Reducing tax

1. Super
There are a number of superannuation strategies I could look at, including personal deductible contributions, government co-contributions and undeducted contributions.

a. Undeducted Contributions are when you put money towards your super from post-tax income - no more tax is taken when you contribute to it, and it’s tax free when you take it out. Any earnings on this over time will only be liable for 15 per cent tax.

b. The Co-Contribution Scheme means every time you pay a dollar of undeducted contributions towards your super, the government pays $1.50.

Both schemes are limited to $1500, and you must be earning less than $28,000 pa for the $1500 - co contribution drops by 5c for each dollar over the threshold.

2. Other strategies
Aside from superannuation there are other strategies I can employ to minimise tax.

a. Pre-paying expenses to reduce taxable income - You can prepay your interest on an investment loan up to twelve months in advance, then claim the deductions against your salary this year.
b. using tax-effective investments or gearing strategies to increase your tax deductions. There are a number of options here. One popular method is investing in agricultural schemes - check with ASIC for product rulings.