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The ATO Annual Report for 2010-2011

Posted by Tax Advisor on 2 November, 2011

First and foremost we at ELodge would like to congratulate all Australians on making it through another tax season. It’s always nice to breath a sigh of relief on November 1st knowing that you won’t have to deal with the ATO again until July of the next year.

We would like to thank everyone who lodged their taxes with us. It means a lot that you trusted ELodge to take care of this unavoidable part of your financial life. And for those of you who didn’t lodge with us, we’d love you to consider ELodge.com when the 2012 season rolls around.

For those of you already suffering from tax withdrawal, here’s a final end-of-season ATO fix. The agency recently released its Annual Report 2010-2011 to parliament on its website and you can check it out to see how they did for the financial year.

The annual report helps keep the ATO accountable to the Australian people and that’s a good thing. It also gives an idea of the direction the agency will be heading in the years to come.

The annual report is officially submitted by the Commissioner of Taxation, Michael D’Ascenzo to update parliament on ATO performance. But any member of the general public can access the document and assess the ATO for themselves.

Commisioner D’Ascenzo writes of the ATO’s mission:

We see our role as contributing to the development of a society which believes in and supports civic and legal responsibilities, which in turn underpins citizenship and the tenets of our democracy. Within this wider context we see our mission as being to nurture an environment that fosters high levels of proper participation in Australia’s tax and superannuation systems.

It’s refreshing that the ATO sees its responsibilities in such civic terms and has a vision of itself as more than a purely administrative agency, and I think most Australians would agree. It is a crucial link between citizens and the public goods and services that are essential to so many Australians. It’s rewarding to know the ATO takes its duties so seriously.

That being said, lodging taxes can still be a hassle, and the administration of any bureaucracy, especially one that deals with people’s money, is going to run into a few hurdles along the way. As such, self-assessment is an essential first step on the road to improvement.

Before addressing issues that require finetuning, the ATO identified several areas in which it performed well. Highlights for the 2010-2011 fiscal year included meeting a wide range of commitments to the government, including the “level playing field” initiative, new laws such as the flood levies, and commitments to the states and territories as mandated by the GST Administration Performance Agreement.

The ATO also improved performance against service standards, meeting 22 of 27 commitments to the community. This represents a significant improvement over the previous year.

In addition, the agency reunited 1.2 million Australians with their superannuation, provided up-to-date addresses for over 500,000 lost members, and contacted over 650,000 people with lost superannuation or money.

Still, despite the clear advances the ATO made over the 2010-2011 year it also has faced its share of challenges. Weak economic conditions, combined with the natural disasters early in the year, meant that many people had trouble meeting their tax or superannuation obligations.

2010-2011 also saw a rise in opportunistic non-compliance and attempts to cheat the tax system, the ATO reported.

Despite these obstacles, it was a busy year for the ATO. It collected a total of $273 billion, an almost $20 billion increase over the previous year and the first increase since the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

Also, as many of you may have noted, complaints were high early in the 2010-2011 year. The ATO brought them under control by meeting two service standards on a monthly basis by April 2011. By the end of June, complaints had returned to a normal level.

The report also focuses on the future of the agency. As of 30 June 2011, the ATO had 50 announced measures on its plate waiting for implementation. One of the agency’s major focuses for the next year will be its delivery of customer service, which is welcome given the issues of the last two years. It hopes to improve call handling, the processing of returns and payments, and the management of taxpayer accounts.

Given the uptick in evasion, it’s also not surprising that the ATO plans to work to improve compliance, with an increased focus on the fragility of the business tax system, tax fraud detection, offshore avoidance and tax evasion, the cash economy, employer obligations, especially with respect to superannuation guarantee charge requirements, and organized crime.

There’s plenty more included in the report and I encourage anyone interested in Australian tax policy and the ATO’s progress to check it out. Thanks again for lodging with ELodge.com and congratulations on another tax season successfully completed.

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31 October: When Tax Returns 2011 Must Be Lodged in Australia

Posted by Tax Advisor on 8 October, 2011

Don’t forget, the deadline when tax returns must be lodged with the Australian Taxation Office is 31 October 2011. You can lodge after the deadline with a registered tax agent, but you have to remember to register as a client with that tax agent before 31 October in order to lodge after the deadline. Make sure to contact your agent before 31 October to qualify for their later lodgement date.

