Do you really need an accountant to do your tax return?

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If no one has done so yet, let me be the first to wish you a happy end of financial year, a day I’m sure you’ve been counting down to on your calendar, staring wistfully out the window as you awaited its arrival. Well, wistfully stare no more, as we are officially in the 2026 fiscal year, and as the saying goes, it’s tax return time baby!

Doing your own tax might not be as difficult as you think.Credit: Aresna Villanueva

If you don’t think about all the tax you’ve paid for the past 12 months, getting your tax return is basically like free money (unless you end up owing tax, in which case, I have no silver lining for you).

Plus, with the awful weather in Sydney and Melbourne at present, what better time to curl up on the couch and start tallying up your deductions? You could even invite a friend!

What’s the problem?

I am embarrassingly eager to do my return (if that’s not obvious), but not everyone is so crazy about the idea. Data from the ATO shows about two thirds of Australians pay a tax agent to handle their affairs, while the remaining third of us do it ourselves. If that sounds like a lot, that’s because it is − Australia has one of the highest rates of tax agent use in the OECD.

The Tax Office doesn’t break down that data by age, but I’d bet that most people employing tax agents would be on the older side, while younger workers are more likely to do it themselves.

There are a few reasons for this, one of the biggest being that the online tax lodgment service, MyTax, has only been around for a decade or so, and its e-Tax predecessor was by all accounts a complete nightmare.

What you can do about it

If you’ve never done your own tax before, it might be time to start. The process is quite easy, and for the most part, the ATO does a good job walking you through it. Here’s what you need to know:

• When should you do your own tax? There’s another good reason why many of us pay for an accountant: tax is extremely complicated. One small slip up could add or remove hundreds to your final total, and could result in an audit from the ATO if the mistake is egregious enough. It’s for that reason that CPA Australia tax lead Jenny Wong recommends only people with relatively simple affairs do it themselves. “If your circumstances are straightforward, lodging your own tax return can be a fairly easy process, but it may not always lead to the best outcome,” she says. For example, if you have one source of income with simple deductions, you rent or pay a mortgage on just one property, and you don’t have any additional investments (or at least not complex ones), doing your own return would not be difficult. Once your employer sends your salary data through to the ATO, all your details will be pre-filled, so it’s just a matter of adding in your deductions and you’re good to go.

• When shouldn’t you do your own tax? Once your tax affairs get a bit messy, it’s probably wise to let someone else handle it, Wong says. “If you have investments, a side hustle or spend a lot for work, it’s important to make sure you’re reporting your income and capital gains correctly, as well as maximising your deductions and taking advantage of any available tax incentives. This is where a tax agent can really make a difference,” she says. Other scenarios that could warrant an accountant’s advice include if you’ve worked or earned money overseas, if you have an investment property, if you have numerous possible work-related deductions, or if you received trust or partnership distributions. This is not to say that people with complex affairs can’t do their own tax, but the likelihood of getting something wrong increases significantly when these situations come into play. “As we often say, you could cut your own hair, but you’ll get a better result if you see a professional – it’s the same with your tax return,” Wong says.

• When should I do it? While you’re eligible to lodge your return from 12.01am on July 1, doing so is generally a bad move, says Mark Chapman, head of tax communications at HR Block. Your workplace needs time to send your salary data to the ATO, which can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. “You need to be careful during the first few weeks of tax time; lodge too early and some of the information you need to complete your return may be missing,” Chapman says. Employers have until the end of the month to file your payment summary with the Tax Office, and when they do, your return will be marked as “tax ready” on MyTax. You can lodge before this, but you’ll have to make sure the information is accurate, as a late change after you file can pose issues. “This will lead to your tax return being wrong, requiring amendment after it is lodged, potentially affecting the amount of your refund,” Chapman says.
• What else do you need to know? Each year the ATO outlines a number of focus areas, which this year includes investment property income, cryptocurrency earnings and income from side hustles such as Uber, YouTube or OnlyFans. If you received any income from those sources, Wong says it may be even more important to get an accountant involved. She also reminds people filing their returns that every claim has to be backed up with evidence, such as a receipt or other record, including a diary record of all the days you worked from home if you’re planning to claim those deductions. Self-lodgment has a deadline of October 31, so you have plenty of time to get your affairs in order. And one final word of warning: don’t be tempted to get ChatGPT to help out, something Chapman says is on the rise as AI tools become more accessible. “These tools can easily misinterpret questions or pull inaccurate information, leading to errors, missed deductions and even ATO audits or fines,” he says. “We are seeing a growing use of AI, particularly among self-lodgers looking for quick answers on deductions, but it’s a risky shortcut that can leave taxpayers exposed.”

Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.