Most of us prefer running away from the crumpled bill receipts and complicated tax rules and hence the result; tax time keeps lagging on the “to do list” as a forever task! Procrastination of taxes is a major annual problem in Australia. With thoughts of taxes dancing at the back of mind, it increases the unnecessary stress amongst the lazy procrastinators!
By 31st October, which is the tax deadline, more than 65% of the Australian people lodge their tax returns while the other ones wait to complete their tax filing.
This procrastination results in the inevitable last-minute fuss, stress, forgotten deductions and penalties! So it is always better to be on time and avoid such delays.
Before finding out the solutions, it is first mandatory to look for the reasons behind such delays which are listed below:
8 Foremost Reasons For Delay in Tax Return
1. Ignore taxes and bid them goodbye
If you feel by ignoring tax payment you can get rid of taxes, then it is a big misconception. Rather, ignoring tax payments will increase your chances of ATO fines and interest charges. Hence, get out of your misbeliefs and file the tax as early as possible.
2. Lost Income Records (PAYG)
In case you’ve lost your income receipts and are unable to file taxes because of that, do not worry. You can contact tax agents and they will help you in retrieving your tax records directly from the ATO’s database. Hence, do not wait longer and look for an agent to help you file the taxes easily. Also, you can directly contact your employer and ask for your PAYG copy.
3. Unable to find receipts
First of all, to avoid such a scenario, it is recommended that you snapshot all your tax receipts and store them safely in some folder. However, if you do not have your receipts, track down your work-related purchases in your email, photos, calendars and finally bank statements to recollect as much as you can.
4. No idea about tax deductions that can be claimed:
Many times people are unaware of the items for which taxes can be claimed. To combat such a situation, most of the Australians take help from expert tax agents for lodging their tax returns. They not only give you expert tax advises but also make filing procedure much easier.
5. Lack of funds for filing the returns
It may happen that you’re broke and unable to afford agent fees for filing the returns, in such situations you can opt for agents to whom you don’t have to pay upfront. In such cases the tax agents charge a very nominal amount and file the return, the remaining fee is automatically deducted from the refund amount when it comes to your bank account.
6. No Income for the year
Even if you have no income for any particular year, you need to file a non- lodgement form and inform the status to the ATO. This will provide an acknowledgement to the ATO about your filing status.
7. Earning is less than the tax fee threshold
The tax fee threshold is $18,200 in Australia. In case your earning is less than the threshold amount you may still have to file a tax return. This may happen if you have paid any taxes on this income or:
- You’ve any private health insurance rebate entitled for yourself
- If your PAYG summary possess a reportable fringe benefit
- If there is any reportable employer superannuation contribution on your PAYG Summary
8. Scared about the ATO debt
In case you owe any money to the ATO but are unable to pay the tax bills at that time, you can take help from a tax agent who will help you arrange a payment schedule with ATO.
Listen more from our expert team of Tax Accountants in Werribee , Contact Tax Experts Accountants
