I love tax time :D

So what are you doing between now and the end of the money to maximise what you get and minimise what the ato gets?

I use accounting software for our home accounts - I love it, I am such a numbers nerd :P

So finding what we have spent on what is easy as.

elvis just paid money into my super fund so I can get the co-contribution and he can get a tax offset :D because I am a poor spouse who needs to be kept :D

Unfortunately no 42inch "monitor" for work purposes as we don't have the money. maybe next year :p

I wish they released all the tax stuff before july 1 so I could pre fill it all (and yes, haw haw pre fill, i'll show you pre fill.... joke over)

I like tax time, I'm under the threshold so I should get ~$1000 back.

May upgrade comp, TF2 in 640 is killing me.

no tax return for me :/

although my 06/07 tax that I did when I was home in April got me $5K, stoked with that!

i too like tax time

the nice government give me all sorts of refunds that i mostly deserve

Probs gunna get an m1530 dell laptop with my monies.

oh yay another big bill coming up.

You guys are crazy, Tax time sucks.

all i do is live to pay tax and people's wages. i deserve some form of medal.

im counting down the days until tax time =)

love working really hard 4 few months, earning heaps per week and gettin taxed heaps. worked for 5months earnt around $20grand, got taxed about $3.5grand.. so im hopeing i will get the majority of it all back =)

going to pay bills and buy heaps of s*** of in fiji with it woohooo

i self contribute a few thousand into super each year. i earn to much to see even a cent of the co-contribution :(

sc00bs - you should get all of that back mate.

I got my ABN & have done a s***load of band work in the last finacial year (on top of my regular electrical engineering 9~5 job). Thankfully, I can claim all my music related expenses against my tax for engineering.

Expenses like:
# music gear
# 'music research' (CDs, concert tickets etc - hahaha)

ohh yeah can't wait, new 13b bridgeport coming my way!

can u claim heaps of stuff if u have an ABN? i got one last yr for some sub-contracting work, but i havnt really used it this finacial yr..

Not to hijack the thread of anything but can anyone explain what the deal is with health cover changes? Haven't been paying much attention to politics lately. Why are there ads screaming to get you to change cover before the end of financial this year?

Whatever I get back will be going straight onto my stupid uni loan. The sooner that I get that thing paid off, the better.

you all suck

i'm still on a payment plan for my last 12 mths of trading, so nothing will probably change this year except for an adjusted quaterly payment figure, yay :(

So what are you doing between now and the end of the money to maximise what you get and minimise what the ato gets?

Currently spending every invoice that gets remitted between here and the 30th on computar / business stuff!

can anyone explain what the deal is with health cover changes?

From 1 July 2008, singles with incomes up to $100,000 and families with incomes up to $150,000 will no longer be subject to the surcharge. Singles without private health insurance will save up to $1,000 and families will save up to $1,500 from these changes. Families with more than one child will have a higher threshold and therefore may save more than $1,500.

More info here.

Unfortunately it looks like I'm going to have to pay the tax man a lot this year, as for 11 months the company doing our payroll didn't take HECS out of my pay, and I only discovered this in March or April. So I'll have $5k or so that has to go straight into that ;(

I don't understand this concept everyone has of just spending their refund. Save it, you fools.

save it to spend it later?

I am just preparing to grab my ankles.

i'm another ankle grabber.. o and also i just got slugged 600 euros for not doing my health insurrance properly over here...

i love paying tax

although i have heard of a deal where if i leave holland and never come back i can claim all my tax back...

I don't understand this concept everyone has of just spending their refund. Save it, you fools.

wat?

oh yay another big bill coming up

A bill is better than a refund, as it means your money hasnt been sitting in government hands all year.

that has to be some of the worst logic ever

As opposed to giving the government more money than you owe it all year, then going "Yey they are giving me my money back!!!1111"

i just thought as long as you get it back, then it seems like your up, instead of having to pay the govt like another bill

it wouldn't amount to much for the avg punter, but yeh it's better to get a bill cos it means you got to use the money throughout the year instead of it being sent immediately to the tax office. the avg punter would've just blown the money away anyway, but some might do something useful with it and end up with more than they otherwise would've had

elvis just paid money into my super fund so I can get the co-contribution and he can get a tax offset :D because I am a poor spouse who needs to be kept :D

Huh?
If you claim a tax deduction for the super you can't get the co-contribution AKAIK, unless hes doing something dodgy.

if you have 2 supers can you get the co-con in both or just one?

A bill is better than a refund, as it means your money hasnt been sitting in government hands all year.

thats the most stupid thing i have ever heard..

As opposed to giving the government more money than you owe it all year, then going "Yey they are giving me my money back!!!1111"

yes i would rather GET my money back then have to pay them more... wouldnt u? tax is like a savings account for us, thats how i see it anyways.

can you read sc00bs?

you get MORE money during the year which means you can spend it or invest it or whatever with the money NOW, rather then paying MORE tax throughout the year and getting a rebate at the END of the year.

geddit?

i do geddit, and i dont c it like that. as i already said, i see it as a savings account.

I love tax time. Means I can pay a big chunk of my car loan off to my parents, if I'd had that money during the year I probably would've just wasted it on something else

Huh? If you claim a tax deduction for the super you can't get the co-contribution AKAIK, unless hes doing something dodgy.

Ahh poop. Oh well, we will forgo the $180 so we get the $1500. Easy as :p

i do geddit, and i dont c it like that. as i already said, i see it as a savings account.

hey scoobs, how about you give me 100/month throughout next FY and next July ill give you 1200 back. then you can be all happy i gave you your money back.

hey scoobs, how about you give me 100/month throughout next FY and next July ill give you 1200 back. then you can be all happy i gave you your money back.

or i could not....

thats the most stupid thing i have ever heard..

