An EOFY checklist for PAYG employees

June is a bad time to start keeping records and a good time to finish them. Here's a short list that covers most salary earners.

flowchart LR
  june[June - finish the year's records] --> july[July - wait for prefill]
  july --> oct[31 October - lodge or register with an agent]

Before 30 June

Total your work-from-home hours. If the count is incomplete, fix it now from rosters, timesheets, and calendars while the year is still fresh — and start recording as you go from 1 July.

Read your kilometre total. If you're near 5,000 work kilometres under cents per km, the marginal trips are worth nothing extra, and you may be better off starting a 12-week logbook next year.

Bring forward genuine purchases. If you were going to buy work gear anyway, buying before 30 June moves the deduction into this year. Buying things you don't need to "save tax" is a poor trade — you spend a dollar to save 32 cents.

Watch the $300 asset line. An item costing $300 or less, used mainly for work, can be deducted immediately. Above $300 it's depreciated over its effective life. Two $280 items that are part of a set costing over $300 do not each qualify.

Prepay where it's allowed and useful. Professional subscriptions, union fees, and income protection premiums are common candidates.

Check for missing receipts while you can still ask for a duplicate.

After 1 July

Wait for prefill. Employers, banks, health funds, and government agencies report to the ATO, and prefill data usually lands during July. Lodging on 2 July often means amending later.

Reconcile your income statement in myGov and confirm it's marked as tax ready.

Assemble deductions by category. A useful structure:

Category	Typical items
Working from home	Hours × the rate, or apportioned actual costs
Car and travel	Work kilometres, or logbook percentage of costs
Tools and equipment	Items ≤ $300 immediately; above that, decline in value
Clothing	Occupation-specific, protective, or compulsory uniform, plus laundry
Self-education	Course fees, textbooks, related travel
Other	Union fees, professional memberships, subscriptions, income protection

Note anything unusual. A one-off relocation, a big asset, a second job, or a period of unpaid leave changes the shape of the return, and it's worth a sentence for your accountant.

Key dates

• 1 July — lodgment opens; prefill still filling
• Late July onwards — most income statements are tax ready
• 31 October — deadline to lodge yourself, or to be registered with a tax agent
• Mid-May the following year — the usual agent deadline for eligible clients

If you owe money, lodging early does not mean paying early — the payment date is separate.

The honest summary

The difference between a $600 refund and a $2,000 one is rarely a clever strategy. It's whether the WFH hours, the trips, and the receipts exist as records instead of impressions.

Do the small version of this every month and June becomes a review, not a reconstruction.