A tax obligation specialist is advising Aussies to quit “putting their heads in the sand” and hop on top of their income tax return currently. An approximated 6 million Aussies still have not lodged their 2024 income tax return with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and they are taking the chance of being penalized a significant penalty.
Aussies have till October 31 to lodge their income tax return if they are doing it themselves. Missing this due date suggests you can be struck with a ‘failure to lodge penalty’ of as much as $1,565.
Tax Invest Accounting supervisor and signed up tax obligation representative Belinda Raso informed Yahoo Finance the ATO usually punishes taxpayers that have a tax obligation financial debt and will not usually great those that are obtaining a reimbursement. However, she alerted taxpayers not to “tempt fate”.
RELATED
“Most people with tax debts are the ones that are putting off lodging. I’ve had a couple of people message me and say, ‘I’ve got a $10,000 tax debt, I don’t want to lodge’,” she claimed.
“I’ve told them, ‘You are a prime candidate to get [penalised]. You have to lodge it and then get into a payment plan’.”
The failing to lodge fine is billed every 28 days that your income tax return is past due. It presently begins at $313 to an optimum of 5 devices, or $1,565.
The fine can be used instantly to those that lodge their income tax return late.
“I had a situation where we lodged a client’s tax return and she had five years outstanding. As we lodged it, we watched this in real-time,” Raso claimed.
“Of the five years she had outstanding, three had a tax debt and those three years automatically had a penalty failure to lodge come up straight away on her account.”
Aussies that are utilizing a tax obligation representative require to be on their publications by the October 31 due date. They after that have till May 15 to lodge their returns.
What if I’m stressed concerning a tax obligation financial debt I can not pay?
If you get a tax obligation financial debt that you can not pay ahead of time, you can ask for a layaway plan with the ATO. This enables you to damage down your costs right into smaller sized quantities paid off, weekly, fortnightly or monthly. However, it does draw in passion.
“You can get a 12-month plan over the phone or online without even talking to anyone, but there are options to go up to two or three years if you contact the ATO,” Raso informedYahoo Finance
“Every circumstance that I’ve seen they’ve been very supportive and they have worked with the person. They’re not trying to get blood out of a stone.
“What is happening is a lot of people are just putting their head in the sand and saying I can’t deal with it. That makes matters worse.”
Raso prompted individuals to speak to the ATO or an accounting professional if they required to and hop on top of their income tax return.
“Get your tax returns up to date. The ATO aren’t the enemy, they will work with you,” Raso claimed.
“They have a hardship plan to ensure that you can pay it off reasonably in a time that’s not going to put you under any duress.”
Get the most recent Yahoo Finance information – follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