You should try listening to yourself sometimes.

tax is like a savings account for us, thats how i see it anyways.

I already have a savings account that pays me interest, i dont need a government zero interest account.
Maybe if you were a complete retard who couldnt save money and spent every cent that he could get his hands on then i could see how it might be a good idea.... well thats probably it judging from all the "Im getting my tax refund and spending it on useless s***" posts.

last edited by Bah at 15:40:48 15/Jun/08

Throughout the year put your 'tax' away in an ing account. Don't touch it and when the government sends you a bill use that to pay it and keep the left over interest.

Makes perfect sense to me. The government is getting money off your cash throughout the year, you should keep it and make money off it

Trick is - DON'T SPEND IT :p

Trick is - DON'T SPEND IT :p

how do i do that?

jokes aside, surely theres some better way to get money from money other than a bank account

invest in low risk high return shares!

invest in low risk high return shares!

But there's so many to choose from!

they don't (freely) exist!

etax is available

http://www.ato.gov.au/etax

http://www.ato.gov.au/content/downloads/etax2008/etax2008_1.exe

Yaaaayy!
Almost time to get my refund! :D
Just gotta wait for group certificate now :(

Yaaaayy!
Almost time to get my refund! :D
Just gotta wait for group certificate now :(

w00t, can't wait! Hoping for a $1000-$1500 back from Aus Post, the c***s made an error and were taxing me 30% even though I'm under the threshold.

I'll be picking up a Protrack audible altimeter

http://www.flyfirebird.com/catalog/images/EDITOR/Hoehenwarner/Pro-Track.gif

...and geting the people out at Airsuits (Toogoolawah DZ) to make me a sweet custom jumpsuit.

Plus maybe pick up one of those 22inch Viewsonic LCD's, they're under $300 now, seems like a good deal.

Hanging out for this... should get 2kish

Gotta pay insurance... :(

Throughout the year put your 'tax' away in an ing account. Don't touch it and when the government sends you a bill use that to pay it and keep the left over interest.

Makes perfect sense to me. The government is getting money off your cash throughout the year, you should keep it and make money off it

Trick is - DON'T SPEND IT :p

I've thought about this before. Tell your employer not to withhold any tax, pay what you would normally pay in tax into a savings account and pocket the interest. Not sure how long you have to pay a tax bill but I'm sure you could drag it out for moar profit.

The only thing wrong with this is that I'm almost certain that PAYG (pay as you go) is compulsory unless you're a business. Please if I'm wrong tell me and I'll shout you a beer next financial year ;D

The only thing wrong with this is that I'm almost certain that PAYG (pay as you go) is compulsory unless you're a business.

Even with business you still have to PAYG / BAS / Super Quarterly and PAYE monthly. AKAIK you can't tell your employer to not take your tax money out of your pay, it is compulsory if you are a full-time staff. You can only do this if you are a sole trader/contractor in which case your boss don't pay any tax , super for you. It is then up to you to pay your taxes / super etc.

I'm pretty sure that's the jist of it but I could be wrong as I'm no accountant.

PS I've always get account to do my return, don't want to get anything wrong and get the ATO on my azzzzz.

I am going to get bent over cos I made money selling shares ... silly capital gains can't I claim I lived in my shares ?

i invested offshore and didn't do well does anyone know if i can make a claim?

i invested offshore and didn't do well does anyone know if i can make a claim?

Up until 30 June 2008, foreign losses are quantined within the specific foreign income class (there are 4).
So it can be offset against future income in the same foreign income class. There is a section that specifically states that foreign loses cannot be deducted from domestic income.
There's a whole bunch of issues with foreign income and its a major headache the majority of the time. See your accountant :)

Theres a whole bunch of changes from 1 July 2008, but to be honest I don't really know much about them, but I have read they are getting rid of the quantine rules, so you'll probably be able to claim them next year....but yeah don't quote me.

I've thought about this before. Tell your employer not to withhold any tax, pay what you would normally pay in tax into a savings account and pocket the interest. Not sure how long you have to pay a tax bill but I'm sure you could drag it out for moar profit.

The only thing wrong with this is that I'm almost certain that PAYG (pay as you go) is compulsory unless you're a business. Please if I'm wrong tell me and I'll shout you a beer next financial year ;D

Basically you can't just tell your employer to not withhold tax. You need to seek a special withholding rate from the ATO and then they send you and your employer a letter saying how much they should withhold etc.
Even if you could get your employer to not withhold tax if you pay over 1-2k in tax in one financial year you are automatically put on PAYG instalments (unless its capital gains tax or something like that) with means youll be hit with a bill every quarter etc.
The only way around it would be to be a "contractor" and if your over 50k youll have to pay GST and s***...(basically not worth it)..plus if it can be seen that you are an employee you could still be classed as an employee anyway, argh more headaches!

I'm overseas at the moment, anyone know if there is a way to get a notice of assesment from ATO themselves or I need to find my originals?

w00t, can't wait! Hoping for a $1000-$1500 back from Aus Post, the c***s made an error and were taxing me 30% even though I'm under the threshold

I don't think you understand the concept of PAYG. That, or you checked the wrong box on the form they gave you when you started working. They were taxing you at 30% because you were earning a weekly/fortnightly wage that was equivalent to more than 25k/year if you were working fulltime.

Also maybe you should add "looking at payslips" to your long list of hobbies.

cheers fireblood, i knew it was something like that :P

That, or you checked the wrong box on the form they gave you when you started working.

