Small-Business Tax Offset Report
Sole trader? You may be entitled to the small business income tax offset of up to $1,000. Tell us your taxable income and your net small business income and we calculate your exact estimated offset (the same 16%-of-tax method the ATO uses), then our AI explains how it is worked out, what it means at tax time, and what to confirm with your accountant. General information, not tax advice; figures are estimates.
A$1,000 is the ceiling on the small business income tax offset, and for a lot of sole traders that figure turns up in the return as a line that lowers the tax payable with no working shown. This report is the working. A$29 one-off, about four minutes, and what comes back is your estimated offset alongside a plain-English account of how the number was reached.
Two things happen here, and they are kept apart on purpose. Your estimated offset is computed from your figures using the same 16%-of-tax method the ATO uses, capped at A$1,000 — deterministic arithmetic, not a language model guessing at a number. The AI then writes around that result: what the method actually does, what the offset means at tax time for a sole trader, the eligibility points worth raising, and a short pre-lodgement checklist. It arrives on your order page as an on-page report with a Markdown download, ready to print to PDF or paste into Word, and two free AI revisions are included.
Why the two income figures aren't interchangeable
Total taxable income and net small business income are rarely the same number, and the gap between them is what the calculation turns on. One establishes your tax position; the other decides how much of that position the offset is measured against. Swap them and the estimate moves, which is why the form asks for each separately alongside your business type.
Those inputs are the whole basis of the report. Nothing is pulled from the ATO, from myGov, or from your accounting software, so the estimate is only ever as good as what you type in. The breakdown then walks through the 16%-of-tax method and the A$1,000 cap in full, so what comes back is not a bare figure you have to take on faith. You can follow the arithmetic and check it against what your books actually say.
Before you sit down with your accountant
This is general information rather than tax advice, and the figure it produces is an estimate. It cannot confirm that you are eligible; that depends on facts about your entity and your year the report has no way of seeing. Nor is it a return or a schedule, so there is nothing here to lodge.
What it changes is the shape of the conversation you have next. You go in already knowing roughly what the offset should come to, which eligibility points are worth putting to your accountant, and what belongs on a pre-lodgement checklist. If a number shifts after year-end adjustments, or you want a second scenario written up, the two included revisions cover it. Anything touching your actual lodgement stays with you or a registered tax agent.
What you get
- Your estimated small business income tax offset (calculated)
- Plain-English breakdown of the 16%-of-tax, $1,000-cap method
- What the offset means at tax time for a sole trader
- Eligibility points and what to confirm with your accountant
- A short pre-lodgement checklist
- 2 free AI revisions included
Turnaround: ~4 minutes. Delivery: On-page report + Markdown download (print to PDF / paste to Word).
Sample output
Sample excerpt — your Small-Business Tax Offset Report is generated fresh from your figures; this is an anonymised example. General information only, not tax advice; figures are estimates.
Your offset snapshot
You run a mobile dog-grooming business as a sole trader across [Brisbane suburbs] under ABN [XX XXX XXX XXX], with around $68,000 in gross takings for the year. After deductions, your net small business income is ~$54,000, on total taxable income of ~$61,000. Based on those figures, you look eligible for the small business income tax offset — the concession that gives sole traders a discount on the tax payable on their business profit.
Your estimated offset
Figure Amount --- --- Estimated tax on your taxable income ~$10,900 Share of that tax from small business income ~88% Offset rate applied 16% Calculated offset ~$1,530 Capped offset you can claim $1,000
The offset is 16% of the income tax attributable to your net small business income, but it is capped at $1,000 per person, per year. Your raw calculation lands above the cap, so your estimated offset is the maximum $1,000. It's applied automatically by the ATO when you lodge — you don't claim it as a separate line.
Deductions worth checking
These are common in mobile grooming and directly lower the net small business income the offset is worked on:
- Vehicle & running costs — fuel, servicing and insurance for the grooming van, e.g. ~$8,400 (logbook method). - Equipment & consumables — clippers, blades, shampoos, dryers, e.g. ~$3,100. - Phone, bookings & marketing — mobile plan, online booking tool, local ads, e.g. ~$1,900.
Your next step
Give these figures and your deduction totals to your registered tax agent before lodging — they'll confirm your exact net small business income and that the $1,000 cap applies to your situation.
— end of sample. Your full report shows your exact calculated offset, the step-by-step 16%/$1,000-cap working, eligibility points, and a plain-English tax-time summary. —
Frequently asked questions
I trade through a company, not as a sole trader — is there anything here for me?
The report is written around the sole trader position, which is where the small business income tax offset ordinarily applies. Other structures are treated differently, and nothing in the report can tell you whether your entity qualifies. If you are not a sole trader, put the question to your accountant before you rely on any figure it produces.
Does the 16% rate hold for the year I'm working on?
The calculation uses the 16%-of-tax method with the A$1,000 cap, as described in the product. Rates, thresholds and eligibility rules are set by legislation and can differ between income years, so if you are looking at an earlier year, confirm the applicable rate with a registered tax agent before relying on the result.
I entered a figure wrong. Do I have to buy it again?
No. Two free AI revisions come with the A$29 price, so corrected figures can be sent back and the report rebuilt against them. The same allowance covers a second scenario, such as a different net small business income after year-end adjustments. Nothing you enter is checked against an outside source, so it is worth reconciling the inputs with your books first.