It is never too late to lodge a tax return

Most people generally need to lodge an income tax return every year. If you have not lodged a tax return for a few (or even many) years or you have a tax return outstanding or overdue, JR Corporate Accountants can help.

BEWARE OF PENALTIES FOR LATE TAX RETURNS

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) may apply a “failure to lodge on time penalty”. The penalty is calculated at the rate of one penalty unit for each period of 28 days or part thereof that the document is overdue, up to a maximum of five penalty units. Size tests also apply, so that the penalty for larger entities is multiplied by either two or five. The penalty is $170 for every 28-day period or part thereof occurs that the returns remain outstanding.

Further, the ATO may issue a default assessment warning letter. This letter will summarise the income on which the default assessment may be based. The letter will also tell you the date by which you must lodge the overdue return if you want to avoid being issued with a default assessment.

The ATO is more likely to apply a penalty if:

• you have more than one tax return outstanding
• you have a poor lodgment history, or
• you have not complied with a request to lodge your tax return.

How can JR Corporate help…

The ATO collects information about your income from banks, employers, government agencies and other parties. This information is matched to your Tax File Number and with your consent; JR Corporate can check your lodgment status with the ATO and ascertain which years are outstanding and access detail that has been reported to the ATO, which may include:

• PAYG Payment Summaries from employers (prior to 2001 these were called Group Certificates)
• Centrelink payments
• Bank and other interest
• Details of private health insurance cover
• Dividend and other investment income details

Many taxpayers with outstanding returns will lodge a return with just this information, but at JR Corporate, we’ll work with you to ascertain what deductions may be relevant and assist you to work out how to locate this information.  Obviously the more receipts, statements and information you can find at your home or office the easier it will be, but don’t stress about it, there are some deductions you can claim without receipts.

If for some of the outstanding years, you were not required to lodge a tax return, JR Corporate can submit a non-lodgment advice and make sure you’re up-to-date with the tax office.

Completing your outstanding tax returns may also result in matching past entitlements for benefits, such as superannuation co-contribution, family payment, baby bonus or education tax refund.

Standard fees apply and if your late lodgements results in a refund, you may be able to take advantage of our Fee-From-Refund service and have your fee deducted from your refund.

Finding all the information can be very daunting for most people.  Perhaps you were too busy, overseas, or found that it was just too complicated. Did relationship, health or family issues prevent you from lodging your tax return? No matter the reason, getting up to date now will give you peace of mind.

Contact us today to see what JR Corporate Accountants can do for you – and your outstanding tax returns.