Yep, exactly it. I guess I made the error ;) regardless the moneys is heading my way :D

last edited by CHUB at 09:22:08 01/Jul/08

f*** yeah time to go shopping soon :D

new graphics card, 2gb ram, another 1tb hdd, duty free gps, heaps of clothes from fiji & pay some bills =)

Yep, exactly it. I guess I made the error ;) regardless the moneys is heading my way :D

I still don't think you get it.

Even if you only earned $6k in one year, say you were only working for 8 weeks of that year = $750/wk
You're going to pay tax on that $750/wk as though you were earning $39,000 (750*52=39,000)

Auspost doesn't know that you were only going to work for 8 weeks, so they tax you as though your weekly wage would be the same all year

Same applies if you go from one job to another, you would have been paying 30%~ at your last job and at your new job you're going to be paying 30%~ of your new wage, which will in most cases will be more (move jobs, get a payrise for example)
In this scenario, you're going to get more tax back because you worked part of the financial year at a lower income than the other part, in the latter part you were paying tax as though you have been earning the higher income figure for the whole year.

IMO:

I can't see how some joe blogs could get such massive tax refund each year, sometimes I astounded at the amount at some of you guys get back. Either:

1) I'm getting ripped by my accountant or;
2) My financial strategy is sub-optimal or;
3) You're doing it wrong.

I hope it's not 3) for some of you.... ATO is not the beast that you f***ed with heh.

My accountant always say, if you're paying the tax correctly, you should not get very much back or not at all.... Very rarely you'd owed ATO money (again if you're doing it right you shouldn't)..... But I digress as I'm no accountant.

/end pondering.

Most people would get at least one payrise per year, so if that happens mid financial year your new salary would be taxed as if you were earning that new ammount for the full year... so when july comes around you are in for a return.

also its quite easy to rack up a few thousand in deductions.. laundry for work clothes, sunscreen if you work outside, etc there are heaps of them.. you just need to know what you're doing. there are alot of things you can claim up to a certain amount without receipts so you'd be stupid not to claim them.

employers generally play it safe so that their employees aren't left high and dry at the end of July </rhymez>
i've never had less than 1k back since i've been working full tim

sometimes i get 2 or 3, but always at least 1k
if you think about it - for $1k its only $20~/wk more tax than you should be paying so it keeps the employee safe and its like a nice little bonus at the end of the year

Are you sure teq? Whats the "Claim tax free threshold" box that I accidently ticked No on?

I was getting taxed $150-$200 a week out of ~$600 gross... I'm sure when I worked other jobs where I claimed the threshold I was paying significantly less (and even then I got still got a sweet refund).

Most people would get at least one payrise per year, so if that happens mid financial year your new salary would be taxed as if you were earning that new ammount for the full year... so when july comes around you are in for a return.

also its quite easy to rack up a few thousand in deductions.. laundry for work clothes, sunscreen if you work outside, etc there are heaps of them.. you just need to know what you're doing. there are alot of things you can claim up to a certain amount without receipts so you'd be stupid not to claim them.

Oh I totally get it, but I just think that some people that perhaps doing it themselves may be doing it wrong and that's why the big returns each year etc. But surely it wouldn't be in the sums of 4k-5k though? Unless you're getting abnormally massive pay rise etc... anyway ..

$100/wk in deductions isn't that ridiculous and that right there is $5k/year ..

Are you sure teq? Whats the "Claim tax free threshold" box that I accidently ticked No on?

Well the first $6k (unless it's changeD) you earn is tax free, so they use this to calculate your tax rate.. ie if you're on $50k they will calculate your tax on $44k and spread it over the year.

obviously if you have 2 jobs you can't claim this twice, so you tick that box on your 2nd job and they won't deduct the 6k.

I'm trying to find a list of deductions that you can make without receipts..

so far all i've got is;

Laundry (up to $150 without receipts)
Car/Petrol (5000km's without receipts)


anyone know of more?


edit; this page has a bit of info

last edited by teq at 11:37:32 01/Jul/08

I still don't think you get it.

Even if you only earned $6k in one year, say you were only working for 8 weeks of that year = $750/wk
You're going to pay tax on that $750/wk as though you were earning $39,000 (750*52=39,000)

^ yeah but end result is....

regardless the moneys is heading my way :D

As long as he earns under 11k (750 low income tax offset) he doesn't have to pay tax!

Chub: With the tax free threashold, they tax you craploads on every dollar you earn. Just means they took more than they were supposed to from your pay. Youll get it back.

last edited by Fireblood at 11:50:50 01/Jul/08

last edited by Fireblood at 11:57:30 01/Jul/08

I just received in the mail last week a brochure about claiming work related expenses. You can claim a total of $300 max without receipts. After that, you need written proof of everything. Which can be invoices, receipts, delivery notes, bank/credit card statements, bpay receipt numbers, payg payment summaries, and warranty documents. You can claim washing and dry cleaning etc, which is $1.00 per load if your work specific uniform is the only thing in the wash, and 50c a load if you washed it with other stuff, umm I can't remember how much petrol you can claim if you drove from one job to another, I claimed that one last year. But when you're filling your tax form out it should tell you what you can claim anyway

I'm trying to find a list of deductions that you can make without receipts..

so far all i've got is;

Laundry (up to $150 without receipts)
Car/Petrol (5000km's without receipts)

Careful claiming without receipts / business purposes.

Basically you can claim anything as long as you can provide a reasonable explanation as to its business purpose.

The 5000ks you need to use your car FOR WORK, not to get to and from work, but in your every day working environment. (And not just picking the mail up on the way to work and not dropping stuff off to clients on the way home, or even to the bank and back)
Also your employer will need to back you up, so ask your employer if he will and you should be good to go.

