EOFY Tax Planning Countdown: 15 Strategies to Reduce Your Tax Bill Before 30 June 2026

Why Tax Planning Matters More Than Ever in 2026

The 2025-26 financial year ends on 30 June 2026, giving you just over three months to take action. In an environment of rising interest rates (the cash rate now sits at 4.10%), increasing cost-of-living pressures, and an unemployment rate climbing to 4.3%, every dollar you can legitimately save on tax makes a meaningful difference to your household budget.

Tax planning isn’t about aggressive schemes or dodgy deductions. It’s about understanding the rules and making sure you claim everything you’re entitled to, time your income and expenses wisely, and use the concessions the government has specifically designed to benefit you.

This guide covers 15 practical strategies across three categories: individuals, investors, and small business owners. Not every strategy will apply to everyone, but most Australians will find at least three or four that could save them real money.

Australian Income Tax Brackets: 2025-26

Before diving into strategies, it helps to understand the current tax brackets, as many planning strategies focus on keeping your taxable income in a lower bracket.

Plus Medicare levy of 2% on total taxable income (exemptions may apply for low-income earners).

The key thresholds to watch are $45,000 (where the rate jumps from 16% to 30%), $135,000 (30% to 37%), and $190,000 (37% to 45%). If your income sits just above one of these thresholds, strategies that reduce your taxable income can deliver outsized tax savings.

Part 1: Strategies for Individuals

Strategy 1: Maximise your concessional super contributions

This is the single most effective tax-saving strategy for most working Australians. Concessional (before-tax) super contributions are taxed at just 15% inside the fund, compared to your marginal tax rate of up to 45% (plus 2% Medicare levy).

The 2025-26 cap: $30,000 per person. This includes your employer’s super guarantee contributions (12% of ordinary time earnings).

Example: Sarah earns $140,000. Her employer contributes $16,800 in super guarantee (12%). She has $13,200 of unused cap space. By salary sacrificing $13,200 before 30 June, she:

• Reduces her taxable income from $140,000 to $126,800, dropping her from the 37% bracket to 30%.
• Saves approximately $4,900 in personal income tax.
• Pays $1,980 in contributions tax inside super (15%).
• Net tax saving: approximately $2,920.

Catch-up contributions: If you didn’t fully use your $30,000 cap in previous years and your total super balance was below $500,000 at 30 June 2025, you can carry forward unused amounts from up to five prior years. This can allow significantly larger deductible contributions in a single year.

How to action it: Contact your employer’s payroll team to arrange salary sacrifice before the final pay run in June. Alternatively, make a personal contribution directly to your super fund and lodge a “Notice of Intent to Claim a Deduction” (Section 290-170 form) with your fund before lodging your tax return.

Strategy 2: Prepay deductible expenses

If you can bring forward expenses that would normally fall in the next financial year, you can claim the deduction a year earlier.

Common prepayable expenses:

• Income protection insurance premiums (if held outside super)
• Professional memberships and subscriptions
• Work-related training and courses
• Interest on investment loans (up to 12 months in advance)
• Accounting fees for tax return preparation

Example: Prepaying 12 months of income protection insurance ($2,400) before 30 June means you claim the full deduction in 2025-26 rather than spreading it across two years.

Important: The ATO’s prepayment rules generally allow deductions for prepaid expenses of 12 months or less that end before 30 June of the following year. Amounts over $1,000 for individuals (or any amount for businesses) may need to be apportioned.

Strategy 3: Claim work-from-home expenses properly

The ATO has flagged work-from-home claims as a priority audit area for 2026. Getting it right matters both for maximising your deduction and avoiding scrutiny.

Fixed-rate method (67 cents per hour): Covers running costs including electricity, internet, phone, stationery, and computer consumables. You must keep a log of hours worked from home. Furniture and technology items are claimed separately under normal depreciation rules.

Actual cost method: Requires detailed records of every expense. More work, but can result in a larger deduction if your actual costs are high (for example, if you have a dedicated home office with higher-than-average running costs).

What you need to keep:

• A record of actual hours worked from home (a simple timesheet, diary, or roster pattern is acceptable)
• Receipts for items claimed separately (desk, chair, monitor, etc.)
• Utility bills if using the actual cost method

Tip: If you bought home office furniture or technology during the year and each item cost less than $300, you can claim an immediate deduction. Items costing $300 or more are depreciated over their effective life.

Strategy 4: Bring forward charitable donations

Donations of $2 or more to registered deductible gift recipients (DGRs) are tax-deductible. If you were planning to donate in July or later, consider making the donation before 30 June to claim the deduction a year earlier.

Example: A donation of $1,000 by someone on a marginal rate of 37% (plus 2% Medicare levy) saves $390 in tax. The same donation made in July wouldn’t be deductible until the following year’s tax return.

