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Do's and don'ts for tax returns: experts available for comment

For employees working from home, part-time workers and small businesses juggling JobKeeper, there are things to watch out for this year when filing tax returns. 

Published on the 28 Jun 2021 by Kate Bettes
It's time to start thinking about filing your 2020/2021 tax returns. Photo: New York Public Library / Lee Russell

As the 2020/21 financial year draws to a close, the matter of financial literacy and education is front of mind for the UNSW Tax Clinic. As a provider of free, independent and confidential tax advice and support to financially vulnerable individuals and small businesses, the UNSW Tax Clinic has a mission to educate through outreach and its community-led response to severe financial stress. 

As Australians prepares to file their 2020/21 tax returns, Dale Boccabella, Associate Professor of Taxation Law at UNSW, and Founding Director of the UNSW Tax Clinic, Dr Ann Kayis-Kumar, are available to comment on taxation topics, including: 

Worked from home this year? Deductible claim options and tax pitfalls to avoid  

  • Advice for office workers who are looking to navigate claiming tax deductions when they have worked from home and/or the office, including aspects such as the “shortcut method” (80 cents per hour deduction), the “52 cents per hour deduction method”, the “actual costs method” and the latest tax cut. 

Run a small business? What you need to watch out for this tax time 

  • Aiming to assist small business owners who are looking to file tax returns, navigate JobKeeper and perhaps lodge late tax returns that were disrupted by COVID-19, including the tax break for instant asset write-off (temporary full expensing), financial distress from dealing with late tax returns and claiming losses on loss carry-back. 
  • Dr Ann Kayis-Kumar can also speak to human-centric experiences at the Tax Clinic, where small businesses have presented with issues of late returns. 

Juggling part-time work with family? Here’s what you need to know at tax time  

  • Aiming to assist part-time workers (particularly women, who make up 67 per cent of this group, according to the federal government's Workplace Gender Equality Agency) in navigating tax time, including aspects such as combining the tax-free threshold with the low-income tax offset, navigating multiple part-time jobs, being a low-income earner and benefitting from the low-income tax offset of up to $700 and the low- and middle-income tax offset of up to $1080 and the government’s childcare subsidy scheme. 

Tax experts for comment

A/Prof. Boccabella is also available for general comment on filing tax returns for the 2020/21 financial year. 

Dr Kayis-Kumar is also available to comment on tax issues faced by individuals and small businesses in severe financial distress. 

About the UNSW Tax Clinic

The UNSW Tax Clinic provides free, independent and confidential tax advice and support to financially vulnerable individuals and small businesses. It has outreach locations across Sydney and offers phone appointments depending on circumstances and location. Tax advice and representation services are often in high demand, so it gives priority to people who need help the most. For more information, visit the UNSW Tax Clinic.