What’s not to love about tax time? It’s a chance to pocket a juicy tax refund, and let’s face it, who couldn’t do with some extra cash? Better still, taking action before June 30 could supersize your refund. Let’s look at six steps with the potential to add an extra $2000 to this year’s tax refund.
As a quick explainer, the strategies below assume average full-time female earnings, which the Australian Bureau of Statistics says is $1826 weekly, or about $94,926 annually.
At that income, a woman would have a marginal tax rate of 30 per cent. The Medicare levy adds an extra 2 per cent, but to keep things simple, let’s just focus on tax. It means about 30 per cent of every extra deduction you claim can go towards a tax refund.
Even better, the 30 per cent tax bracket is broad. It applies to incomes between $45,001 and $135,000.
So the examples below should hold true for plenty of Australia’s working women.
Strategy 1: Know your work-related deductions
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has online guides explaining the deductions available to workers in 40 different occupations.
Nurses can claim the cost of buying and cleaning protective clothing. Hairdressers can claim tools and equipment such as scissors and hairdryers. Retail workers can claim the cost of sanitiser or antibacterial spray. Jump onto the ATO website to take a look. You may have paid expenses throughout the year that can be claimed on your taxes.
Refund boost: You will need receipts to prove a deduction. But if you can come up with receipts for, say, $100 worth of work-related expenses, that’s an extra $30 in your tax refund!
Strategy 2: Stock up on tax-deductible items before June 30
As long as work-related tools or equipment cost less than $300, you can usually claim the cost on your taxes this year. Anything costing more than $300 needs to be claimed over several years.
Refund boost: If you’re an office worker who buys a $299 bag for your laptop, or a flight attendant who purchases rehydrating moisturisers to the value of $299, you could bump up your refund by about $90. You will need to have the items before June 30. “It’s in the mail” won’t cut it with the ATO.
Strategy 3: Add to your superannuation
Cash is tight for a lot of us right now. But if you can make a contribution from your own pocket, you’ll be giving your retirement savings a valuable uptick, and possibly pocket a handy tax saving.
Personal deductible super contributions are capped at $30,000 annually. Do note, this total includes your employer’s contributions plus salary sacrifice contributions.
You need to let your fund know if you plan to claim a contribution on tax, but you can usually download the relevant form from your fund’s website. Personal contributions are taxed in your fund at 15 per cent. But that’s likely to be a lot lower than your personal tax rate, so you’re still in front.
Refund boost: Add $2500 to your super, and you could get back an extra $750 on tax.
Strategy 4: Claim work from home costs
Around one-third of workers spend at least part of their week working from home. If that sounds like you, don’t forget to claim working from home costs.
The easiest option is to claim a fixed rate of 67 cents for each hour worked from home. You can still claim a deduction for depreciating assets like office furniture and equipment, but you don’t need a dedicated home office.
Refund boost: Add up the hours worked from home. If a third of your working week has been completed from home, you may be able to claim $376. That’s a refund boost of $112.
Strategy 5: Invest in professional memberships
Join a professional or trade association related to your job. You can normally claim the cost on tax, and you’re likely to receive useful career information.
Refund boost: Full-time workers can pay union fees averaging around $10 per week. At an annual cost of around $520, that can bump up your refund by about $156.
Strategy 6: Engage a tax professional
Registered tax agents will know all the deductions you can claim. Even better, their fee can be claimed in next year’s return.
Refund boost: According to H&R Block, the average refund in 2022 was $2576 among people who prepared their own tax return. Those who partnered with a tax agent scored a refund averaging $3550 – an easy refund boost of $974.
Running a small business?
Women make up around one-third of Australia’s small business owners. And the ATO’s small business benchmarks can be useful at tax time. The benchmarks, available on the ATO website, let business owners compare their performance, including average expenses, against others in the same industry. As ATO Assistant Commissioner Tony Goding points out, “Businesses that remain within industry benchmarks are generally less likely to attract the ATO’s attention.”
Adding it all up
Over the six strategies I’ve looked at, it may be possible to grow your tax refund by a whopping $2112.
Be aware, if your income for the year is above $97,000 (for a single) or your household income exceeds $194,000 combined (add an extra $1500 per child), you could be up for the Medicare levy surcharge (MLS) if you don’t have basic hospital cover.
The MLS can cost an extra 1 per cent, 1.25 per cent or even 1.5 per cent of your income. That’s on top of the 2 per cent Medicare Levy, and paying the MLS doesn’t buy additional health services.
If you’re sailing close to the MLS income limits this financial year, it could be worth talking about basic hospital cover. By shopping around, you may find premiums that cost less than the MLS.
If you don’t have private cover for the whole year, you’ll pay the MLS up to the date you took out your policy. You’ll still get a tax saving, but only for the days between taking out cover and June 30, so it could be time to get cracking.
Effie Zahos is a money commentator, author and Channel Nine’s Money Editor.
Information is correct at the time of writing. Any advice provided is general in nature and does not take your personal circumstances into consideration. Readers should seek their own financial advice.
This article originally appeared in the June 2025 issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an issue.
