Tax refund season is well underway, and if you’re one of the lucky ones, you will have received a sizeable tax refund that you can put towards whatever takes your fancy. If you’re not so lucky, you may be wondering why you ended up with a much smaller amount than usual. Or worse – owe the ATO money. Here are five possible reasons your tax refund was lower than you were hoping for.

How well do you know Australia's tax rules when it comes to work-related expenses? If you claim a deduction this year, are you sure it's going to be legit? Test your tax knowledge with this multiple-choice quiz from the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

Unless you're dead, unemployed, or a moustache-twirling Monopoly Man, you're probably paying more tax than you'd like. If you're wondering where all that withheld money goes, you need to check out this interactive infographic - it breaks down how the government intends to spend $463.3 billion tax dollars in granular detail.

Whether you're running your own business, working as a book-keeper or accountant for someone else, or the the IT guy making sure the business has access to the tools they need there's one software category you have to keep in your business' application kitbag. That's accounting software. But today's applications go far further than double-entry accounting, raising invoices and producing a monthly or quarterly report for the tax office. They integrate with warehouse and logistics applications, point of sale terminals and other systems making them the heart of your business' backoffice. Two of the biggest players on the market are the veteran MYOB and the fast-rising challenger Xero.

Many people are required to travel as part of their job. Work-related travel might be something as simple as a short trip to see a client for an hour or two or a prolonged trip lasting several days interstate or even overseas. Some of these travel expenses can be claimed at tax time - but you need to know which rules to follow.

If you use your mobile phone for work, it's easy to claim the calls off your personal phone bill as a tax deduction. However, you also need to ensure it passes the tax man's sniff test. Here's how to claim your calls and data in three quick steps.

The end of financial year (EOFY) is almost upon us. For many, this means a nice little return on the taxes you paid over the previous year. Unfortunately, it also means a slew of approved Federal taxes will be taking affect from July 1 2017. Here are the tax changes, policy tweaks and new levies that will be affecting your wallet from next month -- for better and worse.

Planning to lodge your tax return yourself this year? Be careful as the ATO will be watching more closely than ever in 2017. Here's what you need to know.

From July 1 2017, the Federal Government wants to apply the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to all digital products and services supplied into Australia. In practice, this means the amount of money you spend on software downloads and streaming services is set to increase across the board.

Here's everything you need to know about the so called "Netflix Tax" and how it will affect your wallet.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has made its final decision regarding the regulation of high-speed internet services supplied by non-NBN fixed line networks - and if they can pass the "NBN tax" charge to customers.

Studies of European countries show that bank taxes similar to the 0.06 per cent bank levy introduced by the government in the 2017 federal budget will be largely borne by customers, not shareholders. The levy could also make the banking system more, rather than less risky.

Brad Smith knows karate. Not "business karate" or any overwrought metaphor about teamwork; he literally teaches karate. Or at least he used to before he became chairman and CEO of Intuit.

When you create your budget, you might include the extra income you receive from a bonus or a tax refund. The Motley Fool explains why you may not want to count on these, though.

If you're expecting a sizable tax return, it can be tempting to blow the money on a shiny new gadget or mid-year holiday. Indeed, a recent survey by Get Qualified Australia (GQA) found that nearly a fifth of Australians spend their tax return on recreation. By contrast, just 2 per cent of people put the money towards education and upskilling. Here are five ways to transform your return into a lucrative investment courtesy of GQA founder Adam Wadi.

Dear Lifehacker, How long is it necessary to keep documents for deceased relatives? My father has been dead for years, but I still have boxes and boxes of his tax papers that I'm not sure what to do with?

Keeping track of trading stock is a vital part of running any small business day to day, but it becomes particularly important during tax time. Most people aren’t aware that damaged or outdated stock at the back of your storeroom might actually be worth something. And that by doing a stocktake, you can deduct the fall in value of your trading stock against your business income at tax time. Here’s a few tips on how to do this easily and efficiently.

Even if someone prepares your taxes for you, you're still on the hook for the information they submit to the ATO. That's why you don't want to just pick anybody to help prepare your taxes. Here are a few tips for finding a reputable accountant.

The 2016 Federal Budget is a mammoth and complex tome that covers all areas of government spending. For the vast majority of Aussies, the most pressing question is how this affects the money they need to pay through taxes and essential services. As always, there's good news and bad news -- with the ratio determined by how much you earn. Here are 11 important changes you need to know about.

This year's federal budget is one day away. A few weeks ago, we asked readers to send us their questions on the budget – we wanted to know what you're interested in to help inform our coverage. We thought we'd look at what we know so far about the questions asked and provide some context before tomorrow evening.