Get Tax Return Ready (2025 Tax Return) 

Author: Duncan Warnock CPA | July, 2025

If you are looking to get assitance with your tax return with Warnock Accounting for the first time, hopefully this guide will help get you ready to kick off the tax return process. To get a sense of the most common questions for an Employee income only tax return then you will also find our Online Tax Return link useful 

Each persons tax & accounting situation is unique. This means the best process for you may vary for each tax year. However as a general guide the typical process is as follows:

#1 - Client onboarding which involves (new customers only)

First Meeting (whether face to face or via zoom/teams video or face time phone call) 

• ID check (sighting ID such as a drivers licence) 
• Gathering of personal information such as Tax File Number, Date of Birth & Address (do not email or text your Tax File Number)

Once this process is completed, typically the Accountant will add you as a new client to the Tax Agent Portal and then run whats called a 'Prefill' report on tax info the tax office has for you for a given year (ie employee wages) as a starting point

#2 - Common Info gathering for tax year (12 months time period - 1 JULY to 30 JUNE) 

Employee income & employee deductions & other deductions

• Employee income (usually reported by the employer to the tax office) 
• Any other income where applicable such as bank interest income, investment income or ABN business income 
• Employee work tax deductions
• Any other tax deductions (ie donations, accounting fees, concessional super deductions, income protection insurance premium if paid outside super) 
• Private Health Policy information (if relevant)
• Spouse income  (if relevant)
• Number of children (if relevant)

#3 - Other Info gathering for tax year (12 months time period - 1 JULY to 30 JUNE) IF relevant ?

The following areas may or may not be relevant for you, depending on your circumstances 

i)  Rental Property Income & Expenses IF relevant (Typical info needed as a guide) 

1. Annual Agent Statement for tax year 
2. Additional Rental Property expenses not addressed via the Annual Agent Statement (often this includes expenses such as Loan interest, council rates, body corp rates, land tax, water rates)
3. For Loan interest you need to advise the Loan interest total but also provide the actual PDF version of the bank statements for the full tax year
4. If a new property purchase then you also need to provide the Purchase Settlement Statement of Adjustments that the conveyancer/solicitor prepared at settlement

Reviewing our RENTAL PROPERTY SCHEDULE page can also help you get tax return ready for a Rental Property 

ii) ABN income & expenses 

1. ABN income ?
2. ABN expenses by expense category (our artlice on Business Expense recording can assist) 

• Are you using accounting software ?
• Depending on whether you are using accounting software or not you should be using a dedicated business bank account(s) for your ABN income & expenses (no or at least minimal personal transactions) 
• Typically a copy of PDF bank statements will be needed 
• If not using accounting software typically it will be best to export your Business Bank Account transactions into a CSV/Excel file to help categorise the business bank transactions and also help support your business accounting record keeping 
• Are you registered for GST ? Should you be registered for GST ?

NOTE: Additional guidance & support can be provided on a needs basis for this area 

iii) Any SALES of SHARES or Managed Fund Investments?

If Yes, then usually you will need to gather orginal purchase info to calculate a cost base and gather Sale info to demonstrate the Sale Proceeds 

iv) Any SWAPS or SALES of CRYPTO ?

If Yes, then usually you will need to gather & keep all your transaction history as a starting point. 

A capital gain or loss will beed to be calculated. Unless you pretty much only just made 1 purchase & 1 sale of crypto for the same quantity, there will be sufficient complexity that you will be best to use a Crypto Tax Calculator software provider such as KOINLY https://koinly.io/ to assist you with documenting the capital gain/losses and other income/expenses for the relevnat tax year(s)  

v) Anything else that is relevant ?

For example, Did you sell a property that might be subject to capital gains tax?

NOTE: The above is a general guide only to help you get ready for the tax return preparation process