Time to tick off tax returns
MILLIONS of Aussie taxpayers have already filed their returns. The rest of you better get a move on or face being penalised.
MILLIONS of Aussie taxpayers have already filed their returns. The rest of you better get a move on, writes Sophie Elsworth
TIME is running out for the millions of Australians who still have their tax return on a to-do list. More than 6.25 million taxpayers have filed their returns for the 2012-13 financial year. But for those who haven’t, it is time to get cracking or otherwise face being penalised.
While many Australians opt to use a tax agent to help finalise their returns, a growing number of people are opting for the do-it-yourself approach.
Latest Australian Taxation Office figures show up until a few weeks ago they had received more than 1.88 million lodgements via e-tax this financial year – up 4.6 per cent on last year.
The ATO says last year 83 per cent of people who prepared their own returns opted to use e-tax, a secure online service where tax returns can be lodged all online.
And when it comes to the size of expected returns, the Bankwest Taxing Times 2013 report found it to be $2033 for the 2012-13 financial year.
Stephanie Caredes, tax counsel at the Tax Institute, has urged Aussies to get organised in the next few weeks to ensure they meet the October 31 deadline to file their return.
“They should pull out all their paperwork, financial statements that are relevant, payment summaries, bank statements, receipts and donations and work-related expenses they’ve incurred and sit down and start to prepare their return,” she says.
“Whether they do this themselves or get prepared to see a tax agent, then they’ve got their information at hand and will make the whole process a lot easier.”
The ATO urges Australians unable to lodge their return by the end of October or by their registered agent’s lodgement date to ask for an extension.
Caredes says choosing an agent can help taxpayers complete more difficult returns and help them claim deductions they may not know about.
“E-tax is an easy-enough online system to use, particularly if your affairs are simple, but if your affairs are slightly more complicated or you have an investment property and other sources of income besides your job, it might be worth sitting down and talking to a registered tax agent,” she says.
“They do so many returns they can point out deductions you might not have been aware of and they can also tell you certain pieces of information you need to include on your return, and their fees are deductible.”
An ATO spokesman says there is plenty of information available on their website to help people complete their returns on time, and its pre-fill service allows information to be automatically uploaded upon a taxpayer entering their details.
“Pre-filling helps people complete their tax return by downloading information the ATO has received from employers, financial institutions, government agencies and others straight into the relevant questions in e-tax,” he says. “Pre-filling on e-tax can save people a lot of time completing their return and reduce the chance of them making mistakes like typos because their tax information is automatically downloaded.”
HOW AUSSIES SPEND THEIR RETURNS
* Pay off debt – 35.6 per cent
* Save it – 31.5 per cent
* Buy basic commodities – 16.8 per cent
* Spend it on something more exciting – 12 per cent
* Spend it on things needed for work – 5.2 per cent
* Donate to charity – 1.1 per cent
* Other – 4.6 per cent
Note: Numbers do not add up to 100 per cent as multiple answers may have been chosen.
Source: Bankwest Taxing Times Report 2013