With the move to working from home and JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments, AHA Accounting + Business Solutions associate Jessica Serafini said more people were turning to the professionals to sort out their tax returns.
“We're getting a lot more people who normally do it themselves already and it's solely because people are uncertain,” Miss Serafini said.
With more people finding themselves working at home in the past few months, Miss Serafini said an accountant could help them claim some additional expenses.
“There is an additional claim method available from March to June, they're calling it the COVID method,” she said.
“Instead of claiming 52 cents per hour that you work from home plus phone and internet portions, you get a flat rate of 80 cents per hour that you work from home during that time that covers your electricity, that covers your internet, covers your phone, the running costs of your house.
“On top of that, you can also claim purchases that you may have bought to be able to set yourself up to work from home: desk, laptops, Zoom licence and things like that which you may have to depreciate but you can claim.
“If you do have a home office set-up, you can claim cleaning expense if you do have to pay a cleaner to come in.
“As long as you pay for it yourself and you weren't reimbursed, then you can claim.”
Miss Serafini recommended preparing proof of hours worked at home such a diary, pay slips or letter from your employer and said an accountant could help work out which claim method would work best for you.
She also said to be wary of over-claiming travel and laundry expenses.
“A lot of people would normally do a lot more travel for work than they would this year, and that would be something the ATO will be looking at, is the correlation between how much you're working from home and whether your travel is still high,” she said.
“They're still cracking down on laundry, so if you don't have a logoed uniform or it's not protective clothing or it's not occupation-specific, steer clear.”
For standard employees, JobKeeper will be included on their group certificate, while sole traders need to ensure it is added to their income.
Those on JobSeeker will receive a Centrelink payment summary and it will be taxed like any other income.