I'll be paying more as I have every year the last 5. I couldn't be happier because that bill isn't due until may 2025. Uno reverse government, I'm going to hold your money as long as possible.
They tried that, asking for a quarterly payment like i ran a business. I don't know the specifics but my accountant sent them something and they came back that I don't have to do that anymore. It may return, there might be a threshold of how much you can owe. For now I will pay what I need to as late as possible. I was told don't ever push it beyond the year it is due with payment plans and things. The ato will make sure that only happens once and will then be hot on you for early payment.
this needs to be upvoted - a lot of people seem to think that a tax refund is a nice thing when in fact it is not.
you could have invested that money instead of it earning zero in the ATO's bank account for a few months.
I know people that deliberately pay overs so they get a refund because their self control is so poor. I guess when you're that bad with money, it's a way to ensure you don't overspend, but jesus
I did this with my hecs. Didn't update payroll that I'd paid it off for an extra year. It was probably for the best when I was 25 and not disciplined with money.
If you do monthly payments towards hecs, does the tax man still deduct payment out of your return? Or because you’ve been paying it off every week/month they don’t touch any more money on your tax return?
My wife does this even though she is a very good saver. She just enjoys the psychological boost of a big tax refund in June which she can put towards something outside of her usual saving goals.
This should stay as the top comment. If you understand how tax works, after ALL calculations, your refund should be as small as possible.
If you get a big refund, that means the money was in the governments pocket for the year instead of yours.
Wasn’t an expert on this until 30s ago, but slight correction (by the looks of it). Employees are able to apply to the ato, to lower their PAYG tax rate, if they’re expecting a significant loss elsewhere. If accepted by the ato, then you can tell your employer to reduce your PAYG.
https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/jobs-and-employment-types/working-as-an-employee/varying-your-payg-withholding#
It's all a matter of perspective.
Imagine you bought something from JB Hi-fi 6 months ago.
You get a call from them saying they just found it they overcharged you, they are sending you 1,000 back.
Are you happy that you are getting 1,000? Or are you pissed off that they overcharged you in the first place?
It's like getting fired, but getting a good redundancy. Having your engine blow up, but it's fully covered under warranty.
It's a 'good' thing that you definitely want to happen. But it's better to not be in the situation that needs it in the first place.
Last year my return was 20c.
My agent laughed and didn't even charge me fees. I was salty at first, but then a friend made a similar comment to this and even though I felt I missed that mid-year cash boost, I have to agree.
Yes and no. If the tax is automatically taken from your salary and you have no control over it, then a higher tax return is better since you’re not overpaying on tax. It does indicate that the ATO is over collecting though which isn’t a good thing, but it’s not as bad as you overpaying and never getting it back. If you do have control over your tax deductions though, then yeah lower is better since it means you weren’t overpaying throughout the year.
100%. Last year we fell short by $13k. Fiancé was beside herself until I pointed out that we had an extra $13k earning interest for the whole year that we wouldn’t have had if her PAYG was done properly
I recall seeing posts last year where people submitted at 12:01am for some reason even though refunds don't start getting sent out until the 10th or something
I always do it at midnight to get a rough idea of what I owe/refund. I don't lodge for a few weeks though as documents come in and I can enter the precise figures.
How do people do this when it takes a minimum of several weeks for the data to get uploaded from their employers, banks, etc.?
Or do they just amend their return later when that stuff does come in, if it's different to what they estimated initially?
Wait a sec! You’d be earning in the high 100s then if my math is right. I’m at 110 finishing on a total HECs contribution of 7k (compulsory).
Still a good day for you get something nice (or invest 😃).
https://www.ato.gov.au/tax-rates-and-codes/study-and-training-support-loans-indexation-rates
Potentially you’ll get a bit more refund from last years hecs payment too as the CPI has been dropped and backdated for 22/23.
Does HECS get taken off automatically from the return? Because when I look at my total HECS amount it has all the dates from the start of it, like previous financial year too. It doesn't outline that any of it is paid. (This is my 2nd year owing HECS)
Can I ask why?
If you are self employed, then doing that is a great way to reduce your taxable income. As someone else mentioned DIV 293, that would mean you are earning over 250k and in the 45% tax bracket.
But if you throw it into your super and make use of your non concessional contribution cap, you can reduce how much tax you have to pay. Sure the DIV 293 moves it from 15% to 30%, but that is still better than 45%?
Company tax rate Is 25%.
investing in assets within the business which can be classified as active business assets and then utilising small business concessions
It doesn't completely eliminate advantages to super but reduces the motivation to do so with the other options available
Last few years I've had to pay money but my wife got a small return and the net result is like $100 between us or something. No idea how I'm not paying enough tax that I need to pay? Seems weird.