If you do work from home you can claim a SMALL portion of electricity (ie 100-150 a year TOPS), even computer expenses etc. Depreciation on computer bits too.
I do heaps of study/reading at home so thus I can claim my laptop/internet/electricity (Which i asusme youd have some form of receipt for)

Laundry (up to $150 without receipts)
Car/Petrol (5000km's without receipts)

can claim sunglasses, suncream, new refedex each year, underwear/ singlets to wear to work, haircuts, razors, shoes...

heaps of things :)

Chub: With the tax free threashold, they tax you craploads on every dollar you earn. Just means they took more than they were supposed to from your pay. Youll get it back.

Yeah that's exactly what I thought... I was doing 25 hour week (Dad does 38) and I was getting taxed nearly double what he was.

Don't know what the other people are talking about, no way should I be getting raped 30 cents out of every dollar.

I'm trying to find a list of deductions that you can make without receipts..

pc depreciation

and with etax you dont have to submit any paperwork

its teh bomb

i usualy do laundry, ks (driving to client sites), pc depreciation and that nets me a tidy little return

underwear/ singlets to wear to work, haircuts, razors, shoes...

Ahhh....no.

Underwear/singlets are normal everyday clothing, which you would or could wear every day. Thus personal and thus undeductible. Unless the underwear/shirt has a logo of your employer you can't claim it (and that logo is registered with the ATO)
Haircuts, as above. Unless there is a specific hair cut outlined in your employment contract but even then its dubious.
Razors as above.
Shoes...unless they are protective steel capped boots, i doubt you can claim them.

Oh and the refidex would need to have a business purpose, ie multiple clients, changing locations etc. Also technically you'd prob have to apportion it as well.

last edited by Fireblood at 13:16:25 01/Jul/08

^ lol, well i claim all that s*** every year and i get it so.. unlucky for u if ur not..

i use to go go through a pair of shoes every 2-3months when i worked in a bar. Claimed like 6pairs of shoes on my tax last year.

u can claim razors/haircuts because work is asking u to turn up in a nicely groomed state, ie not with 5day old beared growth and scruffy hair.

refidex u can claim aswell: need to find where different sites are each week or every few weeks.

u can claim pretty much anything u need for work.

enjoy your audit ^^

^ lol, well i claim all that s*** every year and i get it so.. unlucky for u if ur not..

i use to go go through a pair of shoes every 2-3months when i worked in a bar. Claimed like 6pairs of shoes on my tax last year.

u can claim razors/haircuts because work is asking u to turn up in a nicely groomed state, ie not with 5day old beared growth and scruffy hair.

refidex u can claim aswell: need to find where different sites are each week or every few weeks.

Tax is done on a self assessment basis, it's only some small rediculous amount of returns that are actually audited and looked at. It will accept it, but whether is right or not is up to you.

Ermm to be honest the shoes should be ok, specially if you go through that many of them, its irregular use, don't really see how you can go through 6 pairs though :| (Thats gotta be expensive!)

Work expectations doesn't matter, I am expected to rock up in a groomed state, with business atire, doesn't mean I can claim anything for it. (Everyone is usually expected to rock up in a groomed state and wearing clothes, thus it's still a personal expense)

underwear/ singlets to wear to work, haircuts, razors, shoes...

lol

u can claim pretty much anything u need for work.

Ummmm, no.

As Fireblood says it's self assessment, it got too expensive for the ATO to check every single tax return which they did up until 1983ish. Then they brought in the self-assessment and audit program. You 'self assess' yourself and they will send you the bill or a cheque, without checking it. They have up to 5 years (I think it's 5) to amend your notice of assessment through auditing you.

Then you get hit with penalties in line with how naughty you were. If it was a mistake I think you pay them back what refund you shouldn't have got plus 25% of what you ripped them. If you were intentionally fudging it it goes to 50% and 75%. So if you knowingly rorted a $2,000 refund you would get a bill for $3,000 to $3,500. etc

So technically you can claim anything, even your undies and hemmeroid cream, and they will be none the wiser, until you get audited.



last edited by mission at 13:53:05 01/Jul/08

u can claim razors/haircuts because work is asking u to turn up in a nicely groomed state, ie not with 5day old beared growth and scruffy hair

Pretty sure that's just personal hygiene

Just waiting on one summary and then lodgement can proceed. Oh yeah!

I think employers have up until the 14th of July to provide group certificates, could be wrong but its something like two weeks

Yeah, they have to provide it within two weeks.

Urgh I have 3 to wait for

i can claim work uniform stuff right? - some king gee workwear pants, hi vis shirt and boots right?

did someone say you can claim 5000km in car..without receipts??? holy s***, bargain

what are the chances of getting audited?

already lodged my claim thru etax

expected return was a little over 2k,

im only a 3rd year apprentice so pretty happy with that, i just did the laundry 150, 5000ks in the first forumla of calculation (worked out to be 3.5k in deduction) and then about 2 grand in tools, work boots, work sunnies, etc.

i can claim work uniform stuff right? - some king gee workwear pants, hi vis shirt and boots right?

did someone say you can claim 5000km in car..without receipts??? holy s***, bargain

what are the chances of getting audited?

You can claim work uniform stuff if it's work specific, not just if they say "wear black and white" that doesn't count, it has to be specific black and white company uniform, for example. You can only claim a max of $300 without receipts for EVERYTHING. Driving to work doesn't warrant a claim. The driving has to be a part of your job, something you are required to do on the job, and you have to provide a description of why you are entitled to this, otherwise, yes you will be audited.

Its great how since going to my new job, my YTD is almost aligned with my expected tax payable despite it being a full yr in the job.

/endsarcasm

Tax sucks. Hi government, here's 6500 grand of my hard earned money to go give all the children a pc each to make them fat and antisocial while my $25,000 personal uni loan suffers!

