Tax Return Preparation and Lodgement
Preparation and lodgement of income tax returns for individuals, sole traders, partnerships, companies and trusts — handled by a registered tax agent, not a seasonal shopfront.
A tax return is the one piece of work almost every client needs, and the one most often rushed. The Australian income year runs from 1 July to 30 June, and the return that follows it has to reconcile bank records, payment summaries, invoices, depreciation schedules and anything the ATO already holds through its prefill data. Where those sources disagree, someone has to work out which is right before a figure is lodged, because an amendment later costs more time than getting it right the first time.
We prepare returns for salaried employees with a single employer, and for operating businesses with staff, stock and equipment. The mechanics differ enormously between those two, but the discipline is the same: substantiate every deduction, apply the concessions that genuinely fit the taxpayer, and keep a working paper trail that would survive a question from the ATO. Where a return raises a wider issue — a property sale that triggers capital gains tax, or a business that has fallen behind on lodgements — we say so rather than lodging around it.
What a return engagement covers
- Individual returnsSalary and wage income, work-related deductions, interest and dividends, private health and Medicare items, and returns with multiple income sources.
- Sole trader and partnershipBusiness schedules, motor vehicle and home-office claims, personal services income questions, and partner distribution statements.
- Company and trust returnsCompany income tax returns and trust returns, reconciled back to the underlying financial statements rather than typed in from a spreadsheet.
- Rental and investment incomeRental schedules, interest apportionment, dividend and distribution income, and the records needed to support each claim.
- Prefill reconciliationComparing what the ATO already holds against your own records, and resolving the differences before lodgement rather than after.
- Lodgement and follow-upElectronic lodgement through the tax agent portal, then tracking the assessment and explaining it in plain language when it arrives.
Who this suits
Individuals with more than one income source. Where salary, investments, a rental property or a side business all have to land in one return without contradicting each other.
Owner-managed businesses. Sole traders through to companies and trusts that want the return prepared by the same firm that understands the books behind it.
People who have moved firms. Where prior-year positions, carried-forward losses or depreciation schedules need to be picked up accurately from someone else’s file.
How a return is prepared
Scope and records
We confirm which returns are due, for which entities, and what records exist. Gaps get identified at the start, not the week before lodgement.
Preparation and reconciliation
The return is built from source records and reconciled against ATO prefill data, prior-year positions and any financial statements.
Review and explanation
You see the return and the reasoning behind the material items before anything is lodged. Questions get answered while changes are still easy.
Lodgement and assessment
We lodge electronically and stay with it through to the notice of assessment, including any ATO follow-up on the return itself.
This page covers the preparation and lodgement of returns. If the ATO has already contacted you about overdue lodgements, a payment arrangement or a review, that sits with our ATO compliance and lodgement support instead.
Works well with
Common questions
Do I need a tax agent, or can I lodge it myself?
What records do you need from me?
Can you prepare returns for more than one year at once?
Speak to a chartered accountant
Tell us what you need and we’ll let you know whether we can help, what it involves and what it costs — before you commit to anything.