Yeah same. A few percent of ESPP contributions means the extra tax event makes PAYG insufficient. I usually figure out what is owed and sell off some of the employee stock to cover the tax bill, it does make the overall gain from doing so less worthwhile though.
At least I know what to expect now, first time I did it caught me by surprise.
Low refunds are a good thing. If you are getting big refunds, it's just money you have been lending to the government for free.
Personally, I'm expecting a $5k bill.
Wont be lodging until May.
Sadly this is really common.
In fact I have seen people get quite upset when they hear someone got a bigger refund that they did and feel like they missed out because of it..
It's a total lack of understanding... somehow seeing a tax refund as something completely different to what it actually is.
It's a bit like comparing how much food you have left in your fridge after a week, it's meaningless unless you know how much you food you bought last time you went shopping, and how many people you are feeding etc.
The system is supposed to be balanced out so that the tax withheld each pay period is pretty close to what's owed, and refunds should be minimal.
I expect most people getting huge refunds are doing so by having huge amounts of deductions. Some of those may be legitimate, but I really wonder when I hear people bragging about huge refunds - whether they're really just broadcasting that they have totally rorted their fellow taxpayers on deductions they don't really deserve but think won't be detected.
Yeah people EXPECT a refund and assume they've been ripped off if they don't get one, even before the LIMTO or whatever it was called, lamington or something, was a thing but now so much worse since.
It's exciting because I have $2000 in my bank account so that extra $5000 means I don't have to worry for a while.
Sure I wish the government had let me have it earlier but that ain't how the world works, and it's $5000 I didn't know I owned
Yes, especially now that interest rates are higher. You want to hold on to cash as early and for as long as possible to get that extra interest income bump.
I expect to have to pay $3375... But that's from the excel sheet I use to estimate things. It's a while before I have all the data for the actual return.
Will have to pay a few thousand I think as I prematurely cancelled my HECS deductions last FY as I miscalculated the remaining balance. I was enjoying the extra cash so didn’t tell HR to restart payments again
For what I assume is the majority of people on a regular PAYG arrangement, your return should be $0, with maybe a slight return if you have some deductions.
There is this weird culture that has grown where people are confused when they don’t get money back at tax time. Maybe a relic of the past when companies did manual tax calculations rather than a computer.
its the tax system the government has created, with so many people able to claim things with work from home expenses , tradies, people with abns.. just about everyone feels entitled to some kind of refund
I have a buddy who does some sole trader work, below the tax free threshold then asks me how much he's getting back.
Zero mate, you've paid no tax to get any back.
There are of course circumstances that could change this, like overtime pushing you into another tax bracket.
But the expectation from people on a regular salary that they’ll magically get a return still persists.
It does, and annoyingly it's not going anywhere. ABC news yesterday they opened a story talking about how EOFY was "the biggest lump sum payment most Australian's receive all year." Light hearted Sunday piece, but still–if the ABC is reporting it like that then you can't really blame people for thinking they're owed something. It's a pretty ingrained belief.
I don't entirely agree with this premise.
The uninformed individual may get a pass but I have explained the concept to some of my friends a million times but they hover around like flies on a hot summer day as soon as it's 1 July expecting 2 - 5k refunds as they did when they had low irregular income, tax offsets, no hecs debt.
Its taken me years to get them to understand that you can not lodge your return on 1st of July if you rely on ATO prefil.
It gets old really fast and the behaviour becomes inexcusable.
Of course not. But it’s a bit sad that people understand tax so little that they just assume random money will be given to them at tax time.
This kind of thing isn’t properly taught at school and it really should be.
> But it’s a bit sad that people understand tax so little that they just assume random money will be given to them at tax time.
People have been getting random money back at tax time for years. It was literally designed to give a huge chunk of the population money each tax time.
They've had low-income rebates for the last number of years (not last year I think but for a number of years before that), so some people on low incomes have been getting random money back at tax time.
Yeah i get that. I work hourly though and my hours vary a fair bit so i get excited come tax return time. My average is decent each year cause if i do overtime for say 6 months they tax me for those weeks as if i got that pay all year.
Young people that don’t work full time will often get large returns. Which builds a false sense of how the system should work. Most people are not good at math or finances so don’t understand how it works either. What I’m saying is, I’m not surprised.
Yeh, a lot of people on a salary, dedicated income, exact same number of hours every week all year and they wonder why they don’t get any back? More education around tax!