Hi uni, thanks for having a paradoxical loan system where you have to have money in the first place to do the degree to get the good job to pay off the loan that you needed a decent job to pay off in the first place!



last edited by ³dee at 17:18:45 01/Jul/08

re: driving

but hang on, where is the line drawn between driving to/from job (no entitlement) and driving "on the job".

Eg. a pizza courier driver is on the job, thus is entitled. But what about a an apprentice chippy.. he is only driving to/from jobs (maybe to/from the timber yard now and then too)

i had to drive to wivenhoe dam for my last job.. took 2 hrs to get there ffs.

life sure is tough 3dee

But what about a an apprentice chippy.. he is only driving to/from jobs (maybe to/from the timber yard now and then too)

i had to drive to wivenhoe dam for my last job.. took 2 hrs to get there ffs.

I'd say tradies etc could claim it, because technically they're driving from one job to the next. Last year I was working two jobs, and I was entitled to claim the distance between driving straight from one job to the second one, which was only like 5 minutes away, but I was doing it every day so it got me a little bit back. My dad owns a tree lopping business and he has to drive around to people's houses from quote to quote, and he gets to claim that, so I'd say an apprentice chippy (etc) would be able to claim the driving between jobs too.

run away overseas, 3dee, for 7yrs then ur hex will b gone =)

no driving to or from the job is claimable

Driving between jobs is probably OK but driving from home in the morning to the first job and driving home in the afternoon from the last job is NO claim.

One of the ways the pick you to be audited is benchmarking your job against others with the same job and comparing deductions across that job. You'll notice on the tax return you put n your job description and a job code - that code is what is used to anaylise your return and compare it to others using the same code.

If you deviate out of their pre-set parameters on deductions etc your return will be flagged and possibly audited. This can be up to 5 years later.

Up to 5 years? My brochure about claiming stuff says you only have to keep receipts for 2 years

run away overseas, 3dee, for 7yrs then ur hex will b gone =)

Are you making this s*** up or do you have some sort of proof that this exists?

Are you making this s*** up or do you have some sort of proof that this exists?

im not makin anything up. thats what happens

run away overseas, 3dee, for 7yrs then ur hex will b gone =)

It's called HECS, and I don't think that's what 3dee is talking about. At Qantm, we couldn't get HECS, we either had to have the money straight up or get a personal loan.

Wait .... did you guys say that if you have a hecs bill and are not in australia for 7 years the balance disapears?

There's not many industries that the ATO is doing benchmarking on, but this year they introduced a few more and expect more to follow. The industries involved always claim that every business is different, blah blah, but the ATO has the data and I guess they would see that they aren't as different as industry groups think they are. If your cafe business significantly under earns for 3 years in a row, and there's no obvious explanation, you'll get audited and they'll find your till is leaking cash or whatever you are trying.

There's also a lot more data matching with other organisations. Car purchases, etc. If you and your Mrs draw $40K each from your Cafe and you just bought a 2008 landrover, your likelihood of audit raises.

In my view it's a good way to do it. Self assessment and data matching works, and where people find it is letting them down there's always TERC. I'm pretty sure you can dob people in anonymously and they take it very seriously.

last edited by natslovR at 19:49:33 01/Jul/08

Man its bulls*** you can't claim driving to and from work. I drive 250km's a week getting to and from work and with petrol prices these days for me thats nearly $100 a fortnight.

I hate that you can't claim work clothes, where you are told you have to wear a specific thing/colour uniform etc, but because it's not strictly a company uniform it doesn't count

I wear a suit to work. Like i'm ever going to wear that socially. Buying it and keeping it clean should be writeoffs.

life sure is tough 3dee

Nah not rly, im just pissed that this yr i'll get maybe 50 bucks in tax return as opposed to 1400 last year :'(

Up to 5 years? My brochure about claiming stuff says you only have to keep receipts for 2 years

Pretty sure it's 7 years. At least for businesses. Tax rules are so f***ing complicated that's why I get accredited accountant to do my return... and his fees are deductible for the next year so I don't really care. All I had to do was organise my receipts, bank statements etc and just spend about an hour with him and bam money in the bank in 14 working days :) At least I hope there's a "bam money in the bank in 14 days" each year lol..

Man its bulls*** you can't claim driving to and from work. I drive 250km's a week getting to and from work and with petrol prices these days for me thats nearly $100 a fortnight

lol suck it up u baby

i drive a VS ute and i do 450ish k's a week gettingto and from work, and driving the car maybe 2 times a night thru the week and im spending 100 dollars on fuel per week

re: driving

but hang on, where is the line drawn between driving to/from job (no entitlement) and driving "on the job".

Eg. a pizza courier driver is on the job, thus is entitled. But what about a an apprentice chippy.. he is only driving to/from jobs (maybe to/from the timber yard now and then too)

i had to drive to wivenhoe dam for my last job.. took 2 hrs to get there ffs.

As a tradesman, if you have to take bulky tools etc (like ladders, lots of tools and boxes etc from home to work (ie you can't store them on site, or at your workplace)) then the cost of travel to and from work is claimable!
Taking a breifcase for example doesn't count, and if you are working on a large site (like a highrise) for a few years, you could store your tools in a site box so that doesn't count either.

RE: Receipts, it changes all the time and for situations, we say a blanket 5 years from date of lodgement. The ATO can actually go back and amend at any time if there is reason enough for it :)

I hate that you can't claim work clothes, where you are told you have to wear a specific thing/colour uniform etc, but because it's not strictly a company uniform it doesn't count

Yeah it is a bit rediculous, the law says somes*** about its expected as part of the job and that if you don't want to spend lots of suits etc, then don't work in that profession :(

not everyone is seven years, the ato contacts low risk good history people and reduces their document retention time to 2 years. it happened to a mate.

