As the dates of tax returns are coming closer, taxpayers are getting all worked up to file the taxes on time. The pressure increases further when you have lack information and in such situations, one can easily make mistakes. One of the most common doubts that people feel is that is one required to file annual tax. The primary condition to be able to lodge an early return is that you are leaving Australia before the end of the income year i.e. 30th of June.
One is required to file early tax in a situation when they are leaving Australia. Further, this can be divided into two categories. You can be a foreign resident or an Australian resident for tax purposes.
In a scenario where you are a foreign resident, you are eligible to file an early tax return when:
- You are leaving Australia permanently
- Will no longer be earning any income from a source in Australia. This however doesn’t include incomes like interest, dividend and royalty income
If you are a resident of Australia, you are eligible for an early return filing when:
- You are leaving Australia
- You are ceasing to be a resident of Australia for the purpose of tax calculation
- Will no longer be earning any income from a source in Australia. This however doesn’t include incomes like interest, dividend and royalty income
Read Also: Things you should know about filing your tax returns
To file an early return you will require to furnish the following details:
- Refer to the current Individual tax return instructions.
- Collect details of all the income that you have earned. This would include payment summary by your employer and not payslips as the latter doesn’t show all the payment details.
- You may contact ATO Department to know about details of filing the return. These will include payment of any outstanding debts and lodgment of tax returns for earlier years. Any backlogs in here can cause problems to the taxpayer
- Also you should see if there are some legislative changes done in recent that will affect your return.
Here are some important points to consider to make sure that you are taxed correctly:
- Be clear about the income earned from 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2016
- In the case of a working holiday maker, income earned from 1 January 2017 to 30 June 2017 needs to be shown
- Also, make note of any deductions to be made
Upon doing the return formalities (do not file two separate returns for 2017), you should post the completed return to
Australian Taxation Office
GPO Box 9845
IN YOUR CAPITAL CITY
You can visit this link for more information on this.
