Start Getting Ready for Your 2012 Tax Return Now

    SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, May 19, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Filing tax returns is not a task most people enjoy, but it is an essential part of being a citizen and is required each year by the government. While there might be a number of things you'd rather do than spend an afternoon working on your taxes, the truth is that with a bit of planning and preparation, you can make the process of doing your taxes much less stressful and time consuming than you would expect. Here are 3 simple tips to help you with your 2012 tax return.

1. Give yourself space and time to work on your taxes

Perhaps the most important tip is to work slowly and not rush. Taxes are stressful enough without having to turn them in on a deadline, so start early. You might want to look into an accountant if the very idea of doing your own taxes scares you, especially if you have the potential to get a hefty refund due to your employment circumstances but don't know how to figure it out on your own.

2. Keep hard copies of everything

Keeping good records throughout the year will more than pay off when it comes to tax time. If you are employed in a regular job, then a lot of the work will be taken care of by your employer, but if you are self employed, then you will need to pay much more attention to the details, since there will be no one to do it for you. First of all, make sure you know exactly what your expenses are and document each and every one of them throughout the year.

This will allow you to claim things like business travel, including bus fares, train fares, and petrol, as well as taxis, if you use these. Keep in mind that you can't claim regular day-to-day commuting to one place of work. However, you will also be able to claim office expenses if you work from home or if you rent out office space. Finally, things like phone costs and other expenses can also be claimed as long as you keep track of them and separate your business use from personal use.

3. Everything is relevant

This tip is related to the second in that keeping hard copies of everything related to your finances will make the process of filing your taxes less arduous. However, what many people forget is that it is also essential to track and report just about every bit of financial information and documentation they received over the past year.

For example, it's common to only need about half an hour to fill in your self assessment form, which might not seem like a big deal until you realize that it will take you about two days to find all of the papers and documents that you'll need to have in these forms.

As a result, you can make the task of sorting out your taxes significantly easier if you don't discard various bits of financial information throughout the year while thinking they couldn't possibly apply to your tax return. If this is something you've done, you might need to start contacting your employers to track down what you're missing.

Kelly Partners are one of the leading Sydney accounting firms.
For further assistance with completing your 2012 tax return visit their website:
http://kellypartners.com.au

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