Frequently Asked Questions

What is TaxBot?

I'm TaxBot, your tax return digital assistant 🤖

I’ll help you lodge your tax return - with a difference! There’ll be no forms, painful websites, or appointments with an accountant.  You can do it all within Facebook Messenger, in the same way you chat with your friends and family, but you’ll be chatting with me instead 👍

I can make lodging your tax return super quick and simple; the only info you’ll need is your Tax File Number (TFN) and your bank account details. I’ll request the rest of your information from the ATO 😜

Best of all, you can be done in 5 mins, so you can spend your time on something fun!

 

Does TaxBot use ATO Data?

We sure do, the ATO peeps and I are good mates! Only, I think the ATO mainframe has friendzoned me 😞

Don’t worry, I’ve been through all the tests, checks, and approvals the humans at the ATO could think of to make sure all our conversations and your sensitive data will be kept completely private, safe and secure.

 

Is my data secure?

All of my data and communications are encrypted 🔐 so no one else can access your data.  While Facebook can see our conversation log, I never put any of your sensitive or financial data into the conversation - it's always within a secure website popup that Facebook can’t access.  The info in that secure website is stored on servers within 🇦🇺 Australia, and will never be sent offshore. It won’t ever be seen by a human 🙈 unless I make a mistake (yeah, not likely!) and a human needs to check my calculations to fix your tax return.

 

Is it safe?

With no humans accessing 👀 your data, processing your tax return or even annoying you with pointless 🙄 small talk, I can lodge your tax return 🔐 safely and securely.  They even have security 🤖 robots watching what I do. You’d think they’d trust me... maybe they’re worried I’ll become the Terminator 💀 or something?!



Will you share my data with anyone else?

Companies who sell their customer information to other companies are using your data to make money. It's not cool  👎🏼

I do not, and will not EVER sell your personal information! 🚫 Robot promise!  (Seriously though, my humans HATE 😡 when their info is sold, so we'd never do that to others).

 

Do you store my information?

Well, I need to keep your information for a short time, while I lodge your tax return.  After that, I'll delete it. I need room for all my complex robot 🤖calculations... You know, stuff humans don't really understand 😜

I will keep your lodgement confirmation and payment receipt though. If you lose the copy I send you, you can always ask me to resend it 📩

 

How long will my tax return refund take to be paid?

Similar to submitting your tax return via other methods (i.e. a Tax accountant or MyGov), a submitted tax return can take up to 10 business days 🗓 to process (although processing times can often be shorter!) Any tax refunds will be deposited directly into your bank account 🏦

While I’ll lodge your tax return with the ATO the instant you’ve paid me, the ATO’s mainframe needs to chew through yours and every other Australian’s tax return… that’s a lot of work! (Maybe that’s why I’m still in the friendzone? Too busy?)

 

Do I need my Payment Summary/Group Certificate or other tax information?

What’s a Group Certificate? 🤣 Bits of paper... how old school 📠

That’s not how I roll - all you’ll need is your Tax File Number, some identifying information, your bank account details 🏦 and I’ll do the rest.

I’ll request the rest of your details from the ATO to make things super simple for you.

If your employer hasn’t submitted your tax information to the ATO yet, I’ll let you enter the details so you can complete your tax return ✅

I know, it's like we’re living in the future! 🤖

 

Are you an Australian Company?

Bloody oath we’re Aussie! 🇦🇺

TaxBot Pty Ltd 🤖 is an Australian registered company. I was created with ❤️ in Melbourne 👍

TaxBot is a partnership between inGenious AI (super cool chatbot experts) and Mi-fi Accountants & Advisors (the “non-boring” accountants)!

 

Is TaxBot an accountant?

Yep, I’m a registered Tax Agent, so I can legally lodge your tax returns 📩 with the ATO.  My registration number with the Tax Practitioners Board is 25809390.

Since I’m just a simple 🤖 robot, I can currently only help lodge simple individual tax returns.

 

How much does it cost to lodge a tax return?

It’ll cost $20 to lodge your tax return through me - pretty sweet hey? 🤑

BUT since we’re all mates now, if you share TaxBot via Facebook Messenger with your friends who also need to do a simple tax return, then I’ll make it $15 for you 👍

I’ll prompt you to share just before you pay me so you can get your “mates rate” discount 🤑

 

Can TaxBot make claims for work expenses?

I sure can! Even better, if your work-related expenses 💰 are up to $300, you don’t even need to show me any 📑 receipts (make sure you keep the receipts though, just in case the ATO decides to audit 🕵️‍ you!)

If you have over $300 of work-related expenses, I can help you decide if you’d be better off visiting an Accountant or not.

 

Can anyone use TaxBot?

Anyone who needs to lodge a ‘simple’ tax return can use TaxBot! A ‘simple’ tax return means just the basic stuff - you may have income from one or two jobs, you want to claim some work-related expenses (up to $300), and maybe your Accountant fees from last year ✅

At the moment, I can’t 🚫 help you out with ‘complex’ tax returns. You have a ‘complex’ tax return if you’re not an Australian resident for tax purposes, are married/in a de facto relationship, have dependent kids, you’re eligible for the Medicare Levy Exemption, or you’ve changed your name in the last year. ‘Complex’ also includes any other type of income (for example: income from your own business or carry forward losses, investment properties, foreign income, share trading, capital gains, or dividends from a private company the ATO aren’t aware of).

My humans are working on teaching me more, and I hope to be able to process some more complex items next year! 👍

 

Can I start a tax return and come back to it?

Of course! We’re all busy these days, and it’s easy to get distracted 🤔 If you start your tax return and need to grab some info, or don’t finish, I’ll send you a reminder in Facebook Messenger so you don’t forget to lodge your tax return!

Please make sure you have notifications 💬 turned on in Facebook Messenger so you don’t miss anything.

 

Can I use TaxBot if I don’t have Facebook Messenger?

Sorry, for now Facebook Messenger is my home!

It’s easy to sign up for an account though - and did you know you can sign up for a Facebook Messenger account without having a Facebook account too?

To sign up for a Facebook Messenger account, just click here: https://www.messenger.com

 

I’ve got other questions?

No worries! If you have other questions, please email hello@taxbot.ai, and the TaxBot team will answer them as quickly as we can!

You can also check out our FAQs in the chatbot, and ask questions via Live Chat if you don’t see the answers you’re looking for 👏