Hopeless Online Accountant for Tax Return

Kidaway on 05/11/2021 - 16:59
Last edited 05/11/2021 - 17:00

Hi guys,

I am just an ordinary joe with a regular income, small investments in shares and cryptocurrency. Most of the income of the shares (buy/sell) are either uploaded to ATO by CommSec or a report provided by IG. Cryptocurrency report was autogenerated using tax tool with a final net capital gain figure.

Deductibles for work were all documented in the receipts (work monitor, books, membership etc).

Unfortunately, the online tax accountant that I used (outsourced to India it seems) had made so many mistakes (reporting a higher capital gain tax for crypto, incomplete deductibles such as accountant fee for previous FY not included etc) that I am literally correcting his work.

Apart from doing it all myself, can someone recommend a good accountant (based in Victoria) or an online accountant? I just want to pass all my receipts, information and circumstances and have someone magically do it for me error-free. Happy to clarify/discuss (which this accountant has not and my questions not answered too).

Thanks!

Financial

Comments

  • ihbh on 05/11/2021 - 17:15
    +6

    If you can correct it yourself, then lodge it yourself.

    Your return is quite simple. Invest a bit of time for the first one, and the following years it will be much quicker.

    • Quantumcat on 05/11/2021 - 18:57
      +2

      The deadline for doing it yourself might be passed already or will be soon, then you'll only be allowed to lodge with an accountant

      • ihbh on 05/11/2021 - 19:29

        This is not the case. The deadline with an accountant is later than DIY, but what if you miss this deadline?

        • Quantumcat on 05/11/2021 - 19:59

          Then you need to do it on paper, not available electronically anymore (dealing with some missed returns myself atm). I guess you must be allowed to do it yourself then

      • brad1-8tsi on 06/11/2021 - 08:11

        If it's a basic return as the OP describes and nothing has changed from last year then the online system provided by the ATO through MyGov is available.

        I did 4 years of returns for my youngest daughter last year. There were no fines despite the ATO saying they were cracking down on late returns.

  • SF3 on 05/11/2021 - 17:44
    -1

    Unfortunately, the online tax accountant that I used (outsourced to India it seems) had made so many mistakes

    How much are you meant to be paying them?

    • Kidaway on 05/11/2021 - 18:24
      +1

      $229 + 30 mins $30 for bookkeeping.

      • AndyC1 on 05/11/2021 - 19:16
        -1

        Was the name "Ned Kelly Accountants RIP" by any chance?

  • nubzy on 05/11/2021 - 18:03

    I've used www.etax.com.au. To be honest they are not that helpful and their communication is quite poor, but it's convenient and doesn't cost too much.

  • Arcticsoldier on 05/11/2021 - 18:57

    This year was the first year I've use H&R block accountants. Previous years I would do my own. Only reason I tried an accountant was to see if I missed something. Ended up being the same amount returned. Do it yourself unless you got many things to claim back

    • Craze on 05/11/2021 - 20:18

      Similar experience- used to always do on my own until I decided to try a tax accountant (recommended by a friend, too!) to see if I missed anything. Wasn't useful in the end plus a lot more administrative than if I did it myself!

      I think the general consensus is DIY is the way to go if you don't have a complex investment portfolio.

    • serpserpserp on 05/11/2021 - 21:20

      I used H&R Block too once and it was a waste of time & money. Pretty disappointing to be honest.

  • Ocker on 05/11/2021 - 19:41

    You get what you pay for - simple as that. Your want to outsource to India to a person paid about $2.00 an hour, and then complain about the quality of service?

    How hard can it be for you to do your own leg work and phone a few accountants in your locale and keep our own economy alive and people employed ?. Tell them your requirements and ask for a quote.

    You pay peanuts and you get monkeys.

    • SD2310 on 05/11/2021 - 20:42

      Isn’t the whole premise of ozbargain you get better than you pay for?

    • serpserpserp on 05/11/2021 - 21:21
      +1

      I think in this case he got a monkey with a peanut allergy.

    • miwahni on 06/11/2021 - 02:14

      Don't know why you got negged for that, you're absolutely correct.

  • Kidaway on 06/11/2021 - 15:32

    Thanks guys!

    To add on to the story:

    I have provided the transaction summary to the accountant for FY20-21 (CBA issued). In the summary, I sold Vicinity shares on 12 Nov 2020 - it didn't list when and how much I bought the Vicinity shares for (as I bought it in the last financial year). I made a small profit. I seriously wonder how my accountant has calculated the capital gains or even query about this transaction. I have pulled the records from ATO website about my acquisition/disposal - it's not captured.

    Lastly, I only have 8 different shares - I don't have a mega list of transactions and I would kind of expect the accountant to capture this?

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