Why Australians are snubbing this fast and free way to lodge their tax returns
It's a system that's more simple than its predecessor and available 24 hours a day. But chances are you won't be using it to lodge your tax return.
For a moment, I was wondering if there was something easier than the ATO's online tax return stuff. But nah, it's just that.
For anyone with simple tax situation (salary, maybe a few deductions here and there), it's definitely the easiest and quickest way.
Even when there’s a few bits I’m not sure about, I actually find the ATO website explains most things pretty well in layman’s terms and I like how examples are given.
The best part is that it's personalised from previous years. Even if you do a depreciating asset, it will remember to include it the next year(s).
From the title, I assumed this was some neat third-party tool. It didn't occur to me that they would be talking about the official tool. I had no idea that barely a third of people used it. I just assumed that's how most people would do it. It's how I've always done it, and until this year (thanks to having done a few more complicated tax things like selling loads of shares and paying off HECS early) I had never even considered doing it any other way. It's literally free and simple as.
I worked for ITP for a tax season way back in the day. Did a 12 week course that CES subsidised and voila I was a professional. The base cost was like $79 (30 odd years ago) and it was the equivalent of filling in your name and address details in the current system and pressing submit. Every other box that we filled in was an extra $5, unless you had business income. Anyway, some people came in because it was cheaper than an accountant and they couldn’t be arsed doing it themselves the rest were just people with no clue. The number of arguments I had with people telling them that “I could claim your uniform laundry expenses but it won’t change your refund, because you are already getting all of you tax back and I will just have to charge you more money now” was mind boggling.
Filling out the basics of a tax return should be taught in school, it’s not hard.
because you are already getting all of you tax back
Sorry, but what do you mean here? Are these people who already have a taxable income within the tax-free threshold?
The ATO online solution is more than enough for 90 of people, comparing it to other systems I've seen internationally (like the US / Canada), it's a godsend.
Great to have a platform we're it's relatively easy to put in your income, dedications and other crap and get a reasonable assessment without having to pay some leach company to do fuck all.
It's almost too easy these days. I keep feeling like I'm missing something because it's so quick.
Tell me about it. It took me about 15 minutes to do mine and my wife's taxes this year.
I had some big problems last year trying to figure out claiming dividends for some investments. After getting frustrated and giving up, I came back a month later to try again and it was all automatically filled in. Apart from that small hiccup it really is too easy.
That hiccup isn’t even the program’s problem, it’s just that for that info to pre-filled it needs to be submitted by the other party.
I'm an IT person. I'm comfortable with computers, I'm comfortable with reading the damn manual.
However, I treat tax refunds like minor surgery: looks straightforward, you could probably do it yourself just fine, but if you fuck up you're in for a world of pain.
I lack the expertise to know I'm not fucking up. I don't have a handle on what the tax department considers yeah-ok, what's a bit cheeky, or what's a slam dunk that of course I should put in, jeez.
I can't work without
<thing>
, but I also make use of it for non-work purposes. Can I claim a deduction for it? Can I claim some of the cost? What percentage should I aim for?I don't fucking know, and I don't want to end up in court because I misunderstood some arcane combination of The Rules, and What We're Looking Askance At This Year.
Or I can pay $180 and not have to worry about any of it.
I lived in NZ for a while, it was heaps better over there you don't need to do anything, they just send you a refund or bill, then if you have any other deductions you can claim those. Great for forgetful/lazy people like me.
Completely unrelated, I somehow forgot to file last year so need to do two now
<facepalm>
Can I do that through ATO or do I need an agent?
Also have shit memory for these things (yay ADHD) so from experience yes you can do it through the ATO.
I don't remember (lol) the steps but I think you just choose which tax year you want. It's pretty easy is what I do remember!
They give you a to-do list of all the tax years you need to file.
Anyone who owns a rental property as well, do you lodge directly via the ATO or use a tax agent there?
I have a rental property. I used an agent for a number of years but have moved to doing it myself the last few years. You do 90% of the work by collating all the numbers for the agent, then they charge you hundreds to type them into the right boxes.
If you're not afraid of a bit of googling, it's not that hard to do it yourself.
Thanks. Yeah that’s the feeling I’ve been getting.