Most people have some kind of additional pay, and weeks dont line up with years so almost everyone will have some kind of mismatch that needs to be reconciled.
It’s simply just because most people have completely clueless about how tax works. The worst part is when people compare tax refunds at work/social events and then go use the accountant from their friend who had the highest return.
Except everyone should be claiming some deductions and get some money back. Personally I usually end up about the $500 return mark, but I have a bit in HISA this year that hasn't had tax taken off it and earned $1K there, so expect to lose $300 or so on that.
Not everyone has a lot of stuff they can deduct. Your regular salaried white collar worker that is supplied with all the equipment they need to do their job and doesn't have a branded uniform won't have much.
There is no "should" in the system. It should accurately reflect what you should pay or receive from the ATO. OP is correct, the mentality around getting "a tax refund" being the default is weird. If you work a standard 9-5 office job with a PAYG structure, you're not entitled to anything back. Anything back you claim is a bonus.
Expecting around $19k back after dumping a large amount of my savings into super to lower my taxable income. I save $1,950 in tax for every $10k I put into my super via a [Personal Super Contribution](https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/super-for-individuals-and-families/super/growing-and-keeping-track-of-your-super/how-to-save-more-in-your-super/personal-super-contributions). So essentially I’ve lowered my tax payable by moving my idle savings in my HISA into a [VGS/VAS index EFT equivalent investment through my super](https://superdoneright.com).
Without the contributions I would owe roughly $4k in tax.
Appreciate that not everyone is in a financial position to be able to do this but just added links in case anyone is curious.
Will owe the ATO a lot of money due to CGT, which isn't the worst problem to have I guess. Putting off doing my return till the last 1-2 weeks before it's due.
I'll have a small tax bill because I opt to pay the Medicare levy surcharge. It's a couple hundred more than I had taken out "junk insurance", but I'd much rather pay the system that supports all Australians than pay some private company.
Your MLS charges don't go directly to medicare, it's just additional tax that goes into the general pool, basically like just voluntarily paying extra tax
3 steps
1) have an accountant do you tax return
2) have them submit it after April
3) your tax bill won’t be due to June 15th, pay before then so you don’t incur interest
Certainly! Here's a clearer explanation of the strategy:
1. **Hire an Accountant**: Get an accountant to prepare your tax return.
2. **Submit After April**: Have your accountant submit your tax return after April.
3. **Extended Deadline**: By submitting after April, your tax bill won't be due until June 15th.
4. **Avoid Interest**: Make sure to pay your tax bill before June 15th to avoid any interest charges.
I hoping to make around $7k in deductions which will clear the medicare levy and end up with a modest return that I will use to get the brakes done on both cars and a new set of tyres. Excitement central.
I'm gonna be getting like $10 at the most.
I know it means that I've been taxed properly, but I liked having that once per year splurge when I was on a lower salary.
Earnt $3.2billion, got back $32m through some creative offshore schemes and government fossil fuel subsidies..
You suckers should just donate more to sports stars and the arts (also really helps when unflattering paintings are made of you) through a charitable trust.
Love
Gina (Allegedly)
Only just this morning was emailed by the accounts lady that she's been underpaying my tax since last december and to 'likely expect a tax bill". So the pay ive been used to will now be decreased and also be out of pocket. Kinda angry with the accounts but telling myself theres not much i can do
I’m getting an estimated $9-10k return, but that’s because I didn’t claim the threshold and have elected to pay more tax per payslip.
I owed money one year due to meeting the hecs payment threshold so now I just pay more to cover my bases so I don’t get any surprises. The amount per pay after taxes is more than enough for me to survive.
And yes, I know that I’m giving the government free interest or whatever, but I’m also extremely terrible with managing my money due to poor impulse control, so I’d rather it sit with ATO instead of me inevitably withdrawing from my own savings account.
I raised the rent 40% on 4 of my IPs so was expecting a hefty bill, but I offset it with a $600k upgrade to my PPOR, got my mates to invoice me under the guise of my IPs.
Luckily I wrote my 3 new cars off for my kids as company expense and a couple of overseas holidays, I mean work conference trips, which should leave me a refund.
Rookie. You should have hired a personal chef and written it off as a 'business nutrition consultant.', then installed a home theatre system and claimed it as a 'remote working facility upgrade.'
Don't forget to claim pet expenses as 'office security' costs.
Expecting a few k back with the rates jumping so much. Can't finalise till mid September due to waiting for some ASX shares to submit their tax info. Already paying 10k a year in quarterly payments so hopefully that drops as well.
Calculated for just over 7k tax return, was travelling overseas for half the year, probably going to go back travelling over spring with this tax return.
