The GST return checks give you a set of checks to spot tax issues in your client's transaction data over a given GST period. They work in the same way as the VAT return checks, covering bank reconciliation, account code review, tax code review, multi-coded contacts, and high-value transactions — but scoped to GST, without the Scheme thresholds and Tax status sections.

To access them, go to a client's account and select Data Health in the left navigation, then select GST return checks under Tax.

The page shows the client's current GST Scheme and Reporting Cycle. Use the Period date range at the top of the page to select the GST period you want to review.

Important: The GST return checks are available for Australian Xero clients only.

The GST return checks are available to practices with the Data Health & Insights add-on, on Practice Essentials and Practice Advanced plans.

Dext defaults to the start of the organisation's financial year as the GST starting month, but this may not match your client's actual GST period.

Select Adjust Settings at the top of the page to open the GST settings and select the correct GST Starting Month. If you're unsure, select View the Tax Reports in Xero from within the settings to check.

The bank reconciliation section surfaces unreconciled transactions for the selected GST period, using the same logic as the standalone Bank reconciliation check.

Expand the Unreconciled Transactions card to see a table showing Date, Bank Account, Description, Reference, Reconciled status, and Amount for each transaction.

The account code review section checks whether transactions have been assigned to the correct account type for their tax treatment.

Finds transactions that don't have an account class of Revenue but have been assigned a revenue tax type. Expand the card to see the full transaction list with Date, Contact, Description, Code, Account, Net Amount, Tax Amount, and Tax Type columns.

Finds expense transactions assigned a GST tax type that are coded to high-risk account codes. To override the default high-risk accounts for this client, select the settings cog next to the card title, select the accounts you want to include, and select Save.

Finds Asset, Liability, or Equity type transactions with a non-zero tax value. Fixed Asset accounts and accounts with reporting codes for income in advance or prepayments are excluded.

The Tax Review By Code check groups all transactions in the period by the tax code applied to them — GST on Expenses, GST Free Expenses, GST on Capital, BAS Excluded, and so on. Each tax code group shows the number of line items above the minimum value threshold and can be expanded to show individual transactions with Date, Tax Type, Created On, Contact, Description, and Account columns.

Each group has filters for Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss, or All transaction types, and a Minimum Value field to focus on higher-value items.

To set a minimum transaction value across all tax code groups, select the settings cog next to the Tax Review By Code card title, enter a value, and select Save.

The Multi-Coded Contacts check surfaces contacts with inconsistent account or tax code coding across their transactions during the selected period. It uses the same logic as the standalone Multi-coded contacts check, scoped to contacts active during the selected GST period. Select dismiss on a difference group to suppress it from the results.

The high value transactions section surfaces transactions above a configurable minimum value, split by whether they have attachments. The default minimum value is A$1,000.00.

Finds transactions at or above the minimum value that don't have any attachments — useful for ensuring GST evidence is in place for high-value items.

Use the Balance Sheet | Profit and Loss | All and Manual Journals | Other Types | All filters to narrow the list. To change the minimum value, select the settings cog next to the card title, enter a value, and select Save.

Surfaces transactions at or above the minimum value that do have attachments, for review purposes. The same filters and minimum value configuration apply.

To update the GST return checks, use the buttons at the top of the page:

If you've made changes in Xero, select Sync first, then Recalculate to see updated results.