The claims people most often leave on the table.

Work-related expenses

Tools, uniforms, licences and the costs of doing your job.

Car and travel

Trips between sites, bulky equipment and travel you were not reimbursed for.

Working from home

Hours at home, the method used and the rules that have changed more than once.

Self-education and training

Courses, seminars and materials tied to your current work.

Sole traders and side income

A longer amendment window and a wider set of claims.

A year that changed

Changing jobs, redundancy, two employers, time off, or a first year of extra income.

What a second look actually involves.

It starts with what you lodged, not a blank form. The agent works from your lodged return and your ATO record, so nothing has to be re-entered and nothing is guessed.

Then it is compared against your occupation. The ATO publishes guidance on what people in each line of work commonly claim. The agent checks your return against it, area by area.

Where something looks incomplete, they ask you. Most missed claims come from questions nobody asked the first time: whether you carried tools, how many days you worked from home, whether you paid for a licence or a course yourself.

Every claim still has to be substantiated. Where records are missing, the agent tells you what can and cannot be supported. A claim that cannot be supported is not made.

You get the finding in writing. If there is nothing to amend, that is the end of it at no cost. If you are wondering whether it is too late, start with how far back a return can be amended.

Lines of work where returns are most often incomplete.

Not a list of promises. These are the occupations where a second look most often turns up a question that was never asked.

Nurses, carers and health workers

Uniforms and their laundering, professional registrations, shift-related travel between sites and the self-education that keeps a registration current.