Procrastibaking

I should be filling out these Taxation forms but suddenly, baking biscuits for the Farmgate shop and darning socks is far more urgent.... and entertaining!

Procrasti-darning

I'm retired now, so I don't need to go to the accountant this year to have my tax return done. I have not earned enough money to pay any tax, and we no longer own an investment property that we rent out. The sale of them occurred a couple of years ago, so there is nothing complicated about my financial affairs this year.
 At my last visit to my accountant (last year),  he advised that all I need to do this year is to claim my Franking Credits from my small share portfolio. He kindly showed me how it can be done without seeing him and paying (a small fortune) for his time.
Just lately I've spoken to a couple of friends who did not know this.  They were unaware that we can claim back the credits that were subtracted from our dividend payments though the previous year, so I thought I'd share it with you today.
There may be lots of folk who have money sitting there at the ATO that they didn't know about.
It's simple, if I can do it, so can you.
I spent a few minutes .... OK an hour.!!  sorting through my different dividend statements, and wrote on a sheet of paper for each Share holding so I can add them up and write it easily on the forms provided.

eg.  ** Example only**   Argo      franked amount $123.45
                                                       franking credit    $12.34
 
                                         Telstra   franked amount  $123.45
                                                       franking credit    $12.34

             and so on until all of the shares were listed.

Then I downloaded the forms using this site;

Refund of Franking Credits Instructions and Application for Individuals 2017
 
This site has all the information we need about Franking Credits and how to claim. There's a FAQ section there as well that is very helpful. eg,

"Can I claim franking credits from previous years?

It is not too late to claim a refund of franking credits you received in the 2001 to 2016 income years. If you have not already claimed these credits, go to ato.gov.au/onlineordering and order a Refund of franking credits application and instructions (NAT 4105) for the relevant years. You can only lodge these refund applications for previous years by post."

 I printed all the forms on my printer because I prefer to write it on paper, make a copy for my records, and post the completed application away to the Australian Taxation Office, rather than spend an hour (or more) doing it on-line, only to discover, right at the end that I've done something wrong and I either lose the entire thing, or it takes up so much time getting it right.
The last time I tried to complete an application for something on line, I lost it all at the end. I was so frustrated! Two hours of my life that I'm never getting back! I threw a knife at the door! The little mark is still there to remind me.  :-/
 If you prefer, it can be lodged by phone, the phone number is listed on the front page, and I'm pretty sure it could be done on-line, but I'm not going there. Just saying!
My forms and instructions are still sitting there on the table because I'm procrasti-baking and procrasti-darning!
Oh... and when I've finished baking and darning, there are those spider webs that need vacuuming off the ceilings, but I'll get my Tax stuff done soon, I promise!

What about you? What are your procrastinating decoys?