Newage Accounting provides taxation services and planning for individuals and businesses. Contact Lily Wang and the team in Toorak to discuss your circumstances, the tax period involved and the support you are looking for.
Make your enquiry specific
Tell the team whether your enquiry concerns an individual or a business, which financial year it relates to and whether you have received correspondence from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). This helps identify the next steps and the records needed for a useful discussion.
Prepare the right records
Have an outline of your income sources, relevant expenses, business activities and the questions you want to discuss. Ask the team which records are needed for your situation before sending documents. Avoid including tax file numbers or identity documents in an initial website enquiry.
Use guidance for the relevant year
Tax information must be read in the context of your circumstances and the relevant financial year. Older articles on this website remain dated historical reading. For current general guidance, use the Australian Taxation Office website and discuss your own position with your adviser.
Confirm who will provide the service
You can use the Tax Practitioners Board public register to check a tax practitioner's registration. Ask the practice for the name and registration details relevant to your engagement.
Questions before you begin
Can a website estimate my tax refund?
A general article cannot determine your refund or tax payable. An assessment of your circumstances and records is needed. Contact the team to discuss the information required.
What if I have an approaching deadline?
Mention the date and any ATO correspondence when you contact the team. Ask them to confirm availability and the next steps for your situation.
Enquiry preparation at a glance
For a useful tax enquiry, identify whose tax affairs are involved, the relevant period, the question you need answered and any approaching date. Newage Accounting's taxation services page can help you start that discussion; the documents and work required should then be agreed for your circumstances.
Organise the enquiry around the decision you need
Explain whether you need help preparing a return, understanding an ATO letter, reviewing a possible earlier error or considering a business decision. These requests can involve different records and work. A short description of the decision is more useful than a folder with no explanation.
Where a company, a sole-trader business and personally held assets are involved, label each group of records by the relevant person or entity and period. Our first-meeting guide includes business and rental-property preparation prompts so you can start with one organised brief.
Connect annual tax work with the records already available
If BAS or bookkeeping work has already been done, note the periods completed, the person who handled them and where the supporting reports can be found. Identify any items still waiting for review. This helps you ask which work is included in the proposed engagement.
For an initial enquiry, give the business or individual context, period, main question and relevant date. Confirm the scope, fees and method of providing records before sending detailed tax information.
More preparation questions
How should I organise records if I have both business and rental income?
Start by identifying the person or entity connected with each activity and the period the records cover. Keep business records and property records in separate groups, and explain any transactions between them. The first-accountant-meeting guide gives preparation prompts; the grouping itself does not decide ownership, deductions or the tax treatment of an item.
Sources: Record keeping
Can I make a tax enquiry before all my records are complete?
Yes. Explain what you have, what is missing and whether a deadline is approaching. Make a short missing-records list instead of filling gaps with guesses. Ask which documents are needed first and what work can be scoped from the information available.
Sources: Record keeping · Finding and using a tax practitioner
Does lodging a BAS mean my annual tax return is finished?
No. BAS reporting and an annual income tax return are separate work items. Explain which BAS periods have been lodged and which annual return you are asking about, then confirm what remains to be prepared or reviewed. An organised BAS file can support the discussion without establishing that the annual return is complete.
Sources: Business activity statements (BAS)
What should I prepare if I think an earlier BAS or tax return is wrong?
Keep a copy of what was lodged, identify the period and item you are concerned about, and explain the difference with supporting records. Ask the practitioner to assess the appropriate next step. For GST errors, the ATO sets conditions for correction; do not assume a later BAS is automatically the right place to make a change.
Sources: Correcting GST errors · Finding and using a tax practitioner