Australian tax return 2021

After another turbulent financial year, here are the answers to some of the key questions about 2020-21 tax returns.

Working from home?

The Australian Tax Office is expecting an increase in deductions related to people working from home – that means things such as electricity, internet, and phone costs, and depreciation in the value of office equipment.

The most straightforward of these is the temporary shortcut method, which uses a rate of 80 cents per hour to calculate your claim for all out-of-pocket, work-related expenses. All you need to do is to keep a record of the number of hours that you actually did work at home during the week.

Another alternative is the 52 cent rate method, which works similarly to the 80 cent method, but only includes electricity and gas, and the depreciation and repairs of office furniture in the calculation. It allows phone, internet, computer, and stationery costs to be added separately to the claim.

The final option is the actual expenses method, which requires the claimant to have kept a lot of records. The actual expenses method says you calculate everything separately, you keep the actual expenses that you’ve incurred throughout the year, and in addition to that, you include your depreciation calculations, so it has the potential to be a larger figure.

What new things do I have to declare?

Cryptocurrency, for one. Cryptocurrency is like an investment asset, so it is kind of like shares, and so similar tax obligations apply to cryptocurrency as it applies to shares. So if you sell, swap or exchange cryptocurrency, there will be a taxable transaction, and you are required to include that in your tax return.

What are the key dates?

As always, you have until 31 October. You have longer if you are planning on using a registered tax agent, but you still need to be one of their clients by the end of October. And while you can technically prepare and submit your tax return through myGov right now, getting it in before August could mean it takes the ATO longer to process your claim.

What in-language help is available?

For those who come from a non-English-speaking background, Tax Help volunteers and the ATO are here to help. Tax resources can also be found on the ATO’s website in more than 20 languages.