4 ways to take control at tax time with Sharesight

The deadline to file your tax return (or engage your registered tax agent) is 31 October, 2023. 

If you’ve left your taxes to the last minute, don’t stress — there are still plenty of ways you can save time and money on your taxes. 

Here are 4 tips from Sharesight, Australia’s leading portfolio tracker and reporting tool for Australian investors:

          1. Specify the CGT rules that meet your needs

It’s difficult to calculate capital gains tax when there are so many methods to choose from. Should you use FIFO or LIFO? Minimise or maximise? Sharesight’s Australian CGT report calculates capital gains made on shares according to the ATO rules, with the option to specify different sale allocation methods across your portfolio and holdings — helping you determine your optimal CGT position. 

These sale allocation methods include:

• First in, first out (FIFO) – Sharesight assumes that you sell your longest held shares first
• Last in, first out (LIFO) – Sharesight assumes that you sell your most recently purchased shares first
• Minimise gain – Sharesight assumes that you sell shares with the highest purchase price first
• Maximise gain – Sharesight assumes that you sell shares with the lowest purchase price first
• Minimise CGT – Sharesight assumes that you sell shares that will result in the lowest CGT first. This method is more sophisticated than the ‘minimise gain’ method because it takes into account the Australian CGT discounting rules.

         2. Break down your dividends

Sharesight’s taxable income report is also very helpful at tax time as it provides a record of all your dividends over any time period, broken down into their various tax components and organised by local or overseas income.

To make it easier to file your tax return, the taxable income report:

• Provides field references to the relevant sections on the Australian Income Tax Return for Individuals and Income Tax Return for Individuals (supplementary section) 
• Provides totals required for the Income Tax Return based on non-trust and trust income
• Breaks down dividend payments into their relevant tax components, such as franked/unfranked amounts, franking credits, foreign income tax, TFN withholding tax and exchange rates.

       3. Run valuation reports for your portfolios for your year end reporting

For your end of year reporting needs, Sharesight’s historical cost report shows you a portfolio’s opening and closing quantity and market value over a selected period of time. When used for the previous financial year, this becomes an invaluable tool for SMSF trustees and their accountants as part of the reporting process for SMSFs.

         4. Sharing can be caring

No more shoeboxes full of paperwork for your accountant to sort through. Another essential tax time feature is the ability to share your portfolio. With Sharesight, rather than printing out and forwarding your tax reports, you can securely share portfolio access directly with your accountant and/or financial adviser. By having all your portfolio data in one place, they’ll have everything they need to prepare your tax documents.

Sign up to Sharesight using this link.

About Sharesight

Bell Direct is proud to partner with Sharesight to help enable investors to take control at tax time. It’s just another way we help investors find their investing edge. 

Sharesight is a leading online share portfolio tracker and reporting tool for Australian investors. Sharesight tracks share prices, trades, dividends, performance & tax, trusted by more than 400,000 investors globally. 

This information is general in nature and does not take into account your financial situation, objectives or needs. You should consider whether it is appropriate for you. You should read our Financial Services Guide and any relevant Product Disclosure Statements before making an investment. For more information visit belldirect.com.au or call 1300 786 199. Bell Direct is the trading name of Third Party Platform Pty Ltd ABN 74 121 227 905, AFSL 314341.