Tax time

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I know it is boring to fill out your tax forms. But it is that time of the year again. (duh!)

Just wondering which taxation firm, do those who pay tax, go to?
 

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Originally posted by Spidergirl~RiCkChiCk
I go to Firm Darky only took him about 10 mins :) and am getting just over 1000 back to put on my beamer :D
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You measure a good tax agent by the size of your refund?

I could get you a 5 grand refund if you wanted, doesn't mean I know what i'm talking about.
 
I reckon unless you've got investments, shares, 20 zillion deductions, or anything else that isn't a basic income and tax difference, you might as well do your own.

Having the eTax system available on the net, I've done my own the last two years, plus helped others do theirs, and generally the refunds come back within a week... which is quicker than tax firms get them back to you.
 
not that it matters to much if i do them (apart from it being law, but i only get like $12 back as i barely worked last year) i always tend to do it myself. Tis pretty simple when u dont have much to claim for.
 
Originally posted by Darky
I reckon unless you've got investments, shares, 20 zillion deductions, or anything else that isn't a basic income and tax difference, you might as well do your own.

Having the eTax system available on the net, I've done my own the last two years, plus helped others do theirs, and generally the refunds come back within a week... which is quicker than tax firms get them back to you.
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I tried this last year...
Painstakingly checked the boxes etc etc only to be asked to punch in some bloody number ( That I didnt have) so as I couldnt save it, I just wasted a sh i tload of time for zilch
 
Originally posted by topjars
I tried this last year...
Painstakingly checked the boxes etc etc only to be asked to punch in some bloody number ( That I didnt have) so as I couldnt save it, I just wasted a sh i tload of time for zilch
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Possibly your sequence number off your statement from last year? That's part of the verification process.

Wouldn't say it's a waste of time though... incomplete tax returns can be saved for later completion, as long as you use the file's relevant TFN to re-enter the file. So if you forget to have a certain document handy, you can always save the file and return to it another time.

The verification process, and supplying bank details, is probably the most inconvenient aprt of it, because these are minor details that may not normally be brought along to a tax agent, so you don't think to have them handy when doing your online tax return.
 
I always do my own tax return. I have never managed to be able to get back any more than $200 or $300. It always amazes how some people can get back thousands, and I am talking about normal working people who make a lot less than me and can not claim any more legit deductions than me. So how the hell do they do it? Do they take the risk of claiming deductions they are not entitled to or what?:confused:
It has me baffled how you do it. And I have a financial expert on hand 24 hours a day as well! There is just nothing more I can see I can legitimately claim as a deductions!
 
Originally posted by Bee
I always do my own tax return. I have never managed to be able to get back any more than $200 or $300. It always amazes how some people can get back thousands, and I am talking about normal working people who make a lot less than me and can not claim any more legit deductions than me. So how the hell do they do it? Do they take the risk of claiming deductions they are not entitled to or what?:confused:
It has me baffled how you do it. And I have a financial expert on hand 24 hours a day as well! There is just nothing more I can see I can legitimately claim as a deductions!
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I elect not to use the tax free threshold if I start a new job during the year. Also, if someone does a lot of overtime in a average or low income job, they get a lot more of their income taxed at 47% on a weekly basis, but stay in the 30% bracket based on yearly income.

Same principle applies to being out of work for any extended stretch - if you get tax taken out at a certain rate for 40 weeks, but don't work and don't claim benefits for the other 12 weeks, the tax you pay is spread out over 52 weeks and drops as a percentage of overall taxable income.
 
Originally posted by Darky
I elect not to use the tax free threshold if I start a new job during the year. Also, if someone does a lot of overtime in a average or low income job, they get a lot more of their income taxed at 47% on a weekly basis, but stay in the 30% bracket based on yearly income.

Same principle applies to being out of work for any extended stretch - if you get tax taken out at a certain rate for 40 weeks, but don't work and don't claim benefits for the other 12 weeks, the tax you pay is spread out over 52 weeks and drops as a percentage of overall taxable income.
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I know all that. But I am talking about people like me who have worked for the whole financial year, and can still come out of it with over a thousand dollars! If one more of those people tell me they have claimed dry cleaning expenses (which they are not entitled to) or travelling expenses (which they are not entitled to) I swear I am going to tell the 'audit fairy' to visit them!:D
 

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Originally posted by Bee
I always do my own tax return. I have never managed to be able to get back any more than $200 or $300. It always amazes how some people can get back thousands, and I am talking about normal working people who make a lot less than me and can not claim any more legit deductions than me. So how the hell do they do it? Do they take the risk of claiming deductions they are not entitled to or what?:confused:
It has me baffled how you do it. And I have a financial expert on hand 24 hours a day as well! There is just nothing more I can see I can legitimately claim as a deductions!
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That's pretty standard for a salary/wage earner, unless you have other investments.

Most of my deductions have been for study, books, newspapers, computers, etc.
 
I get to do mine over the phone. Quick and easy

I paid off my HECS in the first week of the financial year and so should be gettng a refund of about $3k as I have continued to pay it.

I still am actually. What a silly boy. At least its forced savings.
 
Originally posted by Bee
I always do my own tax return. I have never managed to be able to get back any more than $200 or $300. It always amazes how some people can get back thousands, and I am talking about normal working people who make a lot less than me and can not claim any more legit deductions than me. So how the hell do they do it? Do they take the risk of claiming deductions they are not entitled to or what?:confused:
It has me baffled how you do it. And I have a financial expert on hand 24 hours a day as well! There is just nothing more I can see I can legitimately claim as a deductions!
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Or another simple explaination is that the payroll person stuffed up and took out too much tax out of the weekly/fortnightly/monthly pay packet. You'd be surprised how often this happens. Even if they take out an extra $20 a week, that adds up to $1000 come tax time...
 
