Each year the ATO releases a watchlist outlining what it has in its sights for that financial year.

They tend to be areas where the ATO has noticed mistakes being made and this year is no different. There are three key focus areas this tax time.

The first is rental property deductions. The ATO found that 9 in 10 rental property owners are getting their tax returns wrong. Examples include leaving out rental income and overclaiming expenses but one thing the ATO will be watching especially closely is interest expenses to ensure rental property owners aren’t claiming interest expenses where part of the loan was used for private purposes.

The second is work-related expenses – in particular it is focused on ensuring taxpayers understand the changes to the working-from-home methods and are able to back up their claims.

The final item in the ATO’s sights is capital gains from selling shares, crypto, managed investments or properties.