The honest answer is that it depends on what is in the return, and the useful answer is that it should never depend on anything you find out after the work is done. Here is what a tax return costs at our practice in Strathtulloh, a few minutes from Melton, what moves the price, and what you should expect any tax agent to tell you before they start.
The short version
| Return | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| PAYG employee | $179 | ATO pre-fill, work-related deductions, HECS, Medicare, lodgement |
| Sole trader or ABN income | $349 | Everything above plus the business schedule, vehicle and home office claims |
| Rental property | +$55 per property | The full rental schedule, income to depreciation |
| Capital gains event | +$99 per event | Cost base, discount, losses, the gain on the return |
| Crypto portfolio | from $149 | Reconciliation of every trade across exchanges and wallets |
| Company or trust | from $1,490 | Financial statements and the entity return |
All prices exclude GST, and the full list including BAS, bookkeeping and payroll is on the pricing page. Every client gets the figure in writing before we open the file. If something turns up that changes it, you hear about it before the work, not on the invoice.
What is inside the $179
A standard return is not a form filled in from your payslip. The ATO already holds your wages, interest, dividends, private health and Centrelink data, and we import all of it so nothing is missed or typed twice. The work is in the deductions: what you can claim for your occupation, what records support it, and where the line is. That takes a conversation, and it is the part a $50 online lodgement leaves out. Our deduction guide shows the categories we work through.
It also includes the HECS or HELP reconciliation, which catches people who have had two jobs or a pay rise, and twelve months of audit support if the ATO asks a question about the return later. The return is prepared and lodged by me, a registered tax agent, not passed to a seasonal preparer.
What moves the price
- Business income. An ABN return needs a business schedule, income reconciled to bank deposits and expenses apportioned. That is the difference between $179 and $349. Tradies, rideshare drivers, freelancers and side hustles that have grown all sit here. See sole trader returns.
- A rental property. Each property is its own schedule, with nineteen expense heads and a loan interest apportionment. $55 per property, and our free rental property schedule gathers the figures.
- Something sold. Shares, crypto, a property or a business asset means a capital gains calculation: $99 per event, or from $149 for a crypto portfolio with many trades. See capital gains tax.
- Missing years. These are priced per year at the same rate as a current one. There is no catch-up premium, and the ATO contact and penalty remission request are included. See overdue tax returns.
What does not change the price
A long list of deductions does not cost more. Neither does a question in March about a payslip, a second income statement, or a call to walk through the estimate before you sign. Those are the return. ABN and GST registration are free with your first return. ATO correspondence on a return we prepared is handled at no charge for current clients.
How to compare quotes properly
Three questions sort most of it out. Is the price fixed in writing before the work starts, or is it hourly? Who prepares the return, and are they a registered tax agent you can look up on the TPB register? And what happens if the ATO writes to you in a year's time, is that covered or billed? A low headline price with hourly add-ons and a seasonal preparer is a different product from a fixed price with a named agent, even if both are called a tax return.
One more thing worth knowing: the fee you pay a registered tax agent is itself a deduction in the year you pay it, so the net cost is lower than the invoice.
Melton, and everywhere else
The practice is in Strathtulloh, and most clients are across the Melton corridor: Melton, Melton South, Cobblebank, Rockbank, Caroline Springs and out to Bacchus Marsh and Sunbury. The prices are the same whether you come in, call, or do the whole thing by email from interstate.
If you want a figure for your own situation, book a free call or send the details through the contact page. You will have the price in writing the same day.
