Why does your accountant know so much about you, without having to ask?

As seen in Woopi News May 2022

In recent years Online Services for Agents (aka the Tax Agent Portal) continues to be expanded.  A lot of this information is also available on your MyGov account, if you have one setup.  As accountants we need to have your signed authority to access this information as well as your Date of Birth and Tax File Number.  We can then add you as a client on our tax agent list.  In some circumstances your new accountant should notify your previous accountant before doing this.

We can access up to 10 years of your tax returns, however the detail is quite limited.  In some circumstances a full detailed copy of the previous year is needed to ensure carried forward information like depreciating assets aren’t missed.

Your accountant can download a summary of income the ATO expect will be included in your tax return.  This no longer only includes wages, interest, and dividends received. It now includes details of units/shares and even properties you have sold. There is a warning if you have bought or sold digital currencies as well as a warning if the ATO are monitoring your deductions because last year you claimed high deductions for your industry.

We can now see if you have taken payments using various services such as PayPal and Square, so it’s best to advise your accountant of these income amounts separately so that we can check them off against the ATO data.

We can see your superannuation fund details including fund name and your member number, the balance at the last date provided (but not your current balance). We can check if your employer is paying your superannuation guarantee and see contributions that you have made, that could be converted to a tax deduction.