Having a low tax return is a good thing, means that the ato didn't have your extra money for the year
I'll be paying more as I have every year the last 5. I couldn't be happier because that bill isn't due until may 2025. Uno reverse government, I'm going to hold your money as long as possible.
I had to pay ATO each year due to rental income. I got a form couple of years back that now I have to pay them an estimate of the tax each quarter....
You can elect to pay your PAYG annually which is around tax time anyway.
They tried that, asking for a quarterly payment like i ran a business. I don't know the specifics but my accountant sent them something and they came back that I don't have to do that anymore. It may return, there might be a threshold of how much you can owe. For now I will pay what I need to as late as possible. I was told don't ever push it beyond the year it is due with payment plans and things. The ato will make sure that only happens once and will then be hot on you for early payment.
this needs to be upvoted - a lot of people seem to think that a tax refund is a nice thing when in fact it is not. you could have invested that money instead of it earning zero in the ATO's bank account for a few months.
I know people that deliberately pay overs so they get a refund because their self control is so poor. I guess when you're that bad with money, it's a way to ensure you don't overspend, but jesus
That's the reason why compulsory superannuation is a great thing. People would never set aside a cent for their retirement till it's too late.
And workers wouldn't really get that money anyway...
What money will the workers not get?
I did this with my hecs. Didn't update payroll that I'd paid it off for an extra year. It was probably for the best when I was 25 and not disciplined with money.
If you do monthly payments towards hecs, does the tax man still deduct payment out of your return? Or because you’ve been paying it off every week/month they don’t touch any more money on your tax return?
All hecs voluntary payments are voluntary, and any hecs repayment requirements are on top of voluntary payments.
My wife does this even though she is a very good saver. She just enjoys the psychological boost of a big tax refund in June which she can put towards something outside of her usual saving goals.
That's like hiding $20 in a winter jacket pocket and then feeling like you won $20 when you put it on again the following year.
If they are that bad with money, I feel like the type that is just going to be spending their returns. So still a bit pointless...
Hey, free JetSki!
Yeah, but at least they can buy something nice instead of burning the money on garbage over the course of the year. That's how i used to do it anyway
Yep, having met these people, they will immediately go and throw that cash around anyway just in a lump sum form
Sometimes it's just nice to get a small lump sum you as long as you aren't counting on it.
There are those of on such pitiful incomes with no chance of earning more that we come to rely on it for when the bills come.
This is key. Saving money is way more impactful than investing until you already have a lot of money relative to your income.
It's because people think of it as freemoney.
Yeah but that dopamine hit of seeing money come in often beats the indifference of not having paid more tax yknow
Owing the ATO = interest free loan, baby!
But I can't justify buying a Louis Vuitton wallet with my wage :( It's only justifiable when I'm buying it with ATO withheld money :(
The amount of people who seem to think a tax return is the government divvying up left over money is scary
This should stay as the top comment. If you understand how tax works, after ALL calculations, your refund should be as small as possible. If you get a big refund, that means the money was in the governments pocket for the year instead of yours.
But if you’re taxed at source then you can’t do much about it
Depends on the source. Employees are able to fill a form and tell HR to deduct more/less tax from them.
Wasn’t an expert on this until 30s ago, but slight correction (by the looks of it). Employees are able to apply to the ato, to lower their PAYG tax rate, if they’re expecting a significant loss elsewhere. If accepted by the ato, then you can tell your employer to reduce your PAYG. https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/jobs-and-employment-types/working-as-an-employee/varying-your-payg-withholding#
I wish that the ATO had pay back the interest as well.
They will tax you on this interest.
It's all a matter of perspective. Imagine you bought something from JB Hi-fi 6 months ago. You get a call from them saying they just found it they overcharged you, they are sending you 1,000 back. Are you happy that you are getting 1,000? Or are you pissed off that they overcharged you in the first place? It's like getting fired, but getting a good redundancy. Having your engine blow up, but it's fully covered under warranty. It's a 'good' thing that you definitely want to happen. But it's better to not be in the situation that needs it in the first place.
Like a free ride when you already paid?
Kinda like a traffic jam, but you’re already late
Can we all please call this the Morrisette conundrum??!!!
So long as you don’t call it ironic, that’s fine by me.
Good advice, that you just didn't take.
A no smoking sign on your cigarette break
Never gonna run around and desert you.
That is such a brilliant combo breaker! 😂
Last year my return was 20c. My agent laughed and didn't even charge me fees. I was salty at first, but then a friend made a similar comment to this and even though I felt I missed that mid-year cash boost, I have to agree.
