How we calculate your savings

Version 1.0 · Updated 28 May 2026

Advisory Stack surfaces savings estimates on the Tax Health Check, the Tax Model, in Strategies, and inside AI Assistant answers. This page documents how those numbers are produced so you can decide how much weight to give them. Estimates are forecasts; they do not replace tax advice from a registered tax agent.

1. Inputs we use

  • Self-entered figures: income, deductions, entity type, dependants, and situational answers (e.g. work-from-home days, super contributions, property holding period).
  • Uploaded documents: PAYG payment summaries, payslips, investment reports and other PDFs you choose to upload. Extracted figures are reviewable in your Tax Profile before they affect any estimate.
  • Connector data (optional): figures imported from Xero / MYOB / QBO where you have authorised that connection.
  • FY-specific ATO rates & thresholds: marginal rates, Medicare levy, LITO / LMITO where current, super caps, CGT discount eligibility, etc. We refresh these when the ATO publishes new figures (typically May–June for the next financial year).

2. Calculation steps

  1. Baseline: we compute a baseline tax position from your inputs at the relevant FY rates.
  2. Strategy matching: each strategy in our library carries an eligibility rules DSL (e.g. entity_type == 'individual' AND age >= 60). The engine runs your inputs against those rules and shortlists the strategies you may be eligible for.
  3. Per-strategy estimate: for each matched strategy, the engine applies the strategy's saving formula to your figures — usually a delta between a "with strategy" and "without strategy" tax position at the same FY rates.
  4. Aggregation: headline figures (e.g. on the Tax Health Check dashboard) are the sum of the per-strategy estimates after de-duplication where two strategies target the same dollar.

3. What estimates are NOT

  • Personalised tax advice. A registered tax agent must validate eligibility and the actual outcome before lodgement. See our tax disclaimer.
  • Audited. Estimates do not constitute an audit, an ATO ruling, or a tax return.
  • Lodgement-grade. Returns to the ATO must be prepared by a registered tax agent or yourself; our figures inform planning, not lodgement.

4. Sources we cite

Every strategy in our library cites the ATO page or pages that authorise its position. The URL Validator agent re-crawls those pages on a schedule; when a citation page is removed or materially changed, the strategy is flagged for re-review by the reviewer panel before it's marked endorsed for the current financial year.

5. Reviewer sign-off

We are building a panel of TPB-registered tax agents to read each strategy, edit it as needed, and sign it off for the current FY against the current ATO position. Each sign-off — the reviewer, their TPB registration, and a snapshot of the exact content endorsed — is retained in our systems for audit. We do not publish the individual reviewer's name on each strategy. This layer is rolling out; coverage grows as reviewers come online. See the strategy reviewer panel.

6. Version snapshots

Every estimate we surface is generated against a versioned strategy definition and tax-rate snapshot, so we can reconstruct exactly how a number was produced at any point in time. If an ATO rate or strategy rule changes, your prior estimates remain reproducible against the snapshot they were produced under, while new estimates use the latest rules.

7. Questions or disagreements

If a specific estimate looks wrong to you or your tax agent, email methodology@advisorystack.com.au with the strategy ID and your inputs. We'll reproduce the calculation, walk through each step, and correct the engine or your inputs as appropriate.