Ah k, yea I only claimed work related expenses last year for the first time, and so they sent me out a letter about it, god I freaked out at first, started off with "We've reviewed your claim for work related expenses last year..." Thought I was going to be done for something! Lol but yea, was just giving me advise on how to claim as much as I'm entitled to etc. Told me I only needed to keep receipts for 2 years, but yea, pretty sure businesses is always 7. I only claimed like $50 or something anyways and that was just 50c a week of laundry and a little bit of fuel from driving straight from one workplace to the other, so wasn't exactly stuff I'd have receipts as such for

yeah minxy you born in 87? me and a s***load of my mates all s*** our pants when we got that then we realised everyone our age got it -_-

I got that too, and yeah born in 87.

Close, 88

86 and i got that letter

anyone else etaxing at the moment?

are you able to prefil your medicare?
mine is getting knocked back and told to try again later;

I WANT MY MONEY!!!

Aus post said group certs first week of July :(

How long does e-tax take again, 2 weeks?

Yeah medicare is stuffed for me too. At least was yesterday & tuesday when i tried it

yeah medicare didnt load for me so i just skipped it, 4890 tax return for me :D

nice one!

usually get etax back in 4 or 5 days:

ok, ill try medicare again later;

i just got a cheque from MBF for $1300 because they are merging with some other company.

f*** yeah for getting cash for no reason!

you bastard infi. i only got 360 :(

you have been awarded second prize in a beauty contest - collect $10

$6200 here


a mate of mine underpaid himself, lent some munnies to his company and just bought himself a brand new car out of it all.


wtf???


how does *that* happen???

That doesn't happen your friend is bulls***ting.

sc00bs I'm still after some proof about the 7 year HECS thing, until then you're a big fat liar.

Prove me wrong.

last edited by sif greazy at 00:05:16 04/Jul/08

Man its bulls*** you can't claim driving to and from work. I drive 250km's a week getting to and from work and with petrol prices these days for me thats nearly $100 a fortnight.

Its amazing what you can claim when you own your own company! This is just one example.

I reckon our Company & Family Trust structure has saved us 10k+ even after paying 2k to set it up. So worthwhile, if I can avoid it I'm never gonna work for the man again!

That doesn't happen youre friend is bulls***ting.

are you an accountant?

Yes I am.

owned

That doesn't happen your friend is bulls***ting.

Ermm it can kinda happen.
Had a client who was meant to be paying himself dividends over the financial year but he didn't realise he wasn't meant to be witholding money from it(we freaking told him so many times, but obviously he didn't tell the bookkeeper). So we put it as dividends with a small wage, he got his franking credits...and the tax witheld during the year....something rediculous like 30-40k refund (he put heaps into super in his own name as well thus reducing his income even further getting him back franking credits.
Frankly its a very rare occurance, and I think his friend is just confused.

last edited by Fireblood at 10:20:03 04/Jul/08

Yes I am.

then look into this one... bare with me here as this isn't my area of expertise..

Ermm it can kinda happen.

yeah - in this case the guy is a one person IT outfit who is the director of his Pty Ltd. as a director, he's chosen to pay himself next to nothing (biz picks up the tab on fuel, power, phone, acomodation, meal break allowances)

at the end of the year the company 'payed' him a nice big 'end of financial year' bonus. when the company payed him the bonus it bought the tax payable down saving the company a nice amount of tax. being the nice director that he is seeing his 'employer' in need of cash he lent ~$20-30k of that money with a low-ish percentage rate to be payed out over 3 years. the company director can legally loan money to his (Pty Ltd) company, though I have no idea of the rules and regs that go along with it all

I don't understand what happens from there to make it work :/

Fireblood do you know?

last edited by koopz at 18:59:43 04/Jul/08

lol that sounds like tax evasion to me

no that is completely legal.

although unless his house is 100% used for work related purposes i dont see how he avoids paying himself any salary at all.

the loan must be at commercial rates.

i just got a cheque from MBF for $1300 because they are merging with some other company.

f*** yeah for getting cash for no reason!

Same!
got $600

Without thinking about that scenario too much that koopz said this comes tomind:

The director would declare his bonus in his tax return paying tax on that amount at the marginal rate. Companies pay a flat rate of tax at 30%. Declaring it is his tax would allow him to claim the tax free threshold of $6,000 therefore effectively only pay tax on $24,000. Without looking up the rates that would be no more than 30% (maybe less?) so you would be minimising tax.

That's assuming that was his only income (which I doubt, he would need money to live on). If he earned, say, $40,000 for the year and then got a bonus of $30,000 he would be paying tax on $70,000 which would be above the 30% rate, so better leave it in the company. If the company paid the bonus out of after tax profits the reciever would by entitled to franking credits (as the companies already paid the tax) if paid from before tax profits the would be no franking credits.

In regards to lending the money back to the company I think that is caught by Division 7a?

I haven't worked in tax for a while so I'm a bit rusty on the whole thing (and when I did work in tax I really wasn't that great at it either!)

cheap loans are covered under FBT. a lot of loan rorts are covered under FBT.

Mission has it right, loans are covered under div 7a. They are bringing out new s*** now too, you need to have a loan agreement in place....no matter which way the loan is. And the loan needs to be commercial rates both ways (like infi said). (AFAIK) They are still covered under FBT, but we only have 1-2 fbt clients (cus fbt is f***ing stupid) thus i don't have much to do with it.

yeah - in this case the guy is a one person IT outfit who is the director of his Pty Ltd. as a director, he's chosen to pay himself next to nothing (biz picks up the tab on fuel, power, phone, acomodation, meal break allowances)

at the end of the year the company 'payed' him a nice big 'end of financial year' bonus. when the company payed him the bonus it bought the tax payable down saving the company a nice amount of tax. being the nice director that he is seeing his 'employer' in need of cash he lent ~$20-30k of that money with a low-ish percentage rate to be payed out over 3 years. the company director can legally loan money to his (Pty Ltd) company, though I have no idea of the rules and regs that go along with it all

I don't understand what happens from there to make it work :/

Fireblood do you know?