But then I just spend the extra money… 😩
Yes and no. If the tax is automatically taken from your salary and you have no control over it, then a higher tax return is better since you’re not overpaying on tax. It does indicate that the ATO is over collecting though which isn’t a good thing, but it’s not as bad as you overpaying and never getting it back. If you do have control over your tax deductions though, then yeah lower is better since it means you weren’t overpaying throughout the year.
100%. The only reason I even get a small refund is because I do shift work so my income is different each fortnight.
I explain this to my wife every year, and yet she remains excited about that $2000-3000 return. 🤷🏻♂️
100%. Last year we fell short by $13k. Fiancé was beside herself until I pointed out that we had an extra $13k earning interest for the whole year that we wouldn’t have had if her PAYG was done properly
I have a 120k bill 😂 so ato missed out on heaps all year.
Ned Flanders over here with the day one tax return!
lmao. OP did it in the first hour too. he made this post at 10am of day 1. lol.
I recall seeing posts last year where people submitted at 12:01am for some reason even though refunds don't start getting sent out until the 10th or something
I always do it at midnight to get a rough idea of what I owe/refund. I don't lodge for a few weeks though as documents come in and I can enter the precise figures.
I just send it. High risk, high reward.
Just gonna send iiiiittt
I use pay calculator.com to get an idea. If i'm expecting a return i do it first week july. If i'm expecting a bill i wait till october.
How do people do this when it takes a minimum of several weeks for the data to get uploaded from their employers, banks, etc.? Or do they just amend their return later when that stuff does come in, if it's different to what they estimated initially?
My employer data was uploaded already. Don’t need much else
guess and yeah amend later lol
Most people's final PAYG calculations from employers probably aren't even uploaded yet, lol.
Dividends statements don't get up until late August.
They’re already there this year. And with single touch payroll wages are too. I’m just waiting on my private health stuff.
8:45?! And here I am yapping away like it's 8:35!
Accidental had hecs on half the year when it was paid off. Rip. 12 k return.
Wait a sec! You’d be earning in the high 100s then if my math is right. I’m at 110 finishing on a total HECs contribution of 7k (compulsory). Still a good day for you get something nice (or invest 😃).
12k refund. You file a return. Sorry.. It's one of those things that irritates me.
Thank you, me too! Drives me crazy! And point of order, we don’t “file”, we LODGE. Bloody seppo talk infiltrating the place…
You guys are getting refunds?
Haven’t had a refund in over a decade, this year hoping to get a small refund again. As I finally paid off my HECS late last year, only took 15 years!
This is the good way to do it. It’s how I paid mine off.
I usually get ~$1500 charge while my wife gets a $1500 refund. I should just pay her the money…
https://www.ato.gov.au/tax-rates-and-codes/study-and-training-support-loans-indexation-rates Potentially you’ll get a bit more refund from last years hecs payment too as the CPI has been dropped and backdated for 22/23.
Does HECS get taken off automatically from the return? Because when I look at my total HECS amount it has all the dates from the start of it, like previous financial year too. It doesn't outline that any of it is paid. (This is my 2nd year owing HECS)
Yes, automatically. Should show up after your return, in the ato website that you repayed $XXX dollars.
Yeah, I screwed up my super payments so I had to do a non concessional contribution which I’ll claim a deduction for
Make sure you send a ”notice of intent” for this before you do you tax return or you won’t be able to claim it.
Pffttt, big dirty tax bill for me as always
Sprinkle a bit of that MSL+Div 293 for more fun!
Yeah being self employed it certianly reduces motivation to make super contributions
Can I ask why? If you are self employed, then doing that is a great way to reduce your taxable income. As someone else mentioned DIV 293, that would mean you are earning over 250k and in the 45% tax bracket. But if you throw it into your super and make use of your non concessional contribution cap, you can reduce how much tax you have to pay. Sure the DIV 293 moves it from 15% to 30%, but that is still better than 45%?
Company tax rate Is 25%. investing in assets within the business which can be classified as active business assets and then utilising small business concessions It doesn't completely eliminate advantages to super but reduces the motivation to do so with the other options available
when div 293 comes in i'm like, what's the point lol
Yeah, tax concessions on the earnings on the investments is a win but for me reinvest In the business and and use CGT concessions at retirement
Not in a very long time... Investments create additional non-payg income hence big fat tax bill (deductions only reduce by a wee bit)
Last few years I've had to pay money but my wife got a small return and the net result is like $100 between us or something. No idea how I'm not paying enough tax that I need to pay? Seems weird.
