The Commonwealth Bank has found that the average taxpayer is losing as much as $1,000 dollars because of lost receipts, equating to a total of $7.3 billion nationwide.

 

The bank found that 51 per cent of taxpayers misplace vital receipts required to support their tax return.

 

The study of more than 1,000 Australians reveals it’s largely receipts for everyday expenses we’re most prone to misplacing. Topping the list of Australian taxpayer’s most lost receipts are:

  • stationary and office equipment (25 per cent);
  • closely followed by fuel (24 per cent) and parking (24 per cent); and
  • other receipts Australians are most likely to lose include tolls (15 per cent), travel (14 per cent) and internet usage (11 per cent).

 

Interestingly, the study shows big differences in the value Australian taxpayers think they are missing – between genders, age groups and locations2:

  • men may be out of pocket by three times as much as women ($5.5 billion Vs. $1.8 billion);
  • 18-35 year olds may miss out on $2.5 billion more than 36-50+ year olds ($4.9 billion Vs. $2.4 billion); and
  • those living in capital cities could be losing on almost four times as much as those living in regional areas ($5.8 billion Vs. $1.5 billion).

 

 

According to the bank’s research, Australians spend on average 2.2 hours search for lost receipts, which means as a nation we spend over 1,800 years searching for lost receipts each year.