I am one of the few people I know who enjoys doing a tax return, usually because I end up getting some money back but like lots of Aussies I reckon I might be missing out.

I was pretty amazed when I saw the results of a survey[1] the team did that showed how much the average Aussie taxpayer may miss out due to lost receipts.

The study found the average Australian taxpayer may be missing out on more than $1,000 due to lost receipts – particularly staggering when you consider this adds up to a total of $7.3 billion nationwide!

According to the study, it’s records of the everyday items we’re misplacing; such as stationery and office equipment, fuel, parking and tolls. My pet hate is discovering receipts from the previous year that I forgot to include.

Managing your financial receipts for tax time

Our study not only showed lost receipts for tax returns are potentially costing Aussies billions of dollars – but the lack of organisation in this area is impacting on our personal time. Once they start looking the average Australian taxpayer spends more than two (2.2) hours looking for receipts and supporting documentation for their tax return which means as a nation more than 1,800 years are spent looking for lost receipts each year!

We live in a virtual world and increasingly more of our everyday expenses are taking place online. 

Virtual copies

Whereas we once needed to have piles of hardcopy receipts, we can now keep virtual copies of these in one online hub. In our conversations with customers, we have found many of them are frustrated with this endless search for receipts and documentation.

We recently introduced NetBank Vault – a revolutionary new online virtual safety deposit box, which allows customers to save important documents such as pay slips, scanned copies of passports/drivers licences and receipts in their online bank account, backed with the highest levels of online security.

Track and manage

By having your receipts in one hub it makes it simpler, easier and faster to track and manage your financial records, something which is particularly useful at tax time. Imagine the time and effort saved not having to sort through reams of paper come July next year!

NetBank Vault is currently in pilot and available through NetBank Labs.

Next year we hope the number of Aussies missing out at tax time due to lost receipts is on the decline – will you be one of them?

What are your tips on the best ways to manage your financial documents at tax time?

[1]The study was conducted by Lonergan Research amongst 1,055 Australians aged 18 years and over in capital and non-capital city areas. Fieldwork commenced on Wednesday 11 July 2012 and was completed on Friday 13 July 2012. After interviewing, data was weighted to the latest population estimates sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.