Workplace giving: If your employer offers workplace giving, donations are deducted from your pre-tax pay, reducing your tax withholding immediately rather than waiting for a refund at tax time.

Strategy 5: Review private health insurance

If you earn over $93,000 (single) or $186,000 (family) and don’t have appropriate private hospital cover, you’ll pay the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) of 1% to 1.5% on top of the 2% Medicare levy.

For someone earning $150,000 without private hospital cover, the MLS costs $2,250 per year. Basic hospital cover can often be obtained for $1,200 to $1,800 per year, making private cover cheaper than paying the surcharge.

Action: If you don’t have cover, taking out a policy before 30 June means you avoid the MLS for the remainder of the financial year (and future years).

Part 2: Strategies for Investors

Strategy 6: Harvest capital losses

If you hold investments that are sitting at a loss, selling them before 30 June allows you to offset the capital loss against any capital gains you’ve made during the year.

How it works:

1. Capital losses are offset against capital gains in the same year.
2. If your losses exceed your gains, the excess carries forward indefinitely.
3. You cannot offset capital losses against ordinary income (salary, wages, business income).

Example: You sold shares in October 2025 for a $15,000 capital gain. You also hold shares purchased for $20,000 that are now worth $12,000 (an $8,000 unrealised loss). Selling the loss-making shares before 30 June reduces your net capital gain to $7,000 (before the CGT discount), saving approximately $1,480 in tax at a 37% marginal rate.

Watch out for the “wash sale” rule: If you sell shares to crystallise a loss and buy them back shortly after, the ATO may disallow the loss. There’s no specific timeframe in Australian tax law (unlike the US 30-day rule), but the ATO looks at the substance of the transaction. If the sole purpose of the sale was to create a tax loss, it may be challenged.

Strategy 7: Time your capital gains

If you’re planning to sell an investment that will trigger a capital gain, timing matters:

• Held for more than 12 months: Individual taxpayers receive a 50% CGT discount, meaning only half the gain is added to taxable income.
• Selling after 30 June: Defers the tax liability by a full year, giving you more time to plan.

Example: An investment property purchased in 2020 for $600,000 is now worth $800,000 (a $200,000 gain). Selling before 30 June 2026 means reporting a $100,000 gain (after 50% discount) on your 2025-26 return, with tax due by March 2027 (if lodged through an agent). Selling in July 2026 defers the tax bill to the 2026-27 return, due by March 2028.

Note: The government has flagged potential changes to the CGT discount for the May 2026 budget. While nothing is confirmed, investors holding significant unrealised gains should stay informed and seek advice.

Strategy 8: Review your investment loan structure

Interest on loans used for income-producing investments (shares, investment properties, managed funds) is tax-deductible. But the structure of your loan matters:

• Don’t mix investment and personal borrowing. If you redraw from an investment loan for personal use (holiday, car, renovation on your home), the interest on the redrawn amount is not deductible.
• Consider prepaying interest. You can prepay up to 12 months of investment loan interest before 30 June and claim the full deduction in the current year.
• Review your offset strategy. If you have both an owner-occupier loan and an investment loan, cash in an offset account should sit against the non-deductible (owner-occupier) loan, not the investment loan. This maximises your after-tax position.

Strategy 9: Contribute to your spouse’s super

If your spouse earns $40,000 or less, you may be eligible for a tax offset of up to $540 by making a non-concessional (after-tax) contribution of $3,000 to their super fund.

The offset phases out between spouse incomes of $37,000 and $40,000. While $540 isn’t life-changing, it also boosts your spouse’s super balance, which compounds significantly over time.

Strategy 10: Maximise rental property deductions

If you own an investment property, ensure you’re claiming everything you’re entitled to:

• Depreciation on the building and fixtures. A quantity surveyor’s depreciation schedule (costing $400 to $700) can identify tens of thousands of dollars in deductions over the property’s life. This is particularly valuable for properties built after 1985.
• Repairs vs improvements. Repairs (restoring something to its original condition) are immediately deductible. Improvements (making something better than original) must be depreciated. Understanding the distinction is crucial.
• Travel to inspect your property is no longer deductible for individual investors (this changed in 2017), but property management fees, insurance, council rates, water charges, and body corporate fees all remain deductible.
• Loan establishment fees are deductible over the life of the loan (not immediately).

Part 3: Strategies for Small Business Owners

Strategy 11: Use the $20,000 instant asset write-off

Small businesses with aggregated annual turnover below $10 million can immediately deduct the full cost of eligible assets costing less than $20,000 each (excluding GST if GST-registered, including GST if not).

Key requirements:

• The asset must be first used or installed ready for use before 30 June 2026.
• Each individual asset must cost less than $20,000. You can claim multiple assets.

