PingtailAustralian tax time client document checklist
Income statements, deductions, rental and investment records: what to ask an individual client for at tax time, and how to phrase each item.
Australian tax time has a rhythm every practitioner knows. The income year ends on 30 June, clients start asking in early July whether they can lodge yet, and the first batch of documents arrives before the data behind it is ready. An income statement that is not yet tax ready, a rental summary from the agent that stops at May, a dividend statement for the wrong year. Then a quieter group waits until the reminder in September and sends a shoebox.
This checklist covers what to ask an individual client for at tax time, grouped by income type and deduction, with wording for each item that gets the right document the first time. It is written for registered tax agents and their teams preparing individual returns. The rules change from year to year, so treat everything here as typical and check the current rules for your client.
The dates that matter
An individual tax return covers the income year from 1 July to 30 June. A client lodging their own return must lodge by 31 October, or the next business day if 31 October falls on a weekend. Clients of a registered tax agent are generally covered by the agent's lodgment program, which can allow later dates, provided the client engages the agent before 31 October.
| When | What it means for collection |
|---|---|
| 30 June | The income year ends. Most documents for the year can now be produced. |
| From July | Employers finalise income statements, which then show as tax ready. Banks, funds and agents issue annual statements over the following weeks. |
| 31 October | The self-lodgment deadline. Any new client who wants to use your lodgment program must have engaged you by this date. |
| Your program dates | Lodgment dates under a tax agent program vary by client. Plan collection backwards from the date that applies to each client. |
The 31 October date matters even for existing clients. A client who drifts past it without being on your books, for example a new referral who keeps putting off the first meeting, may lose the later lodgment date. Make sure every new client is engaged before then, even if their documents are not.
Before you ask: tax ready and pre-fill
Much of a client's income reaches the ATO directly: income statements from employers, interest from banks, some dividend and government payment data. Clients can see their income statement in ATO online services through myGov, and it shows whether the employer has finalised it and marked it tax ready.
That changes how you ask in July. If you request everything on 1 July, clients send what they have, including income statements that are not final yet. Two better approaches:
- Ask for the client's own records first. Receipts, rental bills, work expenses, home office hours. These exist on 1 July and only the client has them.
- Ask for third-party documents later. Income statements, annual fund tax statements and agent summaries once they are issued, with a line telling the client to check the income statement shows tax ready.
This splits tax time into two short requests instead of one long one, and each arrives when the client can actually answer it.
The basics for every client
- Bank account details for any refund: BSB and account number.
- Changes since last year: a new job, a move, a relationship change, a new child, a property bought or sold, starting a business.
- Any letters from the ATO since the last return.
- The spouse's income, if the client has a spouse, because several offsets and levies depend on family income.
Employment and government payments
- The income statement or payment summary from every employer during the year, marked tax ready.
- Payment summaries from Centrelink (Services Australia), if the client received payments.
- Details of any lump sum or termination payment from an employer.
- Allowances and tips not shown on the income statement.
- Any foreign employment income.
Interest, dividends and shares
- Interest earned on every bank account, for 1 July to 30 June.
- Dividend statements for each holding.
- The annual tax statement from each managed fund, which often arrives later than other documents.
- For shares, units or crypto assets sold: the date and price of each sale and the original purchase records.
- Any foreign investment income.
Managed fund annual tax statements are the documents most likely to hold up an otherwise complete return. Ask about them in the first request so the client knows to watch for them, and plan for them to come last.
Rental property
- The property manager's annual statement for each property, covering 1 July to 30 June.
- The loan interest statement for each property loan, for the same period.
- Bills the client paid directly: council rates, water, insurance, strata levies, repairs.
- A depreciation schedule, if one has been prepared for the property.
- Dates the property was available for rent, and any periods of private use.
- Purchase or sale documents if the property was bought or sold during the year.
Ask for statements for the income year by name. Agents and lenders sometimes issue summaries on other periods, and the difference is easy to miss until the figures do not agree.
Sole traders
- Income records for the year, including cash.
- Business expense records and receipts.
- Full bank statements for accounts used in the business.
- Vehicle records, such as a logbook, if the client claims car expenses that way.
- Assets bought for the business, with dates and costs.
- Any business activity statements lodged during the year, if you did not lodge them.
Deductions
- Receipts or statements for work-related expenses the client is claiming.
- A record of hours worked from home, and the running costs, if the client claims working from home expenses.
- Receipts for donations to deductible gift recipients.
- Records of self-education, tools, uniforms or other costs directly related to earning income.
- The cost of managing their tax affairs, including last year's fee.
Deductions need records, and the records are the client's job. Tell clients in the first request which records you need for each claim they made last year, so they can collect them before the shoebox stage.
Health cover and family
- The private health insurance statement, if the client has cover.
- Details of dependants.
- Any child support paid or received, where relevant.
How to phrase each item
The difference between a list that gets sent and one that stalls is mostly wording. Name the document, the period and where to find it.
| Vague | Specific |
|---|---|
| Your PAYG summary | Your income statement from each employer, in ATO online services through myGov. Please check it says tax ready before you send it. |
| Rental documents | The annual statement from your property manager for 1 July to 30 June, for each property. |
| Investment information | The annual tax statement from each managed fund. It usually arrives after the other documents; please send it as soon as it does. |
| Work expenses | Receipts for anything you bought for work and were not paid back for, and your record of hours worked from home. |
For the structure of the whole email, see how to write a document request email clients actually answer. The plan in how to get clients to send tax documents on time is written for the US season, but the three fixes, a personal list, a real date and follow-ups that name what is missing, carry over to tax time. The year-end document collection plan shows how to spread the work across the year.
Questions
When should I send the tax time document request?
Send a first request in early July for the client's own records, such as receipts, rental bills and work expense records, which exist as soon as the income year ends. Send a second, shorter request for third-party documents once income statements are tax ready and annual statements have been issued.
Do I still need documents if the return is pre-filled?
Yes. Pre-fill covers much of the income that third parties report, but not the client's deductions, rental expenses, sole trader records or most capital gains details. Pre-fill data can also be incomplete or arrive late, so compare it with what the client sends.
What if a client's income statement is not tax ready?
Ask the client to contact their employer, because the employer has to finalise it. Collect everything else in the meantime. Tell the client what you are waiting for in each reminder, so the open item stays visible and does not hold up the rest of the work.
Can a new client still use our lodgment program after 31 October?
Generally a client needs to have engaged a registered tax agent before 31 October to be covered by the agent's later dates. Engage new clients before then, even if their documents come later, and check the current rules for your client.
Doing this with Pingtail
Pingtail has ready-made Australian checklists, including one for the individual return, and you can split it into the two requests described above, remove what a client does not need and save each as your own template. Each item tells the client what to send and where to find it, reminders follow on their own and list only what is still missing, and every upload is checked so a statement for the wrong year is caught while the client is still on the page. The page for tax preparers shows how a season runs. You can try it on yourself first: send a test request to your own email and upload the wrong file on purpose.