Secret’s out of the box

MORE Australians are doing their tax electronically but a big chunk of us still stuff receipts in a drawer or shoebox. New research from Beyond Bank Australia has found that more than four out of 10 people say they use the myTax online lodgement system, and people are increasingly tracking their expenses electronically. The Australian Taxation Office has boosted its electronic services in recent years, including voice authentication, the ability for app users to photograph receipts and store them in the cloud, and tracking work-related car use via GPS on people’s smartphones or tablet computers. However, while 23 per cent of people now file receipts on a computer, 39 per cent use a drawer and 10 per cent a shoebox, Beyond Bank’s survey found. Deputy CEO Wayne Matters said it was surprising that many people still chose old-fashioned ways to keep receipts and other data despite clever new methods to track expenses. “As long as it is being collected

somewhere, even if it’s organised chaos, it’s better than no system at all,” he said.

Heather Gill is a member of the traditional shoebox brigade, and also uses a tax agent instead of myTax.

“There’s something about a shoebox that makes it a great device for keeping receipts – otherwise they just seem to disappear in everyday paperwork,” she said.

Ms Gill said she put off doing her tax return for as long as possible because “it’s such a boring chore”.

She’s not alone. Beyond Bank’s survey found almost half of us see tax as a chore, despite more than 80 per cent of taxpayers receiving a refund each year.

Mr Matters said electronic guides such as myTax had become very easy to use.

“If your tax is relatively simple, then this may be all you need,” he said.

William Buck business advisory director Matthew Illman said he was seeing a greater use of electronic filing and storage systems for tax information as people became more confident about the security of electronic data.

“At the same time, we still do see a lot of paper and physical filing systems,” he said.

“Whether you use an electronic system or paper-based system, it’s more about the quality of information that goes into that. It’s about being in touch with your accountant about the information you need to provide.”

Mr Illman said employers had until July 14 to send your 2017-18 wage data to the ATO. Banks, share registries and private health insurers had weeks longer, he said, while managed funds and other investments could take several months.