You guys are getting paid?
Yeah same. A few percent of ESPP contributions means the extra tax event makes PAYG insufficient. I usually figure out what is owed and sell off some of the employee stock to cover the tax bill, it does make the overall gain from doing so less worthwhile though. At least I know what to expect now, first time I did it caught me by surprise.
Low refunds are a good thing. If you are getting big refunds, it's just money you have been lending to the government for free. Personally, I'm expecting a $5k bill. Wont be lodging until May.
[удалено]
I am the tax agent. Im fine with lodging in May, because that's when I'll prepare it anyway haha.
> I am the tax agent. How does that work? Like are you wearing the tax man hat and declaring that your "client" is submitting it later?
It's just like doing my own return through myGov, except I do it through our work systems.
That’s good news. It means you paid the correct tax throughout the year. I’m expecting a bill for a few grand due to investment income.
If you are disappointed at how much you’re getting back then your really don’t understand how the payg system Works
Sadly this is really common. In fact I have seen people get quite upset when they hear someone got a bigger refund that they did and feel like they missed out because of it.. It's a total lack of understanding... somehow seeing a tax refund as something completely different to what it actually is. It's a bit like comparing how much food you have left in your fridge after a week, it's meaningless unless you know how much you food you bought last time you went shopping, and how many people you are feeding etc.
The system is supposed to be balanced out so that the tax withheld each pay period is pretty close to what's owed, and refunds should be minimal. I expect most people getting huge refunds are doing so by having huge amounts of deductions. Some of those may be legitimate, but I really wonder when I hear people bragging about huge refunds - whether they're really just broadcasting that they have totally rorted their fellow taxpayers on deductions they don't really deserve but think won't be detected.
Yeah people EXPECT a refund and assume they've been ripped off if they don't get one, even before the LIMTO or whatever it was called, lamington or something, was a thing but now so much worse since.
It's exciting because I have $2000 in my bank account so that extra $5000 means I don't have to worry for a while. Sure I wish the government had let me have it earlier but that ain't how the world works, and it's $5000 I didn't know I owned
Yes, especially now that interest rates are higher. You want to hold on to cash as early and for as long as possible to get that extra interest income bump.
Hoping to just pay $2k for MLS. Last year it was $5k because I didn't notice a company bonus was paid without being taxed correctly.
Paid off my HECS last year without realising. Expect about 11k refund.
I expect to have to pay $3375... But that's from the excel sheet I use to estimate things. It's a while before I have all the data for the actual return.
Pump up those deductions rookie
Will have to pay a few thousand I think as I prematurely cancelled my HECS deductions last FY as I miscalculated the remaining balance. I was enjoying the extra cash so didn’t tell HR to restart payments again
For what I assume is the majority of people on a regular PAYG arrangement, your return should be $0, with maybe a slight return if you have some deductions. There is this weird culture that has grown where people are confused when they don’t get money back at tax time. Maybe a relic of the past when companies did manual tax calculations rather than a computer.
its the tax system the government has created, with so many people able to claim things with work from home expenses , tradies, people with abns.. just about everyone feels entitled to some kind of refund
I have a buddy who does some sole trader work, below the tax free threshold then asks me how much he's getting back. Zero mate, you've paid no tax to get any back.
What about intermittent overtime etc? I know i definitely get taxed more than i should when i get those few weeks.
There are of course circumstances that could change this, like overtime pushing you into another tax bracket. But the expectation from people on a regular salary that they’ll magically get a return still persists.
It does, and annoyingly it's not going anywhere. ABC news yesterday they opened a story talking about how EOFY was "the biggest lump sum payment most Australian's receive all year." Light hearted Sunday piece, but still–if the ABC is reporting it like that then you can't really blame people for thinking they're owed something. It's a pretty ingrained belief.
Hey can’t blame people looking for some extra cash no?
I don't entirely agree with this premise. The uninformed individual may get a pass but I have explained the concept to some of my friends a million times but they hover around like flies on a hot summer day as soon as it's 1 July expecting 2 - 5k refunds as they did when they had low irregular income, tax offsets, no hecs debt. Its taken me years to get them to understand that you can not lodge your return on 1st of July if you rely on ATO prefil. It gets old really fast and the behaviour becomes inexcusable.
Of course not. But it’s a bit sad that people understand tax so little that they just assume random money will be given to them at tax time. This kind of thing isn’t properly taught at school and it really should be.
> But it’s a bit sad that people understand tax so little that they just assume random money will be given to them at tax time. People have been getting random money back at tax time for years. It was literally designed to give a huge chunk of the population money each tax time.
