Tax. It’s not fun. But it is unavoidable. So rather than putting it off, get stuck in and get it sorted.

Here’s our 5-step guide to lodging your tax form.   

Step one

Do you need to submit a tax return? If you paid tax on any income you earned, you’ll have to lodge a tax return. If you’re not sure, confirm it with this handy tool from the ATO.

Your tax return covers the financial year which ends on 30th June. If you’re doing your own tax, make sure you’ve submitted it by 31 October, or you could be charged a fine. If you use a tax agent to help you out, you’ve got a bit longer than that.

Step two

So you earned some money this year, and need to lodge a tax return. The first thing you’ll need is your tax file number (TFN). It’s your personal go-to number for tax and superannuation, so keep it safe. You’ll find your TFN on all letters you receive from the Tax Office or your super fund.

You don’t have to have a TFN, but you’ll pay more tax if you don’t. You can apply for a TFN here.

Step three

Filling out your tax return tells the tax office how much income you’ve received over the year and how much tax you’ve paid.

If you’ve been sensibly filing away your receipts all year, you can claim any deductions that you’re entitled to on your tax return.

If you’ve paid too much tax over the year you’ll get a refund cheque in the mail. This will be the best letter you are ever likely to recieve from the ATO.

Of course, the tax office might also decide that you haven’t paid enough tax, and you’ll get a bill in the mail instead, which is obviously not so good.  You can find out what to do if you’ve got a tax debt here.

Step four

Submitting your tax return online is super easy, because a lot of the information from previous tax returns will be automatically filled in. That means that you won’t have to dig out information about your HECS or HELP debt, family assistance payments, or income from shares and managed funds. It’s all there, waiting for you.

As an added bonus for those submitting online, tax forms are finalised pretty quickly – within 12 days. So fingers crossed – a refund cheque might be winging it’s way to you before too long.

If you’d like to submit your tax return online, there are a couple of options, depending on how complicated your finances are. Use myTax if your return is super simple, and e-tax if you’ve got your fingers in a number of pies. This list tells you which one you fall into.

If you prefer, you can lodge your tax return the traditional way – on paper. You can find the forms at the ATO office or order one online, before filling it out and resending it back to the ATO. Find the instructions on the ATO website or click here.

Paper tax returns take up to 50 days to be finalised, so you’ll have to be patient.

Doing your tax might be boring, but it’s nothing to be frightened of. So roll up your sleeves, and get that tax return submitted – and cross your fingers that you get a juicy cheque in the mail.

Of course, if you are still unsure, you can get help with your tax from a friendly accountant. Find one near you.