Run your own show? We'll run your return.
If you've got an ABN, your return gets more complicated and more important to claim every deduction possible. Night Tax AI takes you step by step through your return prompting you to help find every business expense possible including those you never thought were possible.
books?
We're the experts.
Nothing too tangled to untangle.
Trusted & accredited
What our AI finds
Deductions you'd otherwise miss.
Night Tax AI scans every line of your data against thousands of ATO-recognised deduction patterns specific to your situation.
Home office and dedicated workspace deductions
Tools, equipment & instant asset write-offs
Vehicle expenses with cents-per-km or logbook
Subscriptions, software & professional memberships
Marketing, advertising and platform fees
Personal super contributions & insurance
How it works
From sign-up to lodged in days, not weeks.
Connect your data
Upload, type or sync from your accounting tool. We do the categorising.
AI builds your Schedule B
Every transaction matched to the right ATO category with deduction prompts.
Agent reviews & lodges
A registered agent signs off and lodges your return and any required BAS.
Eligibility
Is this the right return for you?
A sole trader return is for anyone earning business income under their own name and ABN. You don't need to be full-time self-employed — plenty of our sole trader clients also hold a regular PAYG job and run their ABN activity on the side.
Common examples include tradies subcontracting to a builder, freelance designers and developers, coaches and consultants, allied health practitioners renting rooms, rideshare and delivery drivers, e-commerce sellers, and creators earning through platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Substack or Twitch.
If you've incorporated a company (Pty Ltd), operate through a trust, or you're in a partnership, you'll need one of our business returns instead. Our sole trader intake will detect that and redirect you before you pay.
- Holds an active Australian Business Number
- Business income earned under your own name
- GST registered or under the $75,000 threshold
- Uses a home office or dedicated workspace
- May also earn PAYG income from an employer
- Wants prior-year lodgements caught up
Deductions in detail
The deductions our AI hunts for on every return.
Sole traders lose more to missed deductions than any other taxpayer type — mostly because they're doing the work themselves late at night and don't know what to ask. The AI asks the right questions for your industry, then a registered tax agent double-checks the outcome before we lodge.
Home office & occupancy
Running costs for a home-based business, dedicated workspace percentages, and — where eligible — a share of occupancy costs like rent or mortgage interest.
Motor vehicle
Fuel, servicing, insurance, rego, tyres and depreciation apportioned by logbook, plus tolls, parking and business-related travel time.
Assets & equipment
Instant asset write-off for eligible purchases within the threshold, and the small business simplified depreciation pool for everything else.
Software & subscriptions
Accounting software, design tools, cloud storage, project management, AI subscriptions, industry publications and continuing education platforms.
Contractor & platform fees
Subcontractor payments, Airtasker/Uber/Deliveroo service fees, marketplace commissions, payment processing fees and platform-specific costs.
Marketing & branding
Website hosting, domain names, paid ads, SEO tools, branded merchandise, business cards, photography and content production.
Insurance
Public liability, professional indemnity, business insurance, income protection (outside super) and tools/equipment cover.
Professional services
Legal, bookkeeping, tax and business coaching fees where connected to earning your business income.
Superannuation & retirement
Personal deductible super contributions with correct notice of intent, capped at the concessional contributions limit.
Real-world examples
What a Night Tax return looks like in practice.
Illustrative scenarios based on typical client outcomes. Names changed; numbers realistic.
Liam subcontracts to two builders and works from a home workshop. He kept receipts in a shoebox and had never claimed depreciation on his tools or ute.
Outcome: Night Tax built a logbook estimate, pooled his tools under simplified depreciation and picked up home-workshop running costs — refund $4,120, fee $99.
Ella earns $68,000 a year through direct clients and Fiverr. She was worried about GST, super and whether her Adobe subs and iPad were claimable.
Outcome: The AI confirmed she's under the GST threshold, deducted software, hardware depreciation and platform fees, and added a personal super contribution for extra tax saving.
Sanjay drives Uber four nights a week alongside his PAYG day job. He'd been missing car deductions and hadn't lodged a BAS for two quarters.
Outcome: We prepared a logbook-based motor vehicle claim, reconciled two overdue BAS, and combined it all with his PAYG income on a single return.
Timeline
From start to refund — what to expect.
- Day 0Complete the sole trader intake — takes most people 20–30 minutes if their records are on hand.
- Within 12 hoursAI categorises income and expenses, applies industry-specific deduction rules and prepares your Business schedule.
- Within 48 hoursRegistered tax agent reviews the draft, resolves any outstanding questions with you and lodges with the ATO.
- 5–14 business daysThe ATO processes the return; refund is deposited or debit is scheduled based on your election.
Pricing
Flat fees. No surprises. Pay from your refund.
Single ABN activity, business income and expenses, GST optional, standard deductions.
Adds one rental property with depreciation schedule import.
Adds annual BAS reconciliation and any outstanding quarterly BAS lodgements.
- Pay from your refund — nothing charged up front.
- Prior-year returns quoted at the same tier price per year.
- Xero and MYOB connections included; QuickBooks on request.
- Our fee is deductible on next year's return.
FAQs
Common questions, straight answers.
Do I need to lodge a separate business return?+
No — sole traders lodge business income and expenses inside their individual tax return, via the Business schedule. Night Tax builds that schedule automatically as you answer the intake.
What if I registered for GST?+
If you're GST registered, we'll reconcile your GST-on-sales and GST-on-purchases against your BAS lodgements and pick up any missed quarterly claims when we prepare the annual return.
Can I claim my car?+
Yes — either the cents-per-km method (up to 5,000 business km) or the logbook method. The AI will ask a handful of questions and calculate whichever produces the higher legitimate claim.
What about the instant asset write-off?+
Eligible small businesses can immediately deduct the cost of qualifying assets acquired within the year, up to the current threshold. We'll apply it automatically when the criteria are met.
I have both PAYG and ABN income — is this the right return?+
Yes. The sole trader return includes both your employee income and your ABN business income on the one lodgement, with the correct schedules and allowances.
Do you handle late or overdue returns?+
Absolutely. We regularly lodge multiple prior years for sole traders. Each year is quoted separately from $99 and processed together to minimise ATO follow-up.
How do I get my records to you?+
Upload PDFs and photos, connect Xero or MYOB, or paste totals from a spreadsheet. The AI categorises transactions and asks about anything ambiguous rather than guessing.
Is my fee tax-deductible?+
Yes — the cost of preparing and lodging your tax return is deductible in the following year's return under 'costs of managing tax affairs'.
Related services
Not quite the right fit? Try one of these.
No ABN? Standard individual return from $79 with occupation-specific deductions.
Partnership or scaling past sole trader? Full small business lodgement from $550.
Operating through a Pty Ltd? Company return with financial statements from $990.
Ready to start your sole trader return?
Takes 30 seconds to begin. No payment required until you're ready to lodge.