Insurance World

I'd like to start with some numbers to get the ball rolling. In July, August and September of 2010, the ATO received 580,000 paper returns. Printed and layed end to end, the 132 page Tax Pack would be enough paper to go from Sydney to Perth five and a half times. Depending on the route you took. E-tax can can save all this paper as well as simplifying the whole process of end of year tax. So, what is e-tax and why - apart from the environment - should anyone use it?

The birth and growth of e-tax

Launched in 1999, e-tax allowed tax returns to be submitted over the internet for the first time and was a leap forward in the way that tax in Australia would be managed over the next ten years. In that first year 120,000 Australians downloaded and used the software, a figure which has grown to 2.3 million in 2009. Each year e-tax is improved from tax payers feedback to help improve the service and make filing easier for individuals. This ongoing improvement has helped grow e-tax usage in 2010 by 10% compared to 2009 pre-filling figures.

e-tax 2011: What will it do?

E-tax brings together much of the support given at the ATO website, a persons individual details and the documentation required to submit a tax return into one place.
Pre-filling of information. Once downloaded, e-tax links to millions of pieces of information about an individual tax situation including payment summaries, withheld tax, interest on savings, union and professional fees etc. This can help individuals find lost information and ensure it all goes in the right places on their tax returnA step-by-step submission process which guides you along meaning all the right sections of a tax return are completedReturn/refund estimates and calculators will let you know how much you can expect to pay or received based on ATO defined rulesExplanation of key terms and rules will increase individuals understanding of tax

Benefits of e-tax

On top of simplifying the whole process, people using e-tax in 2011 will benefit from faster returns compared to their paper counterparts; the ATO aims to have processed all electronic submissions within 14 days. There are also built-in checks and links to ATO resources to help prevent mistakes and ensure and accurate tax return. For your 2011 tax return, take the plunge and download the ATO e-tax software saving time, money and hassle with one of life's little chores.

Follow this link for more information on using 2011 e-tax.

http://www.taxrefundforfree.com.au/ has more information, links and resources to help you process your tax return

Patrick O'Sullivan reviews businesses, processes and ideas to find solutions and give advice in a variety of different situations.

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One of the best tax methods presently comes from maintaining a business in your home. Many of these kinds of businesses are usually extra sources of income for your family. Whether you're selling products on the internet or perhaps you are running a successful construction business out of your home, the company usage of your house is an excellent way to transform generally personal expenses to genuine tax deductible business expenses. Whether you're a tenant or a home owner, the tax breaks could be substantial.

For instance, most taxpayers understand that mortgage interest and real estate taxes are deductible on your Schedule A of IRS form 1040 regardless of whether you've got an office in your residence. However, the charges for home insurance policies, fixes, upkeep, utilities, and rent (if you're a tenant) become deductible whenever you run a business from your own home. Obviously, just the business area of the house (calculated as the portion of the exclusive square footage for business use over the total square footage) is applied for these expenses.

Day care providers generally have a different scenario and may allot a greater portion of the home to business. In some instances, fifty to seventy percent of the home can be classified as business use.

Current tax law also allows individuals who run an office using their property along with their own primary place of business to deduct these home based expenditures. As an illustration, a lot of real estate agents may be forced to pay to keep space at the real estate office. However, they could do their lead generation along with other management activities in their home office. Due to this fact, the portion of the home used strictly for business is deductible for all the expenditures that are connected to it.

You must, however, set aside this area only for work applications and absolutely nothing else. You can't write-off the costs for areas used for leisure, such as a computer that everybody has access to. In the event that you get audited, you have to have the ability to show the government the area of your home in which was adopted only for business. For anyone who has an area which includes a desk and computer while also having a TV as well as a sofa, you need to separate the square footage between personal and work-related usage.

Keep an eye on all your office supplies that you buy including paper, pencils, along with other items. These income tax breaks are often skipped as a consequence of a lack of organization. Additionally, maintain receipts of equipment and software purchased for your home office portion of the business.

In any case, the business use of the property often means thousands of dollars in tax deductions.

Eileen Jacobs is a Enrolled Agent from Las Vegas, NV with over 30 years of income tax experience. http://www.taxes-phd.com/ Blog: http://eileenejacobs.wordpress.com/

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