The 31 October deadline for lodging your tax return is fast approaching and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has bumped up the fine for those who are late.
If you don’t lodge your tax return by next Thursday, you could be slugged with a $330 fine by the ATO, up 5.4 per cent this year on the old fine of $313 after indexation in June.
The fine applies to those lodging their own returns, either through the myTax website or via paper return.
But there is a way to get extra time if you’re going to struggle to get your return in by next Thursday.
Mark Chapman, director of tax communications at H&R Block, says you can get more time to lodge if you lodge your return through a registered tax agent. But if you don’t then expect the fine as the ATO is not lenient.
“If you lodge yourself via my tax then yes you will get the fine,” he says.
“You’ve got to lodge by the 31 October, that’s your legal obligation, so you’ll be liable for the fine if you lodge any time after that.
But he says the rules are different if you’re lodging your return through a tax agent.
“If you lodge via tax agent, then you’re entitled to a longer deadline. Possibly through until the 15th of May next year,” Mr Chapman says.
“So, you don’t actually have to launch by the 31st of October [if you go with a tax agent]. You have many months still to go before you need to launch.”
What can I claim?
Since this is your income tax return, if you’re still working, then you can claim anything purchased in order to help you complete that work.
But if you’re retired, there will be much fewer things you can claim for. But not nothing. In short, you can claim for items or services purchased in the generation of new income during the past financial year.
For example, if you own a rental property, you can claim for anything purchased for the property that aided in generating rental income, like any repair work or modifications.
“Anything which is incurred in generating their rental income [can be claimed],” Mr Chapman says.
“The interest on a mortgage, repairs, basically anything connected to the rental property. If they pay for it, then they can claim a deduction for it against the rental income.”
Mr Chapman says another area many don’t realise they can claim against is the cost of seeing a financial planner when it pertains to your income-generating investments.
“If they paid a financial advisor or a financial planner, they can potentially claim a deduction for those fees if it relates to their current investment income,” he says.
“So, if it relates to money or their superannuation, there’s potentially a deduction available there for them.”
But he says you can only claim for expenses incurred for generating income within the 2023-24 financial year, and not before or after that time.
“If they’re [financial advisers] talking about planning for the future, then they can’t pay a deduction for that, but if it relates to costs incurred in generating their current investment income, then a deduction will be available for that,” Mr Chapman adds.
So, make sure you’ve got your tax return in by next Thursday 31 October if you want to avoid the fine.
Do you usually get your tax return in early? Have you ever copped the late lodgement fine before? Let us know in the comments section below.
Also read: The ATO is reviving old tax debts, threatening some with bankruptcy