Another useful tip to remember is that your tax return covers the financial year, NOT the calendar year. The financial year runs from 1 July to 30 June of the following year, and then you have from 1 July to 31 October to lodge your return. So by this upcoming deadline, 31 October 2011, you need to lodge your tax return 2011, which covers the financial year 1 July 2010 – 30 June 2011. Also useful to note is that you can lodge your tax returns before the end of the year, but only if you definitely know your income and are leaving Australia permanently.

In this era of globalization, lodging taxes has become even more complicated, so it’s useful to note who has to report what. For all of you Australian residents with a global business reach, when tax returns are lodged you are required to report your worldwide income to the ATO. And if you are a foreign resident, you only need to lodge a tax return if you have income taxable in Australia. This does not include income from which non-resident withholding tax has been deducted.

If you find that you can’t lodge by 31 October or the lodgement date of your tax agent, don’t panic. Phone the Australian Taxation Office right away at 13 28 61 to see if you can arrange to lodge at a later date. Try to avoid lodging an incomplete tax return, as your tax return is only considered lodged on the date that the ATO gets your completed form. When tax returns are sent in incomplete, the ATO very well may send it back to you to complete, and then it will only be considered lodged when they receive the newly completed form. So don’t rush to turn in an incomplete form before the deadline.

It’s always best to lodge by the deadline, because even if the Australian Tax Office agrees to an extension, it may come with a failure to lodge on time penalty. The good news is that when a tax return is late, it does not always result in a penalty. If your return is lodged voluntarily and and does not result in any tax payable, you probably won’t have to pay anything in the way of penalties. But, if you have more than one outstanding return, a poor history of lodgement, or have not complied with a request to lodge, you can expect a penalty. Even if you don’t think you’ll receive a penalty, the safest thing to do is always to lodge by the deadline or register with a tax agent.

You’ve still got plenty of time before 31 October rolls around, so get started now if you haven’t lodged already. As you go about getting your return in order, the Australian Taxation Office website can be a really useful resource. Good luck with tax return 2011 and happy lodging.

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Leaving to work in L.A.? Here’s what you need to know taxwise

Posted by Tax Advisor on 2 September, 2011

You’ve unfolded the large, clumsy map of Los Angeles. Could have just googled it but, hey, there’s something about running your finger over the spaghetti like tangle of freeways and mythical boulevards – Santa Monica, Ventura, San Bernardino, Sunset, Hollywood – that sends a thrill though your bones.

You’ve angled the blinds just so. The Qantas ticket sits snug between the pages of your much thumbed copy of Raymond Chandler’s Collected Stories. Your E-3 visa is all set to go. The old-fashioned glass beams gold with bourbon.

Before you trade the land down under for La La Land and head for that plum job in America, you should consider your tax situation. Here are some important things you should pay attention to.

To be or not to be… an Australian resident

The first question you should ask yourself is the following. Will you remain an Australian resident for tax purposes during your time of your employment in LA or will you become a foreign resident instead?

The matter is more complicated that it may seem at first glance. The Australian Taxation Office has designed a four tiered test and built an extensive portfolio of possible scenarios to enable the determination of a person’s permanent dwelling place. Even then, some situations will ultimately require the assessment of the Commissioner.

If you are planning an extended stay in the US, say of two or more years, chances are you will no longer qualify as an Australian resident.

In the simplest of case, the move is permanent, the Melbourne house is sold, it is hooroo mates, and the individual becomes a non-resident for tax purposes. The outcome is then given: You will only need to lodge a return if you still have income from Australian sources.

Note that this excludes any income you may still earn from which the non-resident withholding tax has already been deducted, such as bank interest. And all dividends or royalties derived from Australian sources would be subject to withholding tax provisions and treated as a final tax. As a non-resident, you will also no longer be required to pay the Medicare levy.

