Australian Tax Workspace

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Overview

The Australian Tax Workspace helps Australian organisations prepare and review the tax position for one entity and financial year at a time. The Australian tax landing page is about the most recent financial year that has ended, since that is the year being prepared and reviewed. It changes over on 1 July (Sydney time): from 01/07/2026 the page is about 2025–26, until 01/07/2027. The new in-progress year becomes available at the same time, from midnight in Sydney on 1 July. Where 2025–26 stands (or whichever year has just ended) shows how many of that year’s workpapers are reviewed, with a dot for each entity and how many are ready for review, in draft or not started. Beside it, Needs attention lists entities that still need a tax profile and workpapers waiting for review, and the financial year still in progress is named. Below it, every company, trust, individual, or other entity in the organisation is listed A–Z with its tax profile, its workpaper status for that year and a next step: Start, Continue, Review or Open. Other financial years are beside it, each with a dot for its status; older years are under Earlier. The workspace includes only investments and transactions assigned to the selected entity. It is a review workspace, not a final tax return. Compare the figures with your source documents and speak with your tax adviser before filing.

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Work through the key tax decisions

For the financial years ending in 2025, 2026 and 2027, the workspace follows that year’s own rules. Under the entity’s name, one status says where the year stands, such as Draft with the number of decisions to go, or Ready for review. If a year saved as ready for review or reviewed has had its ledger or year rules change since, it shows Reopened, with the date it was saved. A separate message explains that confirmations were cleared; select Review open decisions to go to the first one. If you do not have permission to edit tax workpapers, a separate notice explains that you can view the workpaper and ask an owner or admin for access. The save bar is hidden while you have view-only access. In the year menu, the year that has just ended is listed first, marked Just ended, and the year still under way is marked In progress. Four figures show the federal tax payable or refund, the estimated taxable income, any state assessments and how many key decisions are done. Below them is a row of dots, one for each key decision: filled when it’s done, open while it isn’t, with the current step highlighted. Select one to go straight to that decision. Below them are these tabs:

• Summary: where each key decision stands, the calculation bridge and the tax credits deducted. Select a decision to open it in the checklist. Open Calculation detail for every transaction to see how each line was treated.
• Checklist: work through the key decisions one at a time.
• Investments: each investment’s domicile, currency, holding at 30 June, when it was last valued and its last transaction, so you can spot stale values before the year is reviewed. See Check investment values.
• Income: each dividend, interest and other income receipt for the year, with franking credits recorded and applied, foreign tax and the assessable amount.
• CGT: each disposal, with the parcels matched, the gain or loss, losses applied, the CGT discount and the net gain, plus the year’s totals and any losses carried forward.
• Parcels (2026 and 2027, when the entity holds shares or units): each holding’s parcels at 30 June and the parcels each sale took. See Parcels and disposals.
• FX: realised foreign exchange gains and losses recorded on the year’s transactions. The year’s rules keep these inside each disposal’s gain or loss; confirm any separate treatment with your adviser.
• Carried-forward (2026 and 2027 only): the losses and balances the year starts with, where they came from, any changes, and what the year hands on to the next one. See Carried-forward balances.
• Year rules: what the year’s rules cover and what changed.
• Audit history: saved revisions and their downloads.
• Entity settings: the entity’s business number, taxpayer type and state.

The checklist lists the key decisions in the order to work through them. The years ending in 2026 and 2027 have seven, or eight when the entity holds shares or units; 2025 has six, without carried-forward balances or parcels.

1. Taxpayer and residency: confirm who is being taxed and their residency for the whole year, plus Medicare levy and other adjustments.
2. Carried-forward balances (2026 and 2027): check the losses and balances brought forward from the previous year, and record any changes.
3. Investment treatments: confirm whether each investment’s income and capital gains are taxed in the standard way or an exemption applies.
4. Parcels and disposals (2026 and 2027, when the entity holds shares or units): record how each sale’s parcels were chosen, and any parcel values later rules need.
5. Tax credits: confirm franking credit eligibility, the foreign tax offset and withholding credits, with a supporting reference.
6. Source records: correct or explain any transaction that is missing what the calculation needs, such as an Australian dollar conversion.
7. State and territory taxes: record land tax, duty and other notices for the year.
8. Coverage sign-off: confirm the records are reconciled and that anything outside the investment schedule is covered. Do this last.

Each step shows its current answer and how many items are left to resolve. Open Checklist and select a step to make your changes there. A step is marked Done only when the year’s checks have nothing left to resolve, so the checklist always matches the figures. An open step lists what is left to resolve, then asks its questions one at a time, such as Who is being taxed? and Where was it resident for tax?. Each answer shows what it means, and each field says whether it is Required or Optional, explains any tax term and gives an example. Fields most entities don’t need, such as other income or your adviser’s figures, stay folded away until you open them, unless the year needs them. When a step is finished, select Next at its foot to open the next step that still needs you. If something you type can’t be used, such as letters in an amount, the field says how to fix it and the figures keep their last good value. Saving and review stay unavailable until you fix the entry or discard it. If a field is incomplete, for example a state assessment without its date, a message at the top says which one; select Show me to go to it. The step stays open while you finish it, even if it was previously marked done. The bar at the bottom says whether your changes are saved. Your answers update the figures straight away, but they are kept only when you select Save draft; while anything is unsaved the bar stays in view. Each save keeps a revision in Audit history. When every step is done, select Ready for review; until then the bar says how many decisions are still open. Owners and admins can mark a released year Reviewed. Full workpaper opens the detailed year review, where you can also record a complete-year adviser schedule. See Australian Tax Year Reviews. Earlier financial years use the original estimate described below.

