of the year (They will also send a copy to the Tax Office direct). Do you think all of your employers know your postal address? If not,maybe worth contacting them. You will generally need those PAYG Payment Summaries to complete your Tax Return.

Answer 2

since you are a traveller... best to pay someone to do it to avoid legal trouble... if you live here permanently (which you are not)... and you know tje laws... you can do it on your own via e-tax