It’s always a bit disheartening seeing your taxes disappear from your payslip each week. Thankfully, we’re coming up to that one time of year when you can hopefully get some of that money back—and use it to pay off a secured personal loan. In the hassle of unearthing all those documents and figuring out what you can claim (or what you owe), you still might be missing some things that you can deduct from your taxes. So, we’ve written this blog as a one-stop shop for one to maximise your tax return this year.
Overview
What is a tax return?
Before we dive into how to maximise your tax return, it’s important to understand how it works. After each EOFY (End of Financial Year), you must lodge an individual tax return, which is a form that reports your total assessable income, claims deductions, and determines the tax you owe.
What is assessable income and taxable income?
You must report all your income (minus very few exceptions) to the ATO. Assessable income includes:
- Salary, wages, overtime, and commissions
- Tips, gratuities, bonuses, and allowances
- Government, and welfare payments
- Investment income, dividends, and rental income
- Bank interest
- Pensions
Your assessable income minus deductions is your “taxable income”, which is the final amount you actually have to pay tax on. The more deductions you have, the lower your taxable income.
What is PAYG?
The tax taken out of your payslip is called “pay as you go” (PAYG). It allows you to pay tax progressively instead of all at once. Think of PAYG as an estimate, and your tax return corrects the amount of tax you actually owe. You will either get a tax refund or a tax bill, depending on whether you have overpaid or underpaid tax.
How to maximise your tax return
Maximising your tax return is all about lowering your taxable income as much as possible. This isn’t just about claiming deductions, but doing them correctly, finding ones you may have overlooked, and being organised. Read on for our top tips.
1. Manage your receipts
One of the simplest ways to maximise your tax return is to keep track of your receipts. That way, when it comes time to make your deductions, you can easily show evidence.
Does your workplace take care of all your supplies, or do you provide some? Any time you pay for something for work, always ask for a receipt! The good thing about modern technology is that many businesses have digital receipts, whether that is through email, text, or member accounts, so it’s easy to keep track.
If you provide anything from pens to a coffee machine, tools and work bags to a required uniform, make note of it. Other things that are overlooked that you can claim deductions on with receipts include:
- Donations
- Premiums on income protection insurance
- Membership or union fees
- Tax professional hiring costs
- Stationery and tools
- Uniform, clothing, and protective gear
- Work from home expenses
- Home internet and phone bills
- Electricity and gas bills
- Subscriptions (Microsoft Office, Adobe Suite, Grammarly)
- Office furniture and fittings and technological equipment* (and their repairs)
*You can claim the decline in value of depreciable assets over $300 (not the whole cost).
You can claim $300 of work-related expenses without a receipt. But if your work-related expenses are more than this, start collecting receipts to claim more tax!
2. Stay organised year-round
Instead of running around at the end of the year trying to find receipts, make sure you have a designated spot to keep receipts, whether that is physical or digital.
A great option is a mobile phone app, like Etax, which allows you to record, categorise, and add notes for tax deductions and work expenses. The ATO app also has a tool that allows you to take photos of your invoices or receipts.
3. Get the basics right
This may be obvious to some, but make sure you are checking all your basic information. Simply checking over your details could make the process quicker and maximise your tax return. Sometimes you can have a blind spot! The basics include:
- Updated personal details in your ATO/MyGov account (such as address)
- Correct bank details
- Correct spelling
If your address doesn’t match between the ATO and your tax file number, it won’t be directed to you!
4. Keep a mileage log
Another simple way to increase your tax return is to keep a mileage log. If you use your car for work-related trips and don’t get reimbursed by your employer, you can claim a deduction through either the cents per kilometre method or the logbook method.
The logbook method requires a lot more detail, but it is the best option to maximise your tax return. Once you’ve done it for one year, it’s valid for 5 years with the same job and address!
Without a logbook, you can claim cents per kilometre up to 5,000km. The current rate for the 2025-26 financial year is 88 cents per kilometre.
There are other car expenses you may overlook that you should also keep a record of for tax time, which include:
- Decline in value of the car
- Petrol
- Registration
- Insurance
- Repairs and services
5. Find all the claims
People miss opportunities all the time to claim deductions. If something is necessary for your specific job or business, you should be able to claim it. Some of these can get pretty unique!
Here are some interesting examples:
- Gym memberships: For jobs that require above-average fitness levels, like professional sports or the defence force.
- Professional publication or research service subscriptions: For investors, employees, sole traders and businesses that use industry-specific journals, or digital products in the course of their work (this does not include general publications or subscriptions like magazines, newspapers, or streaming services).
- Self-education: For courses and training that maintain or improve skills for your current job and will lead to (or likely lead to) a pay rise.
