"Maximize Your Tax Return: 7 Tips"

Here are seven ways to prepare for the end of the financial year.

Scott Girdlestone, a wealth adviser at William Buck, recommends selling investments that have lost value to balance out any gains.

According to Girdlestone, you can lessen CGT by pairing losses in your portfolios with gains. To do this, you need to sell both before June 30. This will help you reduce your tax bill.

He suggests that when an investment loses value due to interest rates, we can offset the loss by gaining elsewhere in our portfolio.

Nicol suggests to realign portfolios with objectives and rebalance them. It's also a chance to remove underperforming investments and handle capital gains and losses.

You don't have to pay CGT on everything, like your home or personal things. However, Mark Chapman from H&R Block says that the government is checking if people are claiming the full CGT exemption for renting part of their home through Airbnb.

Girdlestone says that when asset values drop, it's an opportunity to restructure ownership. This helps match high income-producing assets with low-tax environments.

He says reducing tax obligations is valuable for improving your financial position. It can last for years.

You can transfer a high-income asset to your partner. This will lower capital gains and investment income tax. Your partner should have a lower marginal tax rate.

You can move an eligible asset to a low-tax structure. This structure could be a family trust or superannuation.

If the asset is losing money or making small profits, transferring it can be helpful for future tax benefits. Although it is a sale for CGT reasons, the timing can work in your favor.

If a person pays 47% tax and has $500,000 worth of Australian shares with 6% dividend yield, their tax liability is $14,100. But if their partner pays 21% tax rate, their tax liability falls to $6300. This saves them $7800 per year in taxes.

Girdlestone says tax saving is higher in low-tax environments like superannuation. The tax rate is 15% or possibly zero.

Nicol from GFM Wealth says investors sell assets late. This is a mistake in the financial year.

He suggests waiting until after June 30 to sell assets that will make a profit. He does this a lot in his work with clients.

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If you were in the top tax group and had less than $500,000 in your super account last year, you could save 32% on personal income tax. To do this, you can use "catch-up" super contributions and exceed the annual limit. This method also lowers the CGT if you've sold an asset with a big profit. It's a lawful way to do it, says Girdlestone.

When you make concessional contributions, you'll be taxed at 15%. The cap on your annual contributions is $27,500.

Missed your concessional contributions last financial year? Don't worry! You can add the remainder to this year's limit. This applies since July 1, 2018, and is thanks to the carry-forward rules. Girdlestone recommends taking advantage of this opportunity.

You can claim tax deduction up to $130,000 this year. It will offset your other income and save you 32% tax. As a result, you can save up to $56,300 in personal income tax.

Nicol said that making a big contribution to super in one year can reduce taxes. This is possible if there is a big deduction in that year.

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The past year saw low returns from stocks and bonds. This can lead to a smaller super balance. But it also opens the door to after-tax contributions.

TSB is calculated as of June 30 from the year before.

The equity markets fell last financial year. This happened from late February to late March. After that, the markets began to recover. This gave people the wrong idea that the markets were back to pre-pandemic levels. Girdlestone said this.

"The Australian Securities Exchange has fully recovered its losses just now," he says. "So, the TSB might have had less value on June 30th of last year than you thought."

If you had less than $1.7 million in your account on June 30, 2022, you can donate up to $110,000. You can also donate up to $330,000 over three years if you haven't reached your maximum contributions yet. It depends on your past contributions and balance.

If you pay mortgage interest in advance on an investment property, you can set the interest rate for 12 months. This way, you can also pay the yearly interest upfront all at once. You may also get a tax deduction for advanced interest payment in that same year.

You must finish a trustee resolution if you're the trustees of a discretionary trust. This trust is for transferring and managing wealth. The deadline for this is June 30.

If the trustee doesn't do this, they may have to pay taxes on the trust's income at the highest possible rate.

Girdlestone says careful planning is needed due to the timing of the resolution. Future income should be anticipated and flexibility should be added to the resolution especially if income is uncertain before the end of the year.

Think about giving a tax-effective distribution if the trust deed allows it. This can boost after-tax income by directing capital gains and franked distributions (dividends) to the beneficiaries who can get the most out of it.

Girdlestone suggests using a corporate structure. This can delay paying taxes on income indefinitely. It's like getting a loan without interest. Taxes that were supposed to be paid above 30 per cent can be deferred.

Girdlestone says that if you had a lot of money this year, now is a good time to give it to charity. This might be because you sold a business or had successful investments.

You can donate to charities and get a tax deduction if they have deductible gift recipient status.