Personally I don't think even your friend understands wtf his accountant did (TBH I am having problems). All he knows is that he got a nice refund, and he has a new car! And thus is telling everyone making them jealous!
You could earn 75k in half a year, and then not work for the other half of the year and get like half the tax back....and that'd sound cool too.
He probably paid himself not much of a wage during the year....say 30k to cover homeloan etc. Then paid a 45k bonus (and if it lowered the taxable income of the company it means the company paid witholding tax or it was a , also 75k is the limit for 30% tax).
Then the company may have run at a loss, or small profit, and if it made a large profit last year they would have been paying installments and thus would have got most of it back on their tax.
NFI what his personal situation was to receive tax money back....he has no deductions....unless he was paid a dividend but then the company's profit wouldn't have gone down.
Unless he was paying himself a dividend for the whole tax year instead of a wage, and then paid himself a directors fee/bonus at the end of the year. Which would mean most of the wage would have already had 30% tax attached, and the rest of the directors fee/wage would either be taxed in the ahnds of the individual or withheld from the company.
Bah...I just made myself confused reading that.....cbf, deal with this s*** all day (and come home to study more of it atm) so im going to go try have a life :P

numbers, ledgers and taxes are your life now matthew

^Don't rub it in :(

numbers, ledgers and taxes are your life now matthew

That's much worse than objects, classes and pointers... !

I dont know about that ... I kind of lost the plot when they started talking about pointers and know I was not going to lead the life of a programmer

so anyone got there tax back yet (via E-TAX)

wonder what the turn around will be this year, its been pretty fast in prior years.

Nope, still haven't got my group certs back yet :(

i have got 2 out of 3 group certs:/

I've gotten 2 that I wasn't even expecting! lol forgot I filled in for my best mates mums for 2 weeks at her work, and then an old job of mine I must have left just after last tax time. Haven't gotten the ones I am waiting for tho

I think I'm up for a nice $5k refund :)

Total tax withheld appears to be $5k more than it should be..

hurry up and pay me my refund tax man!

wish i could get a tax refund :(

yeah this time its a bit slower, last tax return took 2 days to get but its been nearly a week now and nothing yet :/

^^ Same as dice for me

Mine just cleared ^_- Thx Fireblood

still nothing for me :/ did you get fireblood to do yours reso???

Mine just cleared ^_- Thx Fireblood

No problems, didn't really do that much though!
No Le Infidel he didn't :)

I am doing mine this weekend :)
Prelim refund is 2k, but thats without almost 2k in study expenses and parking etc, but i may have to lower my cents per k claim.
Plus my salary sacrifice is kicking in this year! Yay for an extra 250 bucks a f/n for like 3-4 f/n

I left Australia in december, there was some kind of bonus that it gave me for only being a resident up until december which was nice of them. People look at me in amazement on how advanced ATO is and cant believe the stories about these juicy tax returns.

awww yeah 2100 back

pwnt ato

e-tax rocks! I was missing all my group certs, but I got a notice of assesment from a previous year and used the pre-fill feature.

Found my aus post s*** and centrelink crap and calculated everything for me.

Also, $1225 w00t

s*** i never get that much back.
what you guys claiming on?

$4821 return :D gotta love ya ATO

stupid old job hasn't sent me a group certificate yet. how long should it take them to do it?!

s*** i never get that much back.
what you guys claiming on?

Got taxed $1366 got returned $1225 :D

Got to love being under the threshold :D:D:D

stupid old job hasn't sent me a group certificate yet. how long should it take them to do it?!

Try the prefill option if you have a previous years NOA... I didn't have any certs and just provided my details.

ATO already has all the data.

last edited by CHUB at 07:52:08 12/Jul/08

I beleive by law they must be issued withing 2 weeks from 30 June.

Got taxed $1366 got returned $1225 :D

Got to love being under the threshold :D:D:D



Dammit, I got taxed about the same amount as you last year, and only saw $700ish back :(

Also, yea they have 2 weeks to give them back. Still waiting on one

can you claim a computer on your tax return?
Used for remote access to work's server to check email after hours.
Its a home built PC.

Try the prefill option if you have a previous years NOA... I didn't have any certs and just provided my details.

ATO already has all the data.

Pre-fill only works if the data has been provided to the ATO. So in your case chub australia post and centrelink will have their s*** together and it will be in the ATO's database almost straight away!
However the ATO has to process and put into database all the data they have received from employers throughout Australia. So for example I sent away the group cert data for my clients on friday, so it wouldn't be in there yet, nor would i expect it to be for a few weeks!
In short - don't rely on pre-fill!

can you claim a computer on your tax return?
Used for remote access to work's server to check email after hours.
Its a home built PC.

What else do you use your PC for? Assuming if your checking servers and s*** your in IT? and you do research on the internet? (ie for professional development), you could claim under self-education expenses also.
Estimate the work / study percentage use of your computer and you can claim the work percentage of the depreciation on the system. (Computers are generally 4 years so 25% per year (prime-cost method)) Then you can claim the work percentage of that depreciation value. (Note that if you only owned it for a portion of the year you have to apportion it over the year)
You could also claim a percentage of the internet costs, electricity, even some phone line rental.

Bah fairly long-winded, and not even close to comprehensive, but enough to give ya a basic overview.

CHILD CARE TAX REBATE

Is this not done through your tax return anymore?

