Missing the Australian tax return deadline can feel calamitous. However, you should bear in mind that each financial year there are plenty of individuals who miss their tax return deadline and it is nothing unusual for the Australian Tax Office. Having said that, it is always better to try and meet the deadline set by the government and repeatedly late tax returns will cause you a lot of hassle. Each year, the end of October is the deadline set for online returns to be lodged. What do you do if ill health or some unforeseen circumstance has prevented you from meeting this cutoff date?
Ensure Your Return Is Completed – Don't Ignore the Problem!
If you have missed the deadline for lodging a return, then it is important that you do not compound the problem by ignoring the issue. Make sure that your tax return is not simply left on the back burner while you get on with other business. Completing and lodging your return should now be your number one priority. If you are struggling to get all of the paperwork needed to complete a return together, then it is a good idea to turn to the professional services of accountants. A tax registered accountant should be able to speed up the process rapidly and this may well save you money in the long run by helping you to avoid further penalties for lateness.
Contact the Tax Office
It is likely that anyone who has not completed a tax return and lodged it either in a paper version or online will be written to in order to advise them that the return is now overdue. It is often beneficial to write to the Australian Tax Office before you receive any such notification, however. If there have been exceptional circumstances which have meant that your return has been delayed, then you should notify the tax officials of this. Bear in mind that ill health, bereavement and other personal matters can only be considered in mitigating circumstances. Either write to the tax office at GPO Box 9990, followed by your state's capital city, or telephone them between 8 am and 8 pm on weekdays and 10 am to 4 pm on Saturdays.
Does a Tax Return Need to Be Completed?
Not all Australian individuals have to lodge a tax return. Even if you have done so in the past, you may not still need to. Whether you do tends to come down to your income in a given year as well as certain pension offsets which are allowed. You can check whether you need to lodge a return here.
Share29 December 2016
I teach first grade. My students are already interested in how money works, but they often have funny ideas about how people get and use money. I like to work out fun ways to inject financial education into our days — sometimes we play shops and the kids get to buy play items like clothing from the dress up collections or plastic fruit. We also talk about ways to buy more expensive items such as cars or houses such as borrowing money from family or from the bank. This blog has some of my tips on fun and easy ways to teach kids of all ages about money.
