Between working on a (another) revamp of disassociated, not to mention actually doing a little paid work as well, I took some time out today to file my tax return.

Thanks to the Australian Tax Office’s e-tax system, it is convenient and easy to complete and file your personal tax return on-line. What I particularly enjoyed about using the on-line software this year, was the rollover facility the application uses.

This means that if you have filed your tax return on-line before, the e-tax application will remember a lot of your specific details from your previous return.

For instance, I did not have to enter my name or address, employer’s details, or health fund numbers, as the system had remembered them. Stored them away carefully for future use, so to speak.

Did I say I enjoyed completing my tax return? Yes, I did; it’s sad but true. And also just a little disturbing. Who knows what other data is also being collected, catalogued and stored for future use as well?

Big brother issues aside, for now anyway, I am pleased to say I am expecting a modest tax refund this year. It should cover the cost of the new scanner I need here.

Interestingly enough, just as I am in the process of revamping disassociated, so was the Tax Office likewise rebuilding their website. I had gone to the relevant section of their website just a few days ago to bookmark the page that links to the downloadable e-tax application.

I had decided that I would do the whole tax process in one hit, that is, download this years e-tax software and file my return all at the same time, once I had received all the necessary tax documents from my employers and other such sources.

The last of that paperwork arrived this morning, so I decided to get started. On returning to the bookmarked page on the Tax Office’s website though, I was greeted by a 404, page missing, error.

Sure enough the Tax office had redesigned their website, and the page I wanted had vanished in the process. No major problem however, as I quickly found what I wanted on a new page.

The new Tax Office website looks rather spiffy, if I say so myself. ;)

And another reason I so enjoyed filing my tax return this year? Thanks to various cross browser style sheet hassles, it proved far easier than some of the problems I am running into revamping disassociated!