Tax calculators and tax estimates are great tools for getting an estimate of your tax position. From big tax refunds to tax payable, they’ll estimate your tax position. The best way to fully understand your tax position is to complete your online tax return. The tax return can then be lodged, or sit ready to lodge until you’re ready.

How to lodge your tax return

A tax return can be prepared, completed, ready to be lodged prior to actually lodging the tax return. This can be done by a tax agent or directly with the ATO. This provides the most accurate tax estimate as the tax return is worked out using all levies, offsets and other fields in the tax return.

Here’s a few ways to lodge:

• In person with a tax agent
• Paper forms with ATO
• Online with MyGov
• With an online tax agent (One Click Life)

The quickest way to lodge is with an online tax agent. Lodging your tax return online can be done anywhere, anytime on any device and although most are geared up to only work with tax agent intervention, One Click Life provide a self-guided product that allows you to lodge directly through to the ATO directly from their simple product.

What other benefits are there to lodging online?

There are a heap of benefits, but here are our top 5.

1. The single biggest benefit has to be time. Its really quick and really simple to complete an online tax return.
2. It is secure to lodge your tax return online. One Click Life provides a digital ID check and multifactor authentication to ensure they know who you are when you lodge.
3. It’s really cheap to lodge an online tax return. One Click Life are only $99 to lodge. The average price seems to be about $99 from the online tax providers, but we think One Click Life is the most simple solution available.
4. You still get tax agent support, without having to book an appointment to see a tax agent! You always want a tax agent on your side when the ATO come knocking.
5. You’re doing something for the environment. Imagine the improvement to our carbon footprint if everyone did an online tax return with One Click Life! No paper, no driving to see a tax agent and no time wasted!

There are a heap more, but these seem to be the most commonly talked about benefits of lodging your tax return online. The ability to lodge your online tax return from your couch while binge watching your favourite show on your streaming service of choice is always a hugely overlooked benefit too!

Remember, a tax calculator will only provide you with an estimate of your tax refund. Completing an online tax return will give you the most accurate picture of your tax refund.

Once you have all the information in place, make sure you have selected the correct tax year in the tax calculator.

If you want to take your tax estimate to a lodgement, you can do that using One Click Life.