EOFY Checklist for Employees

By Jenna Carey and Felicia Mazzotta

Quick Summary: If you’re a PAYG employee, EOFY is more than just lodging a return and hoping for a refund. From topping up super to claiming work expenses and reviewing your mortgage, there are practical moves you can make before June 30 to keep more of your money.

Tax and accounting

Claim every work-related expense you’re entitled to 

Common deductions include home office costs ($0.67 per hour), professional development and training, work-related travel, union fees, professional memberships, and specific work equipment. Keep detailed records and receipts. The ATO closely examines work expense claims, particularly home office and car expenses.

Salary sacrifice arrangements 

If your employer offers salary sacrifice, you might still have time to make arrangements for this financial year. Popular options include additional super contributions, novated car leases, and electronic devices. Check with your HR department about deadlines. Even if it’s too late for this year, setting it up now means you benefit from 1 July.

Investment property repairs vs improvements 

If you own investment property, the distinction matters. Fixing a broken tap is a repair (immediate deduction). Renovating a bathroom is an improvement (depreciated over several years). If you’ve got maintenance to do, getting repairs done before June 30 maximises this year’s deduction.

Prepay deductible expenses

If you own an investment property, prepaying management fees, insurance premiums or interest on investment loans for up to 12 months can bring forward a useful deduction. This works best when you expect to be in a higher tax bracket this year compared to next year.

Financial planning and wealth management

Boost your super contributions

Even as an employee, you can make additional concessional contributions up to the $30,000 annual cap (including your employer’s 12% SG). If you’re earning $150,000, your employer contributes $18,000 in SG, leaving $12,000 of cap space for voluntary contributions. For someone in the 37% bracket, that $12,000 saves you approximately $2,640 in tax (ATO).

Don’t forget carry-forward

If your total super balance was under $500,000 on 30 June 2025, you can carry forward unused cap space from the last five years. This is particularly powerful if you’ve had a promotion or salary increase and now have more capacity to contribute.

Review your investment strategy

Are your investments structured to minimise tax? The timing of asset sales matters for capital gains. If you’re holding shares or property, selling after 12 months of ownership qualifies for the 50% CGT discount. If you have capital losses, you can offset them against capital gains to reduce your tax bill.

Loans and debt

Review your mortgage

Think of your mortgage like a phone plan. You wouldn’t stay on a plan from 2019 without checking what else is out there. Yet that’s exactly what millions of Australians do with the biggest debt of their lives. A broker can compare your current loan against hundreds of products in minutes.

Check your loan structure

If you have both a home loan and an investment loan, the way they’re structured can significantly affect your tax position. Interest on investment loans is tax-deductible. Interest on your home loan isn’t. Getting the structure right matters, and it’s something many people get wrong without realising.

Consolidate into your offset

If you’ve got savings sitting in low-interest accounts while paying mortgage interest on the other side, you’re effectively losing money. Moving those savings into your mortgage offset account reduces your interest charges immediately.

The Bigger Picture: What You Can’t Fix in Four Weeks

These EOFY strategies are valuable. But they’re band-aid solutions compared to what year-round planning can achieve.

The most effective tax strategies take time to implement. Business structure optimisation, family trust establishment, succession planning and tax-effective wealth transfer all require months of careful planning.

If you’re reading this thinking “I wish I’d started this conversation six months ago,” take that as a sign. The best time to start planning for 2026–27 is right now.

At Navigate Advisory, we combine financial planning, accounting, business advisory, lending and property advisory under one roof. This means we look at your entire financial picture, not just one piece of it. When your investments, super, business structure, lending and tax strategy all work together, you achieve better outcomes than treating each area in isolation.

Because when your entire financial world makes sense, you gain the power to say ‘yes’ to bold life choices.

Book a 15-minute introductory call: navigateadvisory.com.au/contact

Find out more about our services: navigateadvisory.com.au

This is part of our EOFY series. We’ve also written guides for Business Owners, Sole Traders, Retirees.

Navigate Advisory has offices in Balmain, Brighton-Le-Sands and Hurlstone Park.

Navigate Advisory offers complete financial confidence through financial planning, accounting, business advisory, lending and property advisory, all in one place.

Frequently Asked Questions

The concessional cap is $30,000 for 2025–26, including your employer’s 12% SG contributions. If you’re earning $100,000, your employer contributes $12,000 in SG, leaving $18,000 of cap space. If your super balance was under $500,000 on 30 June 2025, you may also be able to carry forward unused caps from the last five years (ATO).

It depends on your employer’s policies and payroll deadlines. Some employers require arrangements to be in place well before June 30. Check with your HR department as soon as possible. Even if it’s too late for this year, setting it up now means you’ll benefit from 1 July.

Repairs restore something to its original condition and are immediately deductible. Improvements make something better than its original condition and must be depreciated over time. Fixing a leaking roof is a repair. Replacing the entire roof with a higher-quality material is an improvement. The distinction can significantly affect your tax position.

Compare your current interest rate against what’s being offered to new customers at your bank and competing lenders. If there’s a gap of 0.20% or more, you’re likely overpaying. A mortgage broker can run this comparison in minutes and show you exactly how much you could save by switching or renegotiating.

You can use the ATO’s fixed rate of $0.67 per hour worked from home, which covers electricity, internet, phone, stationery, and depreciation of furniture. You’ll need records of your hours worked from home. You can also separately claim the work-related portion of your phone and internet if you don’t use the fixed rate for those items.

We help employees see the bigger picture beyond the tax return. Your super strategy, investment structure, lending arrangements and tax position all affect each other. Having one team coordinate these means you get better outcomes. Book an introductory chat at navigateadvisory.com.au/contact.

Any advice provided in this article is general advice only and does not take into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. It does not represent legal, tax, or personal advice and should not be relied on as such. You should obtain financial advice relevant to your circumstances before making any decisions.