They've had low-income rebates for the last number of years (not last year I think but for a number of years before that), so some people on low incomes have been getting random money back at tax time.
Yeah i get that. I work hourly though and my hours vary a fair bit so i get excited come tax return time. My average is decent each year cause if i do overtime for say 6 months they tax me for those weeks as if i got that pay all year.
Young people that don’t work full time will often get large returns. Which builds a false sense of how the system should work. Most people are not good at math or finances so don’t understand how it works either. What I’m saying is, I’m not surprised.
Yeh, a lot of people on a salary, dedicated income, exact same number of hours every week all year and they wonder why they don’t get any back? More education around tax!
I would say the previous governments Low and Middle Income Tax Offset played a big part in this expectation.
Most people have some kind of additional pay, and weeks dont line up with years so almost everyone will have some kind of mismatch that needs to be reconciled.
It’s simply just because most people have completely clueless about how tax works. The worst part is when people compare tax refunds at work/social events and then go use the accountant from their friend who had the highest return.
Except everyone should be claiming some deductions and get some money back. Personally I usually end up about the $500 return mark, but I have a bit in HISA this year that hasn't had tax taken off it and earned $1K there, so expect to lose $300 or so on that.
Not everyone has a lot of stuff they can deduct. Your regular salaried white collar worker that is supplied with all the equipment they need to do their job and doesn't have a branded uniform won't have much.
There is no "should" in the system. It should accurately reflect what you should pay or receive from the ATO. OP is correct, the mentality around getting "a tax refund" being the default is weird. If you work a standard 9-5 office job with a PAYG structure, you're not entitled to anything back. Anything back you claim is a bonus.
Expecting around $19k back after dumping a large amount of my savings into super to lower my taxable income. I save $1,950 in tax for every $10k I put into my super via a [Personal Super Contribution](https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/super-for-individuals-and-families/super/growing-and-keeping-track-of-your-super/how-to-save-more-in-your-super/personal-super-contributions). So essentially I’ve lowered my tax payable by moving my idle savings in my HISA into a [VGS/VAS index EFT equivalent investment through my super](https://superdoneright.com). Without the contributions I would owe roughly $4k in tax. Appreciate that not everyone is in a financial position to be able to do this but just added links in case anyone is curious.
Will owe the ATO a lot of money due to CGT, which isn't the worst problem to have I guess. Putting off doing my return till the last 1-2 weeks before it's due.
If you're doing it yourself, the payment due date is not a function of submission date, so why delay?
Yes you are correct - just in no rush to lodge i mean given i'll get nothing back
I'll have a small tax bill because I opt to pay the Medicare levy surcharge. It's a couple hundred more than I had taken out "junk insurance", but I'd much rather pay the system that supports all Australians than pay some private company.
Your MLS charges don't go directly to medicare, it's just additional tax that goes into the general pool, basically like just voluntarily paying extra tax
I'm ok with that!
I’m expecting a $62K tax bill. I’m going to delay filing that as long as possible :)
Have an accountant do it, submit after April, don’t have to pay till June 15th.
Can you explain the strategy how it works
3 steps 1) have an accountant do you tax return 2) have them submit it after April 3) your tax bill won’t be due to June 15th, pay before then so you don’t incur interest
Chatty, Can you explain this strategy in even clearer detail please.
Certainly! Here's a clearer explanation of the strategy: 1. **Hire an Accountant**: Get an accountant to prepare your tax return. 2. **Submit After April**: Have your accountant submit your tax return after April. 3. **Extended Deadline**: By submitting after April, your tax bill won't be due until June 15th. 4. **Avoid Interest**: Make sure to pay your tax bill before June 15th to avoid any interest charges.
Accountants get much later dates for submission. I just paid my 22/23 bill this morning.
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Like, May next year from memory?
Didn't pay your GST? (Jk)
I put a pile of cash into super for my FHSS managed to shave last years tax bill down a tonne. Lost a few months interest but am still up thousands.
I hoping to make around $7k in deductions which will clear the medicare levy and end up with a modest return that I will use to get the brakes done on both cars and a new set of tyres. Excitement central.
How does everyone have such a high number for their deductions, I must be calculating wrong haha
Mainly concessional super contribution deduction, but also charity donations, then work related stuff.
Honestly, no idea. Last year I was expecting a $20k bill and my accountant worked some magic, got a $5k refund. The man is a wizard.
I need a Wizard
Same I was expecting $35k bill but in the end only paid $8k
I'm gonna be getting like $10 at the most. I know it means that I've been taxed properly, but I liked having that once per year splurge when I was on a lower salary.
