A reminder for those who haven't yet completed their 2015 tax 1. 31 October is the due date for self prepared returns (etax, MyGov / MyTax etc) 2. Taxpayers seeking to use a new tax agent must be on the agents registration before 31 October - They then get the extended lodgement AND payment dates Caution for late lodgers : Those who lodged (or havent yet lodged) 2014 returns before 30 June 2015 will not have an extended lodgement deadline even with a (new or old) tax agent. The ATO penalty of $870 for failure to lodge is being issued more and more. Don't believe the story that a refund waives that fine.
I can confirm this. My investment partner lodged late, big refund due, notice to lodge issued, fine imposed. He lodged and complaint about the fine and had it overturned but it would have been much better to lodge on time in the first place. Can't rely on the fine being overturned.
Big brother can only attack the little fish who mostly do the right thing. Last year I was only a few days late and got a stern warning. There are taxpayers out there who have not lodged returns, BAS etc for years and are getting away with it. Same goes with super. They just don't seem to have the resources to catch 'em. And the govt whinges about the deficit.
I usually file in the last 2 days. Sometimes I ask for a 1 month extension and they grant it. Problem this year is I only have Linux and damn etax wont run on it, might have to borrow a windows machine or try Wine or something.
FYI the ATO also gives freebie loans. They add general interest charge to most debts and remit it. Automatically. Not always but often.
This I find quite useful. If you have a large tax bill, say $25k but don't want to pay right away as you might be saving for a deposit/development/whatever then setup a payment plan with ATO and you don't have to "declare" that as a liability to the bank and affect your borrowing capacity etc. Tax bills over $25k may need manual approval from ATO to setup a payment plan. PS: Consult your broker about using it though.
Why wouldn't you have to declare it as a liability? Tax is payable when it is assessed, and if you have a tax debt to go on a payment plan you have received an assessment notice of some form.
I think if you were on a payment plan you would have to declare it as a liability. Better than just letting it go. When you go for a new loan, the bank will pay the ATO first if you are not on a payment plan. This happened to my brother in law and he could not meet a financial obligation because of it.
Funny story about this. I was trying to lodge my tax return using e-Tax last night at 11:00 PM. I could not lodge. Then I found out myGov was down for maintenance from 2:00 AM AEST. It's a minor annoyance, I know. I just wanted to lodge before I went to bed. #firstworldproblems
According to the Acts Interpretation Act, you have until the next business day to lodge because it falls on a weekend. Monday is not a weekend or public holiday (in any state). Therefore we cannot use the Melbourne Cup Day excuse to make it Wednesday, Monday is a business day in all states.
I'm improving did it 3 days before the deadline. Had to resurrect an old dead laptop to do it though.
