Guide to investment

Get your tax return right

Under Australia's self-assessment tax system, you're responsible for declaring all your assessable income on your tax return and claiming only the deductions and tax offsets you're entitled to. The law lets us review your tax return (which may result in an adjustment to the amount of tax you have to pay) but as long as you do the right thing (that is, as long as you declare all your assessable income and claim only what you're entitled to) we usually accept your tax return without adjustment.

There are a number of support initiatives to help you get your tax right on your investments:

• If you use e-tax to lodge your tax return you'll have the option of having information from third parties, including your employer and your financial institutions, filled in automatically. This optional service makes it easier for you declare all your income, claim your entitlements and avoid errors.
• If you're unsure about how tax law applies to your tax-effective arrangements, you can apply for a private ruling. We'll assess the arrangement and give you written advice on how the tax law applies to it. This advice is binding on us (as long as you implement the arrangement the way you describe it to us).
• If you realise that you didn't include something on your tax return that you should have, or there is some other error on it, you can amend your return. The amount of any penalty that may otherwise have been imposed will, in most cases, be reduced.
• If you suspect that you have invested in a tax avoidance scheme, we offer substantial reductions in penalties to people who come to us before we start to investigate them.

If you're still not sure, contact us or talk to a professional tax adviser.

	For more information about: e-tax, refer to E-tax essentials applying for a private ruling, refer to How to apply for a private ruling requesting an amendment to your tax return, refer to Correct a mistake or dispute a decision - home.
	Investment - home

Sections within Tax planning

• Get your tax return right
• Pay as you go (PAYG) instalments
• Investigate before you invest
• Identify a dodgy scheme