Before you lodge

Tips and links to help check your clients' tax returns before lodging and avoid delays. Before lodging your clients' tax returns you should:

• consider their residency and foreign income for tax payable in Australia
• use the pre-filling service to check information is accurate
• ensure work-related expense claims are correct and meet the rules
• help prevent delays in processing by checking for common errors before lodging.

Processing may be delayed if there are incorrect or incomplete details in returns.

If your client is claiming the Medicare levy exemption they will need to obtain a Medicare Entitlement Statement from Services Australia before lodging their tax return. They need to complete this form each year they wish to claim the exemption.

If your client does not qualify for an exemption, they will be subject to a Medicare levy of 2% of their taxable income. This applies regardless of whether or not they have private health insurance.

In addition to the Medicare levy, your client may have to pay the Medicare levy surcharge. This applies if they do not have the appropriate private patient hospital cover for any period during the financial year and they earn above a certain income.

You cannot claim the net medical expenses tax offset in the 2019–20 and later income years. Legislation passed in 2014 abolished this offset from 1 July 2019.

Follow these links for what else to consider before lodging your clients' tax returns:

• Low income earners may need to lodge
• Data matching
• Sharing economy
• Business industry code reporting
• Income and deductions