Kyabram is a dairy and orchard town of a little over 7,000 people that serves a district several times that size, and the tax questions it generates are the questions of farming families, food-plant shift workers, contractors and the businesses along Allan Street. SMT Accounting is a registered tax agent 40 kilometres to the east, and most of our Kyabram work is done over a phone.
Working with us from Kyabram
Our office is at 53 Mootwingee Crescent, Shepparton North. Google Maps puts the drive from Kyabram at about 37 minutes via Echuca Road, and we are glad to see you there by appointment when a face-to-face meeting is what you want. Most clients choose not to. Documents arrive as photos over WhatsApp or through a secure upload link, questions are dealt with by message or a short call, the return is signed on your phone, and the drive never happens. Sohail Yasin (CPA, registered tax agent) and Syed Shah (IPA member, registered tax agent) prepare every return themselves, so you are always speaking with the accountant who did the work.
Kyabram's economy and who we act for
Kyabram is the second-largest town in the Shire of Campaspe, with a population of 7,416 at the 2021 Census and a district of around 16,000 people looking to it for services. The district economy rests on dairying and fruit orchards, with food processing built on top: the Henry Jones plant in town makes Taylor's sauces, Goulburn Valley Creamery produces frozen milk concentrate for export from the same site, and Fonterra's Stanhope plant is close by. Engineering, cold storage and specialist dairy services round out the picture. The visitor economy has grown since July 2022, when the 55-hectare Kyabram Fauna Park, a community venture since 1976, joined Zoos Victoria as its fourth zoo, bringing day-trippers past the town's cafés, motels and petrol stations.
The Kyabram clients we most often work with are:
- Dairy farming families with milk income that moves with the season, livestock on hand, Farm Management Deposits, income averaging and the immediate deductions available for water facilities, fencing and fodder storage.
- Orchardists and fruit growers managing picking-season payroll, backpacker and seasonal-worker wages, and horticultural plant write-offs.
- Food-processing and creamery employees on rotating shifts with protective clothing, laundry, union fees and overtime meal allowances to get right.
- Dairy service contractors, agronomists and transport operators who need fuel tax credits, equipment depreciation and a sensible structure for a growing business.
- Cafés, motels and retailers along Allan Street and on the Fauna Park route, with GST, casual rosters and the Payday Super rules that begin 1 July 2026.
- Teachers, nurses, council workers and retirees who want a registered agent to check the deductions and lodge the return.
The farm rules, with the ATO page behind each one, are covered in our agriculture and horticulture guide.
Services Kyabram clients use
- Individual tax returns for employees, seasonal workers and investors.
- Sole trader tax returns for contractors, pickers with an ABN and owner-drivers.
- Business and company tax for farming partnerships, trusts and companies.
- BAS, GST and IAS every quarter, with fuel tax credits claimed where the use qualifies.
- Bookkeeping and payroll with Single Touch Payroll for employers, including seasonal crews.
What we need from you
- Photo identification and your tax file number, supplied through our encrypted onboarding form only, because a registered agent has to verify every client.
- For employees: once you nominate us we can see your income statement, so what we need is your receipts, vehicle log and any work-from-home record.
- For farms and businesses: bank feeds or statements, milk or sales statements, livestock numbers at the start and end of the year, payroll records, the asset register and last year's return.
- For rental properties, shares or crypto: annual statements and trade history. Our tax return checklist covers each category.
Frequently asked
Is there an SMT Accounting office in Kyabram?
No. We work from a single office at 53 Mootwingee Crescent, Shepparton North, which Google Maps puts at about 37 minutes from Kyabram via Echuca Road. Appointments there are welcome, but the great majority of Kyabram clients deal with us by WhatsApp, phone, email and video and never need to travel.
Our dairy income is split between two family members and a company. Can you handle that?
Yes. Family dairy operations commonly run through a partnership, trust or company with the land held separately, and each entity needs its own return. We prepare the lot together so that income, wages drawn, livestock trading and water are treated consistently across the group, and we review whether the structure still fits the farm's size and succession plans.
I pick fruit around Kyabram on a visa. Do I need to lodge a tax return?
In most cases yes, if tax was withheld from your pay or you earned over the tax-free threshold. Working holiday makers are taxed at different rates from residents, which affects whether a refund is due. Send us your income statement details and visa type and we will tell you where you stand and what it costs before anything is lodged.
I've just bought a café near the Fauna Park. What do you need to set up?
An ABN and GST registration if turnover will reach the $75,000 threshold, a decision on structure, cloud bookkeeping with bank feeds, and payroll with Single Touch Payroll if you employ staff. Our new business checklist walks through each item, and the first call to talk it over is free.