ATO pre-fill information is useful, but it is not a substitute for your own records. Some information may be delayed, incomplete or incorrect, especially where you changed jobs, sold investments, received trust distributions, owned rental property, traded crypto, or had private health insurance changes during the year.

Please provide documents through our secure client portal where possible. Avoid sending TFNs, identity documents, bank details or highly sensitive records by ordinary email.

8. Work-related deductions

💰  Work-related expenses

For employment-related deductions, provide receipts or records for items such as:

• tools and equipment;

• uniforms and protective clothing;

• union fees;

• professional memberships;

• subscriptions;

• work-related phone and internet use;

• stationery;

• seminars and training;

• occupation-specific licences or checks;

• protective items for outdoor work, where relevant.

The basic rule is that the expense must be work-related, you must have spent the money yourself, you must not have been reimbursed, and you must have a record to prove it.

9. Motor vehicle and travel expenses

🚘  Motor vehicle claims

If you used your car for work-related travel, provide either:

• a logbook and car expense records; or

• a summary of work-related kilometres if using the cents-per-kilometre method.

Please note that normal travel between home and work is usually private travel and not deductible.

🛫  Travel expenses

If you travelled for work, provide:

• dates of travel;

• destination;

• reason for travel;

• employer allowance details;

• flights, accommodation and meal receipts;

• travel diary, if required.

10. Working from home

📝  Work-from-home records

If you worked from home during 2025-26, provide:

• total hours worked from home;

• a diary, timesheet, roster or other record of hours;

• electricity bill;

• internet bill;

• phone bill, if claiming phone use;

• receipts for office equipment, furniture or technology;

• details of employer reimbursements, if any.

For the fixed-rate method, you still need records of actual hours worked from home and at least one record for each relevant running expense. The fixed-rate method covers certain running expenses, so those same expenses cannot be claimed again separately.

If claiming actual costs, more detailed records are required.

11. Self-education expenses

👩🏽‍🎓  Course and study records

If you are claiming self-education expenses, provide:

• course name;

• education provider;

• tax invoices or receipts;

• textbooks and materials;

• travel records, if applicable;

• proof of payment;

• evidence of how the course relates to your current income-earning work.

Not all study costs are deductible. The course must have a sufficient connection to your current employment or income-producing activities.

12. Donations

🧾  Donation receipts

Please provide receipts for donations of A$2 or more to deductible gift recipients.

Raffle tickets, fundraising items, event tickets, chocolates, merchandise and school fundraising purchases are generally not deductible, even where the payment supports a good cause.

13. Private health insurance and Medicare Levy Surcharge

👨🏾‍⚕️  Private health insurance tax statement

Please provide your 2025–26 private health insurance tax statement from your health fund. This helps confirm:

• insurer details;

• policy number;

• who was covered;

• hospital cover days;

• premiums eligible for rebate;

• Australian Government rebate received.

This is important for the private health insurance rebate and Medicare Levy Surcharge.

For 2025–26, Medicare Levy Surcharge can apply if you, your spouse or your dependants did not have appropriate private hospital cover and your income for MLS purposes exceeded the relevant threshold.

The FY2026 MLS thresholds are:

The family threshold increases by A$1,500 for each Medicare Levy Surcharge dependent child after the first child.

Extras-only cover is not enough for MLS purposes. The cover generally needs to be appropriate private hospital cover.

14. Spouse, partner and dependant details

🤵🏾‍♂️  Spouse or partner details

If you had a spouse or de facto partner at any time during 2025–26, please provide:

• full legal name;

• date of birth;

• relationship start date, if relevant;

• separation date, if relevant;

• whether you were living together on 30 June 2026;

• their taxable income or estimated taxable income;

• reportable fringe benefits;

• reportable employer super contributions;

• deductible personal super contributions;

• net investment losses;

• tax-free government pensions or benefits;

• foreign income, if any;

• child support paid, if applicable.

These details can affect Medicare levy, Medicare Levy Surcharge, private health insurance rebate, spouse tax offset eligibility, senior and pensioner tax offset calculations and other tax return labels.

👶🏾  Dependent children

Please provide each dependent child’s:

• full name;

• date of birth;

• whether they were a dependant for the full year;

• any date they became or ceased to be a dependant;

• child support details, if applicable.

15. Superannuation records

💰 Personal super contributions

If you made personal super contributions and want to claim a tax deduction, please provide:

• amount contributed;

• payment date;

• fund name;

• notice of intent to claim a deduction;

• fund acknowledgement of the notice.

A deduction cannot be claimed unless the notice of intent requirements are satisfied.

🧾  Other super records

Please advise if you:

• salary sacrificed to super;

• exceeded your concessional cap;

• received an ATO excess contribution notice;

• accessed super;

• received a super income stream;

• have a self-managed super fund.

16. HECS/HELP, student loans and other obligations

📝  Study loan details

Please advise if you have a HELP, HECS, VSL, SFSS or other study/training loan.

The ATO generally calculates repayments through the tax return, but it is useful to tell us if your study loan changed during the year or if you made voluntary repayments.

17. Prior year documents for new clients

🧾  Last year’s tax return and Notice of Assessment

If you are a new client, please provide:

• prior year tax return;

• prior year Notice of Assessment;

• details of carried-forward capital losses;

• rental property depreciation schedule;

• prior year work papers, if available;

• details of any ATO payment plan or outstanding tax debt.

If we prepared your return last year, we should already have these records on file.

18. Records to keep

Please keep records for at least five years after lodging your tax return, or longer where records relate to capital gains tax assets, rental properties, depreciating assets or carried-forward losses.

⏳ Good records help support your claims if the ATO reviews your tax return later.

👨🏾‍⚖️  Final reminder

Please bring anything you are unsure about. It is better to ask before lodging than to miss a lawful deduction or claim something that cannot be supported.