EOFY Tax Tips 2026: Simple Things You Can Still Do Before 30 June to Maximise Your Tax Refund

Most people treat 30 June like a deadline for a tax return. It isn’t. It’s actually a deadline for tax planning and those are two very different things.

Your tax return just reports what happened during the financial year. The actual decisions, the ones that shape how much you pay, or how much you get back all have to happen before 30 June. After that, the options are gone.

The good news is there’s still time. Whether you’re an employee, a sole trader, a small business owner, or an investor, there are practical steps you can take right now. None of them require you to be a financial expert. They just require a bit of action before the year closes.

Here’s what’s worth looking at before the end of the financial year.

1. Working From Home: Don’t Leave Money on the Table

If you’ve worked from home at any point this financial year, some of the costs you’ve covered out of your own pocket may be deductible. That’s not a loophole, it's how the system is designed.

Common work-from-home deductions include:

•      Electricity and gas used during work hours

•      Internet expenses (the work-related portion)

•      Phone usage for work calls and tasks

•      Stationery and printer supplies

•      Work-related furniture and equipment

•      Computers and accessories purchased for work

The ATO offers a fixed-rate method that simplifies the calculation for most people, but depending on your situation, claiming actual expenses might put more money back in your pocket. Your accountant can help you work out which approach suits you.

The key requirement: you need records. A diary, calendar, roster, or timesheet showing when you worked from home is usually enough to support your claim. If you haven’t started keeping one, starting now even a few weeks of records is better than none.

2. Vehicle Expenses: Make Sure Your Records Are Ready

Using your car for work whether that’s visiting clients, travelling between job sites, or picking up supplies creates a legitimate deduction opportunity. But only if you’ve kept the records to support it.

Depending on your method, you may be able to claim:

•      Work-related kilometres travelled

•      Fuel costs

•      Registration

•      Insurance

•      Repairs and maintenance

If you’re using the logbook method, check that your logbook is complete and your receipts are organised. A logbook needs to cover a continuous 12-week period to be valid, and it can be used for up to five years if your usage pattern doesn’t change significantly.

If you’re using the cents-per-kilometre method, you can claim up to 5,000 business kilometres without a logbook, but you should still be able to explain how you calculated the figure if the ATO asks.

3. Super Contributions: One of the Best EOFY Tax Planning Moves Available

If there’s one EOFY tax tip that’s worth paying attention to, it’s this one.

Making a personal voluntary super contribution before 30 June and then lodging a valid notice of intent to claim a deduction with your fund can reduce your taxable income for the year. The contribution gets taxed at the 15% superannuation rate instead of your marginal tax rate, which for many people means real savings.

The benefits stack up:

•      Lower taxable income for the year

•      A potentially larger tax refund

•      More money going into your retirement savings

There are contribution limits in place, and the money needs to be received by your super fund before 30 June, not just transferred. If you’re considering this, now is the time to move, because fund processing times vary and some banks take a few days to clear large transfers.

Talk to your accountant before making the contribution to confirm the right amount and make sure the paperwork is handled correctly.

4. Bring Forward Deductions: Pay This Year, Claim This Year

Some work-related expenses you would normally pay in July or August can be paid before 30 June and claimed in this financial year instead. If you’re sitting on a higher-than-usual income this year, bringing deductions forward can make a real difference.

Common expenses worth prepaying include:

•      Professional memberships and registrations

•      Industry subscriptions

•      Union fees

•      Income protection insurance (where the premium is deductible)

The rule is straightforward: if the expense is legitimate and you’ve actually paid it before 30 June, you can generally claim it. Prepaying expenses purely to create a deduction without any other reason can attract ATO attention, so keep it sensible.

5. Small Business Owners: Review What You’ve Purchased

If you run a small business, EOFY is one of the most useful times of year to think about asset purchases.

Business assets that may be deductible include:

•      Computers and laptops

•      Tablets and phones

•      Tools and equipment

•      Office furniture

One important detail: the asset generally needs to be purchased and ready for use before 30 June for the deduction to apply in this financial year. Ordering something on 29 June that won’t arrive until July doesn’t count.

If delivery or installation is required, factor that timeline in now rather than leaving it to the last few days of the financial year.

6. Investment Portfolio: Check Whether Any Losses Can Offset Your Gains

If you’ve sold investments at a profit this year, you may have a capital gains tax liability sitting in the background. Before 30 June is the time to look at whether any investments currently sitting at a loss could be used to offset that gain.

Capital losses can be used to reduce capital gains in the same year, which can meaningfully lower your tax bill. But the investment needs to be sold before 30 June for the loss to count in this financial year.

A few cautions here. The ATO watches this area closely, particularly for arrangements that look like they’ve been structured purely to manufacture a tax loss. Decisions about selling investments should be driven by your overall financial strategy, not just by tax timing. Talk to your accountant or financial adviser before making any moves.

7. Charitable Donations: Make It Count Before 30 June

If you’ve been thinking about donating to a cause you care about, doing it before 30 June means the deduction falls into this financial year.

To be deductible, the organisation needs to be a registered Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR). You can check this on the ATO’s website. The minimum donation threshold is generally $2, and you need to keep the receipt.

Charitable giving that also reduces your taxable income is a genuine win-win just make sure the charity qualifies before you donate.

8. Record-Keeping: The Part That Makes Everything Else Work

Every deduction on this list depends on one thing: evidence. The ATO can ask you to substantiate any claim you make, and if you can’t provide records, you may lose the deduction or face a penalty.

Before 30 June, it’s worth spending a bit of time getting organised:

•      Download and save bank and credit card statements

•      Collect and organise receipts and invoices for work-related expenses

•      Complete or update your vehicle logbook if relevant

•      Save donation receipts

•      Review and organise investment records if you’ve bought or sold assets this year

A digital folder with everything in one place makes life much easier when you sit down with your accountant. Apps like the ATO’s myDeductions tool can also help you track expenses throughout the year, so you’re not scrambling at EOFY.

The people who consistently get the best tax outcomes aren’t necessarily earning the most. They’re the ones who keep decent records.

9. Talk to Your Accountant Before 30 June — Not After

There’s a pattern that plays out every year. People make decisions, the financial year ends, and then they sit down with an accountant only to hear that something could have been structured differently if they’d acted a week earlier.

That’s the nature of tax planning. Once the year closes, the options close with it.

Every taxpayer’s situation is different. What works for a property investor might not work for a sole trader. What makes sense for someone on a high income might not suit someone in a lower bracket. Generic EOFY advice has its limits personalised advice, timed right, is worth much more.

A short conversation with your accountant before 30 June can open up options that simply won’t exist after the year ends.

Wrapping Up

Tax planning isn’t complicated, but it is time-sensitive. The steps above don’t require you to be a tax expert. They just require a bit of attention before 30 June.

Review what you can claim. Organise your records. Consider a super contribution if it makes sense for your situation. And if you’ve got investments, take a look at whether there’s anything worth acting on before the year closes.

The earlier you move, the more choices you have. That’s true every year.

Ready to make the most of what’s left of the financial year?

The team at TaxCrop works with individuals, sole traders, and small business owners to make sure nothing gets missed before 30 June. If you’d like to talk through your situation before the financial year ends, get in touch with us here. We’re here to help.