Should I use Taxback.com or go to an agent for my tax return?

CM24

So I'm on my 2nd year Working Holiday visa. I'm owed back all the tax that I paid in the 14/15 tax year. I work in a gym as a PT and I have to pay them $200 a week for the use of the premises. As far as I know I can claim this back as a work expense, along with all of the equipment I have purchased for work.
I have receipts for all these things.

I also did my farming and have all my PAYG/ Final Payment summaries which show the total amount of tax witheld.

I should be able to claim a couple of grand back.

Some of my friends have just gone to their local tax agents and paid them around $100 to get their tax return sorted out.

I can do it online via Taxback.com and they promise that they will get you the maximum possible return but apparently they take a percentage of it.

Which is the better option for me? I'd like to try get the cash ASAP but I don't want to get ripped off either.

d.pop

CM24 wrote: »

So I'm on my 2nd year Working Holiday visa. I'm owed back all the tax that I paid in the 14/15 tax year. I work in a gym as a PT and I have to pay them $200 a week for the use of the premises. As far as I know I can claim this back as a work expense, along with all of the equipment I have purchased for work.
I have receipts for all these things.

I also did my farming and have all my PAYG/ Final Payment summaries which show the total amount of tax witheld.

I should be able to claim a couple of grand back.

Some of my friends have just gone to their local tax agents and paid them around $100 to get their tax return sorted out.

I can do it online via Taxback.com and they promise that they will get you the maximum possible return but apparently they take a percentage of it.

Which is the better option for me? I'd like to try get the cash ASAP but I don't want to get ripped off either.

If your tax return is not too complicated you could do it yourself by downloading the etax from the ATO? It's free...

Personally I use HR block, they charge a flat fee around $100-150 but have got me some good returns in the past, I think the tax agents generally get a slightly better return than you would for yourself, it's just that their familiarity with the various options is worth a few hundred dollars straight away I think.

d.pop

Forgot to say, the refund comes from the ATO and at this time of year usually takes around 2 weeks unless you get audited.... Randomly chosen to submit all your receipts etc for reconciliation with what you claimed...

Batgurl

If you worked in a gym and paid them, wouldn't you have been a contractor on ABN? And so need to file a business return as well as an employee return?

CM24

Batgurl wrote: »

If you worked in a gym and paid them, wouldn't you have been a contractor on ABN? And so need to file a business return as well as an employee return?

I have no idea! I have my own ABN and am techinically running my own business. I'll go into a tax agent tomorrow and find out.