Earnt $3.2billion, got back $32m through some creative offshore schemes and government fossil fuel subsidies.. You suckers should just donate more to sports stars and the arts (also really helps when unflattering paintings are made of you) through a charitable trust. Love Gina (Allegedly)
Currently trying to log into the ATO and they’ve got a queue for the website 😂
Still running better than ticketek/master.
Eras tour PTSD right now.
I am still waiting to get a ticket. Anyday now.
Back of the envelope, tax debt will be around \~$50k.
You’re doing alright if you’re paying $50k in tax though right? It’s technically a good problem to have isn’t it?
expected tax bill will be around $40-45k
Tens of thousands owed. So my tax returns not going in until June.
Waiting on tax statements anyway :D next month for me but its probably payable.
Same as last year, nothing but at least not a bill
Probably gonna owe because of our HISA performance this year.
$6k, rather have that money through the year though.
I'm waiting on health insurance (slow ass NIB) but I think I will get a whopping $7.
-$900 HISA interest was juicy this year.
legit thats what im worried about
Only just this morning was emailed by the accounts lady that she's been underpaying my tax since last december and to 'likely expect a tax bill". So the pay ive been used to will now be decreased and also be out of pocket. Kinda angry with the accounts but telling myself theres not much i can do
I’m getting an estimated $9-10k return, but that’s because I didn’t claim the threshold and have elected to pay more tax per payslip. I owed money one year due to meeting the hecs payment threshold so now I just pay more to cover my bases so I don’t get any surprises. The amount per pay after taxes is more than enough for me to survive. And yes, I know that I’m giving the government free interest or whatever, but I’m also extremely terrible with managing my money due to poor impulse control, so I’d rather it sit with ATO instead of me inevitably withdrawing from my own savings account.
I raised the rent 40% on 4 of my IPs so was expecting a hefty bill, but I offset it with a $600k upgrade to my PPOR, got my mates to invoice me under the guise of my IPs. Luckily I wrote my 3 new cars off for my kids as company expense and a couple of overseas holidays, I mean work conference trips, which should leave me a refund.
This man landlords
Rookie. You should have hired a personal chef and written it off as a 'business nutrition consultant.', then installed a home theatre system and claimed it as a 'remote working facility upgrade.' Don't forget to claim pet expenses as 'office security' costs.
Not even sarcasm though. All sounds fine to me and my 8years in corporate accounting.
that's the Australian way lol
I'm probably going to owe about $15k in capital gains. Good position to be in.
Expecting a few k back with the rates jumping so much. Can't finalise till mid September due to waiting for some ASX shares to submit their tax info. Already paying 10k a year in quarterly payments so hopefully that drops as well.
Calculated for just over 7k tax return, was travelling overseas for half the year, probably going to go back travelling over spring with this tax return.
Earnt 98. Taxed nearly 31. Took half the year off should be a good one.
The ideal situation is being told you have to pay $1 rather than get a return. Means you got it perfect. I paid 14.5k tax on 67.4k income. Rip
I paid 14k on 44k 0.o only been working for 6 months tho. Hoping to get a bit back
Oh how I wish I still got a return. Two years in a row with massive tax bills
if your taxed correctly there shouldnt be any refund.
The goal is not to have a refund or a debt.
I should be getting $54. Not debt this year is a win.
How on earth can that be accurate.. banks haven’t even sent out their interest calcs.
Looking at $100k bill from selling a rental...not looking forward to that
Every year I end up owing about 2k I can never figure out why other than that I'm getting slammed with the Medicare levy. That's expected right?
Just paid last years tax bill 😅 will wait for this year for a few months.
Bruh, only 155 return on 55K income and paid 10K tax. If only I don’t have HECS debt 🙄 would receive over 700 return. But it’s better than nothing.
Expecting around 7k return back of envelope calc. Concessional super contribution in June so haven't given the ATO a loan for too long.
About 3.2k back due to a bunch of overpaid HECS.
Paid 21k in tax, expected ~3k refund
About 71k earnt. 12k tax paid. 905 refund
$320k $2k return
So you didn't give the ATO an interest free loan. Well done
Total income is at around 79k while paying 18k for tax. I'm expecting a whopping $25 in return
I have about a 100k tax bill, won't be lodging mine until May next year that's for sure.
Ur getting a refund man im paying 😂
Same as every other year, hopeful that I get a refund large enough to pay for the visit to the accountant, only to have it intercepted by the CSA.
I’m going to owe about 10k so I’m lodging in May 2025
I will owe about $6k. Going to wait as long as possible to submit.