Your Spaceship guide to an EEOFY (Easier End of Financial Year)

New financial year? New you. 💪

The end of financial year (EOFY) is a chance to spring clean your finances, get ready for tax time, and set your goals for the following year.

We’re here to help you make it happen.

In our Spaceship guide to an EEOFY (Easier End of Financial Year), you’ll find tips for:

5 tips for an EEOFY 🎆

1. Take it seriously

Make a plan for your EOFY and it could help you increase your chance of:

A more accurate tax return
A potentially bigger tax refund
A better financial year 2024 (FY24)

2. Set your reminders

The financial year runs from 1 July until 30 June each year.

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) calls this an ‘income year’.

Here are some key dates to think about:

🗓️ 5 business days before EOFY:

For Super: Finalise extra super contributions

If you’re planning on making extra super contributions to your super fund, you need to give your super fund enough time to process them before 30 June.

For Spaceship Super customers, we recommend allowing 5 business days to give it the best chance.

🗓️ 30 June:

For Super: Cut off to submit your Notice of Intent

If you made super contributions in FY23 and you haven’t claimed a tax deduction for them but want to, you’ll need to submit a Notice of Intent to your super fund.

For tax: Prepay any expenses

The ATO has a guide for the types of deductions you can claim, depending on what you do for a living.

30 June is the last day you can make a purchase you can claim in your tax return.

🗓️ 1 July:

For tax: First day to lodge your tax return

The ATO has warned against submitting your tax return too early.

“By lodging in early July, you are doubling your chances of having your tax return flagged as incorrect by the ATO,” said an ATO spokesperson.

This is because information is pre-filled to your tax return, and can take some weeks to filter through.

🗓️ Mid-July until Mid-August:

For investing: Financial statements tend to become ready

An annual statement outlines all the transactions you made with a financial provider during a year, and a tax statement outlines any investment related income you received.

You generally need both of these to submit your tax return.

Spaceship Voyager and Spaceship US Investing customers can expect their annual statements to be emailed in early August.

🗓️ Late July:

For tax: Most pre-filled tax information ready

According to the ATO, most of the information that pre-fills a tax return is ready by late July.

This means that many people will need to wait until at least late July to be able to submit their tax returns.

🗓️ 31 October:

For tax: Personal tax return due

If you’re doing your own tax return, it’s due by 31 October, unless 31 October falls on a weekend, in which case it’s due the first business day after 31 October.

If you’re using a registered tax agent such as an accountant, they’re generally able to submit your tax return later than 31 October.

3. Update your details

If you changed your name, got married, moved house, or opened a new financial product over the last financial year, it’s a good idea to make sure your financial providers have the most up-to-date information.

This means you’re less likely to miss important communication.

If you haven’t shared your tax file number with your financial institutions, they may be able to withhold tax at the highest rate — which could be as high as 45% (plus 2% of the Medicare Levy).

Spaceship Voyager customers can update their tax file numbers for each of the portfolios in the Spaceship app.

4. Get your info together

Make your admin and any reporting you have to — or want to — do easier by getting your account names and numbers, balances, and holdings in the one place.

This can include any bank accounts, loan accounts, superannuation, investment products, gift cards, and IOUs you may have.

5. Last minute super contributions & notice of intent

If you’re making any last minute super contributions make sure to get them in with enough time to settle, and submit a notice of intent if you’re required to.

5 tips for an easier new financial year 🎆

1. Plan how you’ll use your tax return

In 2021, an Australian bank experimented with prompting its customers to think about how they’d use their tax refunds in advance.

It resulted in these customers making smarter financial choices.

So, think about how you’ll use your tax return in advance and it might help you make a better money decision.

2. Catch up on the super changes

There are at least three changes to superannuation that kick in on 1 July 2024. Here's what they are.

Review the 2024 super changes.

3. Catch up on your tax changes

From 1 July 2024, every Australian taxpayer will receive a tax cut, which means that everything else being equal, you should see more take home pay land in your bank account.

The Australian government has a calculator to help you see how your after-tax income may change.

Having a plan for how you’ll use the extra money — for example, to save it, invest it, contribute it to your super, or pay off debt — can help you ensure it makes a meaningful difference to your cost of living.

4. Get tax support

Tax can be confusing – so get help if you need it. This could include speaking to a registered tax agent such as an accountant.

The ATO has help and support for lodging your tax return, which can include personalised support.

Here’s their info about how to get tax support.

5. Review how the year’s gone

Businesses use this time of year for stocktaking, and we like the idea of doing the same for your personal finances.

Looking over the past twelve months and considering any windfalls, losses, and learnings can help you use what you’ve learned to set and achieve new goals.

5 tips for winning your next financial year 🎆

1. Set your goals

When we think about money goals, we break them into four areas:

Savings
Debt
Investing
Super

We know goal setting can be hard, so here’s a way to set smarter goals.

Set SMART goals.

2. Schedule your check ins

People have different ideas about how often you should review your finances.

No matter where you land, we think it’s a good idea to set a reminder in your phone to take a look at how your investments are going, and how you’re progressing against your goals.

Many companies submit quarterly reports, our Spaceship Voyager Investment Team rebalances our Spaceship Voyager portfolios quarterly, while some financial planners meet with their customers half yearly.

Staying engaged with your finances can help you stay on track.

3. Build your support system

Traditional financial professionals include people such as accountants, financial planners, and stockbrokers.

But when it comes to money it can pay to think more broadly.

Warren Buffett has attributed much of his success to reading:

“I just sit in my office and read all day,” he has said.

Charlie Munger said similarly.

"I don’t think you can get to be a really good investor over a broad range without doing a massive amount of reading."

So we think your support system can expand to include your librarian, people you trust and follow on Twitter, podcasters, contrarian investors, real-life people, and more.

For financial advice, we always recommend getting help from a licensed financial professional who knows your circumstances. But for general education? The world is your stockmarket!

4. Up skill

Learn how to read a balance sheet.

Try out different ways of budgeting.

Study different types of investments and strategies.

Set some goals for the new financial year and see how much your financial horizon broadens.

5. Celebrate your wins

There are a bunch of reasons to celebrate your money wins - including that it inspires you to keep going, to track your progress, and to inspire the people around you.

After all - we’re not just in this to try to make more money. We’re in this to build and live the futures we want to live.