There are two really good reasons why you should do a tax return and do it on time.

The first is that if you've been paying too much tax, you will get a payment from the Tax Office, which means money in your pocket.

The second reason is that if you haven't been paying enough tax, you're better off knowing about it now and getting it sorted out, before you go for too many years and accumulate a huge debt.

If this is the case, when you lodge your tax return, the Tax Office will let you know the amount you owe them in a letter of assessment.

While there's a lot of talk about preparing your tax and lodging it on time, it can be very confusing and perhaps a little overwhelming.

This could be your first year of employment and therefore the first time you've had to do a tax return - so what's it all about?

Basically speaking, a tax return is a form filled out by everyone who earns money and is sent to the Australian Tax Office.

The Tax Office then looks at the money you've earned, how much tax you have paid and how much tax you should have paid in the financial year.

A financial year is from July 1 to June 30 the following calendar year.

It's fair to say the less you earn the less tax you're expected to pay.

So, if you're working part-time you're probably going to have a relatively low income which won't be highly taxed.

At the end of the financial year your employer will give you a payment summary which will show how much money you have earned and how much tax you have paid during the year.

If you have more than one employer you can add up the 'total tax withheld' figure on each summary.

So how do you go about completing a tax return?

There are a few options to consider.

One is to do it yourself online via the ATO website.

This is free and can be done any time of the day or night, and there's well-described steps along the way to help.

The second option is to lodge a paper-based tax return which is free from the post office or a newsagency.

And of course the third option is to see an accountant and get them to complete the forms.

It is very important to note that no matter how you lodge your tax return, or who helps you to complete it, you must sign it yourself and the responsibility for the information being correct is yours alone.