A few nights ago, having come full circle, I sat down to put my yearly tax return in via the ATO’s e-tax software package. Years earlier, on the tail of delighted yelps from family members, we signed up with a dodgy greek accountant in Coburg to do his magic and deliver us a big refund each. He did a lot better than we were able to do, and we duly returned. 3 years in, loopholes had been closed, he grew more cautious and we decided it wasn’t worth it anymore. In hindsight, I don’t know why we succumbed in the first place – I’ve never been one to be obsessed about “the tax the government is ripping us off” or been one to scream for tax cuts. Come to think of it, exactly WHO ARE THE MYSTERY TAX CUT BOOSTERS that the major political parties are bending over to right now? Most people I know say they’d prefer Medicare to be fixed up – or for the money to go to government schools. I know why I have never been inclined towards shares, investments and rental properties. It’s because it MAKES LIFE HELL IN JULY at tax time. To be honest, I really can’t be bothered and I’m lazy. I stuck in some basic deductions like my Amnesty International donations and 50 bucks for professional magazines (Owner Builder and Renew – hmmm). The nicest part about it all is that I’m still going to get 450 or so back and it took me all of 20 minutes. Until next year.