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Check investment values

Figures often go wrong because an investment hasn’t been valued recently or a transaction is missing. The Investments tab lists every investment the entity held at 30 June, or that had a transaction during the year, with:

• Domicile: the country set in the investment’s details, or Not set.
• Currency: the currency the investment is held in.
• Held at 30 June: the units held, or the value for an investment tracked by value. Not held if it was sold during the year.
• Last valued: the date of the latest value on or before 30 June, where it came from (market price, cash balance, statement, manual valuation, opening balance or trade price) and how long before 30 June it was. If it has been valued since, that date is shown too.
• Last transaction: the date and type of the latest transaction. No activity means nothing was recorded during the year.
• Status: whether the value at 30 June needs checking.

A status that needs your attention is one of:

• Stale value: held at 30 June, but last valued more than 31 days before it for a listed investment, or more than 92 days for an unlisted one.
• No valuation: held at 30 June with no value recorded on or before it.
• Values out of date: the investment’s values haven’t been worked out up to its latest transaction, so it isn’t known whether it was held. Ask EveryWealth to recalculate them.
• Price feed failing: the market price for a listed investment’s ticker can’t be fetched, so its value may be out of date. A suspended security whose price has simply stopped changing isn’t caught, so check any you know of.
• Valued after sale: revalued after it was sold or written off. Check whether the sale or the valuation is right.

Up to date means the value is recent enough. Disposed of and Not held need no value at 30 June. No activity is for information only: an investment can be quiet and still be valued. A stale value at 30 June matters for tax: the market values you record for parcels and Division 296, and any check of unrealised foreign exchange, should start from a current value. To fix one, open the investment from the table and record a valuation. The list is in name order. Choose Staleness to put what needs checking first, or Stale only to hide everything else; the number beside it is how many need checking. While a year is still under way, values are checked against today instead of 30 June. Domicile is for reference only. Foreign income and the foreign income tax offset are worked out from the tax withheld on each payment, not from where an investment is domiciled.

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Carried-forward balances

For the years ending in 2026 and 2027, each year starts from the balances the previous year finished with:

• Capital losses, kept by the year they were made.
• Revenue losses (tax losses), also by year.
• The franking account and any franking deficit tax offset, for companies.

These come from the previous year’s latest saved workpaper, whatever its status. The Carried-forward tab shows which year and revision they came from. The year ending in 2025 carries forward its capital losses only, as one amount. If it shows revenue losses or a franking balance on your return, enter them yourself. If the previous year hasn’t been saved, nothing carries forward. Enter the balances from the previous return and record where they came from, even if there are none. Change a balance. Select Change next to it, or add a balance the previous year didn’t have. Every change needs a reason and evidence, such as an amended assessment or a losses schedule. When the previous year changes. If someone saves the previous year again, this year keeps the balances it was saved with and shows a check. Select Use latest to switch to the new balances, or Keep with reason to keep the old ones and say why. If the previous year changes while you’re editing, saving is refused: reload the page to see the change first. How losses are used:

• Capital losses reduce this year’s gains first, then earlier years’ losses are used, oldest first, before the CGT discount. Collectables losses only reduce gains on collectables.
• Individuals and super funds must use their revenue losses against the year’s income.
• A company chooses how much to use, but not so much that franking credits go unused. A trust uses them once its loss tests are recorded.
• From 2026–27, a company can carry a loss back against tax it paid in the two previous years. The workspace doesn’t work this out: if the company does, agree the closing losses with your adviser.
• Companies and trusts must record whether they pass their loss tests before earlier-year losses are used. If they fail, those losses are forgone.

Franking account (companies). Franking credits on dividends received are added automatically. Enter other credits, such as tax paid, and debits, such as franked dividends paid. If the account ends the year in deficit, the workspace shows the franking deficit tax and its offset. Check the offset with your adviser for a company’s first tax year, or if the deficit didn’t come from franked dividends. Franking credits the company can’t use, after its foreign tax offset, become a tax loss for the next year. The closing balances at the bottom of the tab are what the next year starts with once this year is saved.

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Before you start

Before relying on the figures, check that:

• The country is set to Australia.
• The correct entity and financial year were selected from the Australian tax landing page.
• The entity’s Australian business number, taxpayer type, and state or territory are correct in Entity settings.
• Each investment is assigned to the entity that owns it.
• Investment domicile and transaction currency are complete.
• The reporting currency and financial year-end are correct.

