Doing your own Tax

[Marley&Me]

Ok so I want to do my own tax this year because it's pretty straight forward every year. I don't have anything out of the ordinary to claim and it's always taken 10 minutes and $130!
So I wanted to do it online, BUT is it going to be a little more difficult because last year they told me to keep all medical receipts (because of our ttc)?
I am absolutely clueless about doing it myself so I'm wondering if it will be difficult.

Also, can anyone explain exactly what happens when you have tons of medical receipts?

TIA

[misty]

Use etax. Answer the questions, follow the prompts and you should be right. if you do get stuck then ask around if anyone knows the answer. But etax is easy as - particularly with all the prefill info.

[Marley&Me]

Great How do I claim with medical stuff?

[nothing2lose]

You can only claim if you spent more than $2k out of pocket (ie. After Medicare)

[Marley&Me]

I just checked and I can't find half of the receipts anyway. A few months ago I remember the lady at Medicare told me I had reached the safety net and so i got more back than normal, so i figured i must have spent a fair bit. DH has had lots of dental, but i tend to throw a lot of things out

Oh well I'll just do the etax thing. Does it tell you how much you will get back (if any) as soon as you do it?

[misty]

etax will prompt you on all of that.

[RhiChiChi]

I am currently doing our tax using e-tax (ATO) and it automatically populates my Medicare stuff (I went way beyond the threshold). However, if it doesn't pre-fill for oyu, you can go to Medicare and they should be able to print a statement off for you or you can get it online if you register.

[Marley&Me]

Thanks

[Marley&Me]

Ok so now I'm trying to do tax online and I'm unsure about the medicare questions! I am a low income earner and Dh has not put his tax in this year yet. It keeps telling me 'data exists for this item'

What do i do???

[Marley&Me]

Never mind, I just closed the whole thing. Too confusing!!

[Jaycee]

When it says data exists for this item it means it has downloaded with the pre filling service.

[Floweryfields]

I love etax, if you just read all the instructions, it's pretty simple. If you've pre filled, there will be data available you need to click yes and review the items. There is the help icon on every page that you can ask for more information and anywhere there is a highlighted word, you can click on that for more info as well.

[Marley&Me]

Thanks.It was pretty straight forward until the medicare bit. I think maybe because last year I earned under the threshold amount (only 6 months of wages) so I remember the tax lady saying something about Medicare Levy.
Could this be why I was getting the message about 'data existing on this topic' ?

In which case because I have earned over the amount this year I should just erase the data?


ETA, DH has not put his tax in yet and it keeps asking me my spouses taxable income! He hasnt even received his group certificate yet either.

[Starfish]

I always ignore the "data exists for this item" thing. I have never spent more that $2,000 on medical costs, so I just figure that the data they have is the record of the minimal expenditure I did have plus the bulk billed stuff, which they then take into account when calculating your return. Or have I got it wrong?

[Liviam]

Firstly did you do the pre-load option??
If you did your etax would have downloaded info on your behalf. eTax requires you to review this data. Mine downloaded all mine and the kids medicare expenses which I had to review even though I didn't go over $2k.
If you get prompted "their is data" just have a look at it.
You will need to wait to lodge your return until DH has his done as well as you need to put in his taxable income.

[Marley&Me]

Hmmm, so I can't do my tax until DH does his?

[RhiChiChi]

You need to know what your DH taxable income is b/c it will ask you for that in e-tax and this will determine some other things like the Medicare Levy Surcharge etc.... My DH only receives PAYG income & some interest income and that is it, so it was easy for me to input that. However, if your DH is self-employed or has multiple income sources it will be trickier. For his tax return, you will still need your taxable income as well.
If you run into difficulty give the help phone number a call, they can talk you through alot of things. GL

[Marley&Me]

Theres a help phone number!? Yay
Thanks, I will try again soon