Originally posted by Jars458
I get to do mine over the phone. Quick and easy

I paid off my HECS in the first week of the financial year and so should be gettng a refund of about $3k as I have continued to pay it.

I still am actually. What a silly boy. At least its forced savings.
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I'm an accountant (pls don't hold that against me), and I quite often advise my younger clients to do something similar to this. One of my clients has an extra $20 of tax a week taken out, so that when she prepares her tax in September, she gets a $1000 refund. This money then pays for her Xmas shopping as well as her plane ticket to fly home to Sydney for the Christmas break. She doesn't miss the $20 a week and doesn't have to worry about a credit card bill come January...
 
Originally posted by topjars
I tried this last year...
Painstakingly checked the boxes etc etc only to be asked to punch in some bloody number ( That I didnt have) so as I couldnt save it, I just wasted a sh i tload of time for zilch
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You must be mighty thick.

The number your supposed to have appears on your previous years Tax Advice. You are able to use any of those codes from your past 5-6 years tax......

If you pay a tax agent to do your tax and you have nothing much to claim, you are a fool.
 
Originally posted by Rooboy 34
I'm an accountant (pls don't hold that against me), and I quite often advise my younger clients to do something similar to this. One of my clients has an extra $20 of tax a week taken out, so that when she prepares her tax in September, she gets a $1000 refund. This money then pays for her Xmas shopping as well as her plane ticket to fly home to Sydney for the Christmas break. She doesn't miss the $20 a week and doesn't have to worry about a credit card bill come January...
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How do elect the option of having an extra sum taken out?

I thought it was a choice between the taking or leaving the tax-free threshold? Bigger difference than $20 a week, I can assure you!
 
For years i've been wasting $80 and getting someone else to do it. I have only one group certificate and no deductions.

This year I did it over the internet and was surprised how easy it was. I also got my refund quicker then if I went to an accountant.

I have always resisted doing my own because I did my very first tax return myself and was told I owed them $80. Mind you I had received about $6500 for the year and it was Austudy. Not sure what happened there but I was 18 and had no idea what I was doing so I paid.
 
Originally posted by Darky
How do elect the option of having an extra sum taken out?

I thought it was a choice between the taking or leaving the tax-free threshold? Bigger difference than $20 a week, I can assure you!
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If you just ask your payroll officer to deduct the extra tax, then they will. A lot of people do it because they receive other 'untaxed' income such as interest, rent or unfranked dividends. It means that they don't have to pay quarterly PAYG instalments and they don't get slugged at tax time with a large bill...
 
I know of someone who wonders what to do in this situation.

He was unemployed, and went on Newstart for six months. He heard that you have to include it as tax? Why, it is a government payment, and it comes from taxpayers. So the government are already getting tax once, then they allocate it to the person, and then tax them for it, meaning they are getting tax twice for the one thing? Isn't that double-dipping?

Also, how is this accounted for in a tax return? How do you know if the tax is taken out beforehand, or the recipient has to pay it with his tax?

Another person I know got a job in a small business, where they work casual hours, and is paid in cash. Now, how do this person report this in their tax return? He doesn't want to get his employer in trouble, since it could mean losing his job, and being unemployed. But will the tax department demand details of this, and want this person to name the business and employer? It was the employer who is in the wrong (and this person doesn't know if payments are made for super etc, but he doubts it, but is afraid to ask, lest he get sacked), so does my friend get in trouble too, even though it is not his responsibility to make all the payments.

Also, if someone has been unemployed all year, but being living off their savings (which he has a lot of, from saving over past years), does he have to pay tax at all, since he has had no taxable income for this year.
 
Catters 070911 said:
I know of someone who wonders what to do in this situation.

He was unemployed, and went on Newstart for six months. He heard that you have to include it as tax? Why, it is a government payment, and it comes from taxpayers. So the government are already getting tax once, then they allocate it to the person, and then tax them for it, meaning they are getting tax twice for the one thing? Isn't that double-dipping?

Also, how is this accounted for in a tax return? How do you know if the tax is taken out beforehand, or the recipient has to pay it with his tax?

Another person I know got a job in a small business, where they work casual hours, and is paid in cash. Now, how do this person report this in their tax return? He doesn't want to get his employer in trouble, since it could mean losing his job, and being unemployed. But will the tax department demand details of this, and want this person to name the business and employer? It was the employer who is in the wrong (and this person doesn't know if payments are made for super etc, but he doubts it, but is afraid to ask, lest he get sacked), so does my friend get in trouble too, even though it is not his responsibility to make all the payments.

Also, if someone has been unemployed all year, but being living off their savings (which he has a lot of, from saving over past years), does he have to pay tax at all, since he has had no taxable income for this year.
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Re newstart allowance Centrelink will provide with a payment summary (group certificate) showing gross wage and tax withheld. I don't see why there is a problem with paying tax on a newstart allowance.

Assuming your friend being paid in cash is not going to receive a payment summary. Unfortunately to ensure they still have a job they will need to do something that could get themselves into trouble if they ever got audited. I'd lean towards not reporting the income at all, or just putting in the Other Income section of the tax return. Crap situation for your friend to be in.
 
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