Owners and admins can change entity settings in the Entity settings tab. The Australian business number is only shown to those roles.

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Working with several entities

Changing the tax entity or financial year updates the page address and reloads the workspace using only that entity’s records. The entity landing page is the group-level summary: it shows all entities and their latest workpaper status without combining their calculations. This helps prevent income, credits, losses, or capital gains from being mixed between legal entities. The selected entity is included in the page address, making it easier to return to or share the correct workspace with another member who has access to the organisation.

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What the summary shows

The workspace brings together:

• Australian and overseas dividend income.
• Recorded and applied franking credits, plus supported foreign tax offsets.
• Interest income.
• Capital gains and losses, including supported CGT discounts.
• Realised foreign exchange gains and losses.
• Federal tax, Medicare levy where selected, tax offsets, and PAYG credits.
• State and territory taxes entered from assessment notices or adviser workpapers.
• An estimated combined amount payable or refund.

The headline figure is an estimate. Individual Medicare levy reductions, beneficiary trust assessments, special company rules, and other circumstances may change the final amount.

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Complete the entity-year workpaper

Open Summary and complete the saved workpaper inputs that apply to the selected entity and year. These include:

• Other assessable income not held in the investment ledger.
• Deductible expenses.
• Capital and revenue losses brought forward.
• PAYG credits.
• An adviser-provided foreign tax offset or tax rate override, when required.
• Company, residency, Medicare levy, franking credit, and foreign exchange assumptions.

Use a tax rate override only when your accountant or tax adviser has prepared a rate for the entity. Leaving the field blank uses the standard estimate for the selected taxpayer type and year. Save the workpaper as Draft while it is being prepared. Change it to Ready for review when the records and inputs have been checked. Organisation owners and admins can mark it Reviewed. The workpaper displays its revision, last saved time, and reviewed time so preparers can confirm they are using the latest version. Reviewed workpapers are read-only for members; an owner or admin can reopen or update them when a correction is required. The liability bridge uses only the franking credits and foreign tax offsets that can be applied in the estimate. If a company has excess franking credits, or recorded foreign tax exceeds the supported offset, the workspace shows an action item instead of treating the excess as an automatic cash refund. Confirm the final treatment with your adviser.

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Review capital gains

Open Income and CGT to review each supported disposal. The schedule shows the recorded gain or loss, the proportion that may qualify for the CGT discount, losses applied, the discount, and the resulting net capital gain. Acquisition dates are matched to disposal units using the recorded transaction history. From the year ending in 2026, each sale’s gain comes from the parcels it took, by the method recorded for it; see Parcels and disposals. If units cannot be matched, the workspace shows an action item. Check those items against broker statements, registry records, transfers, corporate actions, and prior workpapers before relying on the discount. Capital losses are applied before the CGT discount. The schedule uses losses against non-discount gains first, which will often give the lowest net capital gain. Any unused amount is shown as a carried-forward capital loss. Who gets the discount. Australian resident individuals get 50% on gains held for 12 months, complying super funds get one third, and companies get none. From the year ending in 2026, resident trusts also get 50%. A trust’s discount applies when working out the trust’s own net capital gain; each beneficiary then grosses up their share of discounted gains and applies their own discount. For the year ending in 2025, trusts show no discount: confirm the trust’s figures with your adviser.

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Review foreign exchange

Open FX and state to review realised foreign exchange results. The saved workpaper lets you choose whether the ledger’s foreign exchange split is shown separately or retained in the capital result. Confirm this choice with your adviser. Settlement timing, foreign currency accounts, elections, and the taxation of financial arrangements rules can change the correct treatment. If the taxation of financial arrangements rules apply, the workspace shows that a separate specialist schedule is required.

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Record state and territory taxes

The state tax schedule includes land tax, payroll tax, duties, and other state taxes. Enter amounts from assessment notices or adviser workpapers for the selected entity and year. These amounts are not estimated from investment values or transactions because ownership grouping, thresholds, exemptions, and notice dates differ. Use the link in the schedule to open the selected state or territory revenue authority. Add assessment references and review notes to make the schedule easy to trace.

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Tax minimisation review

The Tax planning tab explains how recorded discounts, losses, deductions, and offsets have reduced the estimate. It also highlights profile, foreign exchange, and state-tax checks that may affect the result. These are review prompts, not recommendations to buy, sell, or restructure an investment. Confirm any action with your tax adviser before proceeding.

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Audit and export

Open Audit and logic to see the calculation bridge from ledger income through to the combined tax position. The audit trail records the source and explanation for each important amount, while data-quality checks identify missing or inferred information. Select Export workbook to create an Excel workbook containing:

• The tax summary and liability bridge.
• Income, capital gains, foreign exchange, and state tax schedules.
• Saved assumptions and review notes.
• Calculation logic, data-quality checks, and source guidance.

Use the downloaded workbook for accountant review, reconciliation, and filing support. Keep it with the source documents for that entity and year. Review the underlying transactions and tax records whenever a figure is incomplete or does not match your workpapers. The workspace supports review and preparation; it does not lodge a tax return or replace professional advice.