Examples of eligible assets:

• Laptops, monitors, printers ($500 - $3,000 each)
• Office furniture ($200 - $5,000 each)
• Tools and equipment specific to your trade
• Point-of-sale systems
• Small machinery

Tip: If you need to purchase equipment in July anyway, buying and installing it before 30 June means you claim the deduction a year earlier. But don’t buy things you don’t need just for the tax deduction. A $5,000 purchase saves you $1,850 in tax at the 37% marginal rate, meaning you’re still $3,150 out of pocket.

Strategy 12: Prepay expenses and defer income

Small business owners have more flexibility than employees in timing income and expenses.

Prepay expenses before 30 June:

• Rent on business premises (up to 12 months in advance)
• Insurance premiums
• Subscriptions and software licences
• Marketing and advertising costs
• Professional development and training

Defer income where practical:

• If you invoice clients in late June, consider whether the invoice could legitimately be issued in early July instead. The income is then assessable in the following year.
• For cash-basis taxpayers, income is recognised when received. For accrual-basis taxpayers, it’s recognised when invoiced.

Important: Don’t artificially defer income or manufacture expenses. The ATO’s anti-avoidance provisions can apply if arrangements lack commercial substance.

Strategy 13: Write off bad debts

If you have outstanding invoices that are genuinely unrecoverable, writing them off before 30 June allows you to claim the deduction. To be deductible, you must:

1. Have previously included the debt as assessable income.
2. Genuinely believe the debt is unrecoverable (document your reasons).
3. Formally write off the debt in your accounting records before 30 June.

GST adjustment: If you’ve already remitted GST on the sale, you can also claim a GST adjustment for the GST component of the bad debt.

Strategy 14: Review your business structure

While this isn’t a quick EOFY fix, reviewing whether your current business structure (sole trader, partnership, company, or trust) is the most tax-effective is worth doing before the new financial year.

If you’re a sole trader earning over $135,000, operating through a company or trust could save significant tax. But the right structure depends on your specific circumstances, so professional advice is essential.

Strategy 15: Superannuation for business owners

If you’re self-employed, you don’t have an employer making super contributions for you, which means you need to be proactive:

• Personal deductible contributions of up to $30,000 (less any employer SG if you also have employment income) can be claimed as a tax deduction.
• Catch-up contributions are available if your total super balance was below $500,000 at 30 June 2025.
• Super contributions for employees must be paid on time. From 1 July 2026, the new “payday super” rules require contributions to be received by the employee’s fund within seven business days of each payday. While this doesn’t take effect until next financial year, preparing your payroll systems now will avoid compliance headaches.

Example: A sole trader earning $200,000 who contributes $30,000 to super saves approximately $9,000 in personal income tax (the difference between the 45% personal rate and the 15% contributions tax rate, adjusted for Medicare levy).

The ATO’s Audit Focus Areas for 2025-26

The ATO has flagged several areas it will be watching closely this tax season. Make sure your claims in these areas are well-documented:

1. Work-from-home expenses: Claims must be supported by a record of hours worked from home. Generic estimates won’t cut it.
2. Rental property deductions: The ATO is using data matching to compare rental income declared against market rents, and scrutinising claims for periods when properties are not genuinely available for rent.
3. Cryptocurrency and digital assets: All gains from crypto sales, swaps, or use are subject to CGT. The ATO receives data directly from Australian exchanges.
4. Capital gains on property: The ATO cross-matches property sales data with tax returns. Failing to declare a capital gain on an investment property sale is one of the easiest mistakes to get caught on.
5. Overclaimed deductions: Claims that are disproportionate to income, especially for work-related expenses, will attract attention.

Creating Your EOFY Checklist

Here’s a timeline to keep you on track:

March to April 2026

• Review your current taxable income position (check your year-to-date pay summaries).
• Calculate how much concessional super cap space you have remaining.
• Identify any capital gains or losses you’ve realised this year.
• Book a meeting with your accountant or tax adviser.

May 2026

• Action salary sacrifice arrangements with your employer.
• Make personal super contributions if not salary sacrificing.
• Prepay deductible expenses (insurance, subscriptions, investment loan interest).
• Sell loss-making investments to offset capital gains (if appropriate).
• Purchase and install business assets under the $20,000 instant asset write-off.

June 2026

• Make charitable donations.
• Write off bad debts (small business).
• Review private health insurance status (MLS).
• Ensure all super contributions are received by your fund before 30 June (not just sent).
• Gather and organise receipts for all deductions.

Don’t DIY Complex Tax Planning

While the strategies in this guide are all legitimate and widely used, tax planning can get complicated quickly, especially when you’re dealing with investment properties, business structures, capital gains, or large super contributions.

The cost of professional tax advice ($300 to $1,500 for a planning session) is itself tax-deductible and is almost always outweighed by the tax savings identified. An experienced accountant or tax adviser will spot opportunities you might miss and, just as importantly, keep you on the right side of the ATO’s rules.

Need help with EOFY tax planning? Find a qualified accountant or tax agent near you on WealthWorks to make sure you’re not paying more tax than you need to.