- Coaching classes: For certain jobs, especially creative jobs like singing, dancing, and acting, to maintain or acquire specific skills.
6. Deduct personal super contributions
Did you know that you can claim deductions on personal voluntary contributions to your superannuation? If you make your own contributions that aren’t from your employer or part of a salary sacrifice, you can complete a Notice of Intent to your super to claim a deduction. Just be careful, if you decide to borrow money from your super later, the tax rates can be pretty high and even increase your tax bill.
There is a limit to how much you can contribute before you have to pay extra tax. This is called the concessional contributions cap, which is $30,000 as of 2026. You can carry forward unused contribution cap amounts for up to 5 years if your super balance is under $500,000 on 30 June of the previous fiscal year.
7. Claim special tax offsets
Tax offsets, also known as tax rebates, reduce the amount of tax you owe at EOFY. Some may contribute to your tax refund, such as the private health insurance rebate. You may decide to take this offset as a reduction on your premiums through your insurance provider instead.
Note that most tax offsets are non-refundable. This means that the offsets can reduce your tax bill, but if it’s already reduced to zero, you don’t get the leftovers as a refund. It’s still worth exploring these to reduce or remove your tax bill! Tax offsets include:
- Seniors and pensioners tax offset (SAPTO)
- Low-income tax offset (LITO)
- Beneficiary tax offset
- Offset for maintaining an invalid or invalid carer
- Zone or overseas forces tax offsets
Some offsets may automatically be added when you do your tax return.
8. Track those donations
Another simple way to increase your tax return is to keep track of your donations. You can claim amounts over $2, as long as you didn’t get anything in return, like a chocolate or a little gift. Even if you’ve thrown some change into a donation bucket or two throughout the year, you can claim up to $10 for them without a receipt!
If you’re donating larger amounts, make sure you get a receipt or letter noting your donation amount and where you donated. It might be a good idea to check into whether the charity has Deductible Gift Recipient status and, most importantly, if you received any benefits from the donation. The following charity-related purchases do not count for donations:
- Raffle tickets
- Purchasing tickets for fundraisers
- Buying items sold as a fundraiser
- Membership fees
- Winning and paying for auction items at a charitable event.
There could be even more, so it’s best to check before you try to claim it as a donation.
7. Seek the advice of a professional (or at least consider software)
This last piece of advice will help you more than anything else — consider using a professional, or at least tax software. The accountant or accounting software knows the right things to ask for, where to look for additional deductions, how to handle any tricky tax issues, and how to plan for the coming years.
Seeking the help of a professional means you can just turn over all those receipts, paperwork, and records you keep, and they’ll do the rest! It’s best to seek an account when:
- You have a complex tax situation (stock portfolio, investment assets, or properties)
- You have multiple income streams
- You don’t feel confident lodging your own tax return (and want/need to claim more than the pre-filled form)
- You have noticed that you have had to pay tax bills in the last few years
- You run a small business or are a contractor/freelancer
- You earn income from outside Australia
Remember, these tax accountants are literally trained pros in maximising your tax return. You could learn a thing or two from them for next time. Also, you’ll have the peace of mind knowing that your taxes are taken care of—and you can claim the hiring expenses next EOFY.
Need help with repayments? Swoosh has you covered!
Claimed everything you could, but still hit with an unexpected tax bill? When you’re expecting a cash injection from your tax return, it can feel like a shock to find yourself owing money instead. If you feel like you need help repaying the ATO, consider taking out a secured loan to bridge the gap. With our 100% online application process, it’s easy to apply for a loan today.
Maximise your tax return FAQs
What is the most overlooked tax break in Australia?
While there are plenty of tax deductions people overlook in their claims, one to note in particular is personal super contributions.
What can I claim on tax without receipts?
Generally, you can claim up to $300 on tax without receipts for expenses directly related to your job. This is cumulative across the financial year, covering expenses like laundry and stationery. While you do not need receipts, you need some kind of record, and a reason for why you need it.
What deductions can a sole trader claim?
Sole traders can claim deductions for valid business expenses that are directly related to earning their assessable income. This can include:
- Rent of office space
- Stationery and office furniture
- Digital subscriptions and utility bills
- Travel and vehicle expenses
- Related education and training
- Marketing and advertising
- Accountant fees
- Business-related insurance
- And more
What is the $20,000 instant asset write-off?
The $20,000 instant asset write-off is a temporary increase of the original $1,000 limit for small businesses. This covers the full cost of eligible assets costing less than $20,000 that are first used (or ready to use) during the 2025-26 financial year. This limit is only available until 30 June 2026.
