The Benefits Of Seeing A Professional Tax Agent

There are many ways that a tax agent can provide a positive financial benefit to you. A good tax agent will have useful tips and strategies that can improve your overall financial position, both personally and professionally. By using a tax agent instead of doing your tax return yourself, you can take advantage of their skills, experience and in-depth knowledge in an ever-changing world of tax legislation.

Here is a list of ways that a Professional Tax Agent can benefit you.

• A tax agent will identify if there are areas of deductions or wealth creating ideas you can improve on and educate you on what to do in the next financial year and support you with an effective plan to manage it.
• They will be up to date regarding the taxation law changes made every year and give you useful information, such as changes affecting your occupation, budget night announcements or key tax law changes, perhaps through a monthly newsletter like we do.
• They are likely to understand your occupation and know how to maximise your claims much better than you do as well as knowing the tricks others in your occupation are using.
• They have industry specific knowledge of which deductions are applicable for you.
• If you have lost employment data from earlier years, a tax agent can most likely find your income, dividends and interest amounts of recent years. So if you no longer have access to information about your earnings they may be able to retrieve the necessary numbers.
• A tax agent will guide you into how much you can claim without receipts.
• They will know before you do if the ATO believes you are claiming more than average and thus in the spotlight for a potential audit. Having this guidance can pre-arm you to make sure you have all your documents required.
• They have specialised software for tax returns, so you don’t ever need to download software every year. They electronically safekeep it too.
• Your tax return can be lodged at a much later date when you use a tax agent – up to May the following year. This gives you ample time to get extra information if required or accommodate your busy lifestyle.
• They can guide you through complicated capital gains which, if managed incorrectly can cost you thousands.
• They will be up to date with the latest industrial crack downs and know which areas are now under the microscope.
• A tax agent is more experienced than you are at protecting your interests in the event of how to handle audits and penalties or fines.
• They can effectively size up your personal and professional financial situation and provide you with a full financial check-up, pointing you to areas you can improve in both in and outside your tax return.
• They have a direct line of communication tools to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). They can contact then much faster than you trying to phone them, so no being on hold for hours.
• They can review your earlier tax returns to see if they were managed correctly, especially when you were not sure, didn’t understand them or felt unhappy with the result.
•  They can lodge amendments on your behalf of prior tax returns. This can result in additional refunds for you. Sometimes old tax returns, that have not been lodged can be easily seen and then lodged, finding you refunds you didn’t know existed.
• If you owe tax, they can facilitate a repayment arrangement between you and the ATO, request a refund of fines and/or a reduction in interest charges

These are just some of the benefits of seeing a professional tax agent. We recommend you use one that offers a face to face service which will further prompt and uncover the most deductions applicable for your circumstances, your occupation and industry.