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ABN income · Business schedules · GSTSole trader tax returns
Contractors, tradies, consultants, gig workers and small businesses on an ABN — the business schedule, the GST and the deductions, prepared by a registered tax agent and lodged from a fixed fee.
One return, two halves
A sole trader lodges one return, but it has two halves: the personal side with your salary, interest and dividends, and the business schedule with your ABN income and expenses. They are taxed together at your marginal rates.
The figure that matters is gross business income — what you invoiced — not what landed in your bank account after platform fees or merchant charges. Those fees are a separate deduction, and claiming the net figure is one of the most common mistakes we correct.
Once your business income is established the ATO usually sets PAYG instalments. They are not an extra tax: they are your next year's tax being collected in advance, and the amount can be varied down if your income has dropped.
What a sole trader can claim
Almost everything you spend to earn the business income is deductible, as long as it is genuinely for the business and you can show the record. The judgement calls are the mixed-use ones — car, home office, phone — where only the business share is claimable.
Home office
70 cents per work hour using the ATO fixed rate, with phone and internet claimed separately, or the actual cost method based on floor area and hours.
Vehicle
The business-use share of running costs and depreciation, calculated by logbook or by cents per kilometre up to 5,000 business kilometres.
Tools and equipment
Power tools, laptops, machinery and furniture, written off immediately under the instant asset write-off where the current threshold allows.
Insurance, registrations and software
Public liability, professional indemnity, licences, union and association fees, accounting software and subscriptions.
Super contributions
Personal contributions can be deductible if you notify the fund and stay within the contribution cap — a deduction worth checking every year.
GST, BAS and the five-year record rule
If you are registered for GST you charge it on your invoices, claim credits on your purchases, and settle the difference in a quarterly BAS. That is also the rhythm your bookkeeping should follow — four clean quarters make the year-end return straightforward, while a shoebox in July makes it expensive.
Records need to be kept for five years from when you lodge, and the ATO expects them to be readable: invoices for anything over $82.50 excluding GST, bank statements, and a log of the kilometres and hours behind your claims.
We can work from your existing Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks file, set one up for you, or take a spreadsheet and clean it up. The point is that the numbers in the return are traceable to a document.
Sole trader tax — frequently asked
Got an ABN and a return to lodge?
Send through your income summary and expense records and we will quote a fixed fee before we start — including the GST position if you are registered.