Last year it downloaded all the info into my wife's ITR and was added to her refund, this year there doesn't look to be that option?

A bit of googling leads to conflicting answers, one says that's paid automatically into you bank account on a quarterly basis.... we haven't got anything like that.

Anyone know?

EDIT: Also the small window on E-Tax s***s me to tears :(

last edited by mission at 11:14:17 13/Jul/08

Looks now to be through the Family Assistance Office and not the ATO from 07 financial year onwards.

Carry on.

Yeah, the 07-08 @ 30% should be paid when FAO get all the details. 08-09 will be paid each quarter @ 50%

You aren't eligible for the rebate unless you are both working in some capacity. Just because you are eligible for CCB doesn't mean auto for rebate.

should me or wifey put the ftb on our tax return?

does it matter? (i earned more than she did)

FTB isn't taxable income so it doesn't need to be claimed on your tax.

To claim your FTB the details from the ATO should be sent to FAO when you have both completed your tax returns (or you have told FAO you are a non lodgement) and they will put it in your bank account automatically. Provided you have already registed with the FAO (you would have done this to get the plasma bonus)

make sense?

We have been getting it in prior years, so no reason that we won't this year.

Spook, have you been getting fortnightly payments of FBT A or B? If so, you shouldn't need to put anything in your return. The ATO will cross-check your incomes against your estimated incomes (on which your payments were based if you were receiving them) and you will either get a payment or you'll owe them, depending on actual income verse estimated income.

If you haven't been getting fortnightly payments you could be eligable for a lump sum payment (as you were entitled to fortnighly payments since baby was born and you didn't receive them).

If you get a nice lump sum you can trade in your LCD on a nice new plasma AMIRITE? :)

yer, we didnt get the fortnitely repayments, so we going for the lumpsum!

also, lolz

Spook, It doesn't matter who earned more during the year as FTB A is based on family income and FTB B is based on the lower income earner (regardless of who claims it).

Who has the main account with the FAO? They should claim. My guess is Petal filled out all the forms? And all the letters come to her?

wrong, i actually filled in all the paper work, while petal was still in hospital after with spook jnr

i wanted my new pc bad

Well if you are the one with the CRN you claim it :)

i wanted my new INTEL pc bad

hehe


fixed

omg why is it taking so long to get it back, 2weeks and still waiting :@

the ato is preparing to audit yuo

Anyone got tax back through e-tax yet? If so how long did it take?

I put mine in late last week :S

should take about 2 weeks

after paying somethin like 6k in tax this year the e-tax reckons about a 140 return wtf.. i know i cant claim alot in my profession but 140? is it worth going to a pro or..?

140? Geez that's rough

If you are paying 6k in tax and your income is at the limit where you owe $6k tax, then a $140 return is good.


Why do people always assume they will get a return?

because its god damn tax time and i want some friggin money alright kat f***

I not the kind of girl to pay for f***. You f*** some one else. They love you long time.

wait so you're not a hooker?

I just got my tax return... except I haven't even done one for this year.

what the hell is going on

Hurry up ATO, I need my jump money for the weekend!

Seriously, it's been over a week :(

Mine took roughly 1.5 weeks as the other guys, was nice.

if you earn a constant wage the whole year you shouldn't get any return at all, except like 30% * whatever deductions you make

i don't understand why this is such a difficult concept

I always got a tax return without any or any huge deductions with a constant wage, was earning a little over the national average too

I always got a tax return without any or any huge deductions with a constant wage, was earning a little over the national average too

You got a payrise each year yeah? Thus they withhold more after the payrise, but they weren't meant to.

after paying somethin like 6k in tax this year the e-tax reckons about a 140 return wtf.. i know i cant claim alot in my profession but 140? is it worth going to a pro or..?

What do you do? What are you claiming (if anything)?
Have to claim to get s*** back (if you are on a constant wage).

i don't understand why this is such a difficult concept

you could just come out and ask new people you meet 'do you f*** the ATO over given the chance?'...


some of the feedback you get could be interesting and prompt you to want to research the metter further. keep a mp3 recorder (or similar) handy... some mobiles come with this function eh.


either way - when tips come along you'll not really be ready to take them in. the people dropping them count on this as they say them. again - be prepped to record the info and research it or pass it on to people who can for you

You got a payrise each year yeah? Thus they withhold more after the payrise, but they weren't meant to.

Yeha it was 10% or if i did exceptionaly well then more in some cases

submitted etax last friday, woke up with my $2.3k refund today.

you could just come out and ask new people you meet 'do you f*** the ATO over given the chance?'...

Yeah it's all fun and games until the ATO hits back with the vengeance. Death and taxes you know what they say.

submitted etax last friday, woke up with my $2.3k refund today.

submitted etax last friday, woke up up with my $1.3k refund.

Looks like it's 1 week bitches for refunds :D

Good weather tomorrow, time for jumping :D

chef

Put my tax in Thursday last week, got my refund back on Wednesday, handy $3.5K. Also got money back from the FAO today another $2.5K. They seem to be getting faster at turning them around. Now to convince the wife that a 50" full HD plasma is a good investment.

never, ever, f*** with ATO. they will f*** you up.

Now to convince the wife that a 50" full HD plasma is a good investment.

its a good investment in dodgy old technology
lolz

meh, i know people that have been auditted

with "oversights" on personal tax, the ato hardly goes to town:

its most likely they will just make an "adjustment"

perhaps if you are doing business tax and you're being "creative" you mite have more serious issues;



last edited by Spook at 16:22:15 18/Jul/08

Finally lodged mine last night yay

OOh $10k bill for the 07 year. Not good :(

How can you rack up a 10k bill in one year!?

We have to pay about 20k but we aren't PAYG so its a bit different.