For lots of people, filing a personal tax return is a stressful exercise. Whether you end by paying additional taxes to the ATO or Australian Taxation office or you are in the process of gathering information about the taxation system. If you are an Australian resident and earn an income or salary, you need to lodge the tax return though your employer is withholding taxes from the pay.
While lodging the tax return, you must declare your income, and you may be entitled to take away some money back home. The amount of money you receive depends on the deductible expenses and the number of earnings you have.
Tax Return:
The tax return is said to cover all expenses and income made by an individual through the financial term starting from June 1st and ending June 30th for the following year. At the end of every financial year, the individuals are allowed to lodge the tax return, and it is a limited window. Usually, the deadline is October 31st of the respective year.
If you are earning an income, you need to pay the tax on that income. Being a salaried employee, the employee can deduct the tax from every salary and transfer it to the Australian Taxation Office on the individual’s behalf. The activity of moving the part of salary to ATO is known as Pay As You Go (PAYG) withholding. In case you are a self-employed contractor and are using ABN for Australian Business Number, you are required to pay your tax and super. Liasioning with Tax agencies like Taxopia will guide you through the entire process and will help you in filing the tax successfully.
Upon completing the tax return filing, the Australian Taxation Office assesses your deductions, income, and expenses to determine you will get a tax refund or may have to pay additional amounts for taxes.
Frequently Asked Questions about filing Tax Return:
When should you file for a tax refund?
The individuals should lodge their outstanding tax returns at the earliest. Because once the ATO or Australian tax officer takes any action, it can result in a court conviction. ATO can charge the penalty of a massive penalty for 28 days of outstanding. Apart from the fine, ATO sets interest and general interest charges being levied on due tax returns.
Is there any penalty for not paying the tax return?
The standard penalty for the subsequent 28 days period is 222$ or a part of the outstanding return. The penalty can be massive; if you fail to lodge the income tax further, the ATO can issue a letter as a formal default assessment as a warning. The letter will state the estimate for the income about the missing year, which ATO can use for issuing the default assessment. The figures said for your payment about the disappeared year by ATO can be higher for the actual value. For a start, it will not include the deductions you are being entitled to. In the end, the ATO can look forward to prosecuting you for not lodging.
What time of year can you lodge your tax return?
The date of lodgement will depend upon the individual’s current tax situation and lodging history. For filing the individual tax returns, the due date for you is October 31st, and if in case you are already on a tax agent listing and don’t have any prior lodgement, you can file late too, i.e., the 15th of May.
If you are not on the tax agent listing for small ventures, then the due date for you is February 28th. And if you are having any late lodgement, then the due date can be October 31st. And if you are on the tax agent listing, your due date will be shifted later to May 15th.
These dates can be changed as per the ATO and can be used for stating the guidelines.
Will ever ATO be able to waive off the penalties?
At times the ATO can waive penalties. Let’s have a look at few situations when an individual is more likely to be applicable for any penalty:
- If the individual possesses a poor lodgement history.
- If more than one tax return is outstanding
- If the individual is non-compliant with the tax matters.
How much time does it take for the tax return to get back to its source?
Within fourteen days of lodging, the tax refund and the individuals also receive the email notifications for the transfer. ATO reserves the right for 30 days to check the tax return and refund the amount. If you have applied through an agency, they will guide you throughout the process for updates.