More often though, the stay overseas is limited in duration, perhaps lasting just the time needed for you to decide that, crikey, you hate L.A. after all. In this case, you have remained a resident of Australia and must declare all of your US income, including both assessable income and exempt foreign employment income. You must do so even if you paid taxes to the US government on the money you made in America.

However, if you actually paid tax to the IRS, or are deemed to have done so, you may be entitled to the Australian foreign income tax offset. This offset is meant to alleviate some, if rarely all, of the financial hurt that comes with double taxation.

How the foreign income tax offset works

The key thing to understand about the foreign income tax offset is that it is subject to a limit above $1000 threshold of offset. This means that while the Government is perfectly willing to refund you the first $1000 of tax that you paid to a foreign taxation office, it gets stingy above that amount. In other words, if you forked out, say, $4000 in taxes to the IRS in the US you should not expect to get the entirety of that amount back once you’re back home.

Here’s how it works. The tax offset limit is derived from a comparison of your actual tax liability and the liability you would be left with if the foreign sourced income, along with any deductions you may have benefited from, were disregarded.

Therefore, let’s say the tax you owe on your total assessable income, combining both foreign and local earnings, is $4000. Now, assume the tax owed solely on the Australian part of your income is $2500. This means that your tax offset is limited to $1500, which the difference your overall tax and the tax on your local income. So, even if what you paid in taxes to the IRS is more than $1500 this is all you’ll get back from the ATO.

Note that any foreign tax paid based on your net income is grossed up, meaning that it is added back to the income so as to determine your effective assessable income. Furthermore, all foreign income is taxed at the regular marginal rates.

Other things to watch for

If your employer during your stay abroad was an Australian firm, it may have provided you with a Living Away From Home Allowance (LAFHA) to compensate you for the inconvenience or some of the extraneous costs from living and performing your duties in a foreign place. Some of these allowances are subject to fringe benefit tax. As such, the amount of the allowance is not included in your assessable income.

However, if you were paid a lump sum payment by your employer on termination of your overseas work or contract, this payment may be subject to tax. And even if it isn’t, the ATO may choose to consider when figuring out the tax you owe.

Finally, to avoid having to make payments both to super in Australia and to social security in the foreign country where you will be employed, make sure to check and see if Australia and the country in question are subject to a bilateral agreement.

What if your residency status changes

Were you become a foreign resident in the middle of a given financial year, you should still answer “yes’ to the question inquiring as to your Australian residence status for tax purposes. This is because you would benefit from being taxed at the resident rate. Under the circumstances, your tax free threshold would be adjusted and your tax liability prorated to reflect the time you were an Australian resident.

You should also consider the fact that there is a substantial taxation advantage to leaving Australia for overseas work with more than 90 days left on the financial year’s calendar but less than 6 months.

This is just a cursory look at the many issues involved. Each individual picture is subtly different. Well before you jump on that plane, we urge you to seek the advice of a tax professional to go other your particular situation. Think about it: you’ll be able to enjoy that gimlet with your mind at ease.

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Do you need to lodge a tax return for 2011? 24 Reasons you must

Posted by Tax Advisor on 1 August, 2011

Just over a month deep into tax season and you’re not sure whether you should plunge in and lodge that return? Here are two scores of reasons you need to. We’ve grouped them so you shouldn’t have to wade through the whole list.

Australian Residents

If you were an Australian resident during 2010-11 here are 5 reasons you must lodge:

  • You earned more than $6000 and you were a resident for the full year.
  • You made more than $3334 and you were younger than 18 years old on June 30th, 2011 plus did not receive payment from work or services.
  • You paid tax under the PAYG instalment system.
  • You had tax withheld from payments made to you during the year.
  • You received exempted income from a foreign source including employment, pension, super fund, interest, dividends, etc but also had $1 or more from other income.

Australian part-year or non-residents

If you were only in Australia for part of the 2011 financial year or were a non-resident for tax purposes you must lodge under the following conditions:

  • You were a non-resident with taxable income of more than $1 from which no non-resident withholding tax was withheld.
  • You arrived in Australia during the financial year with the intention of becoming a permanent resident and your income exceeded your pro-rated tax-free threshold based on the number of months you were employed in Australia. The monthly entitlement for 2010-11 is 1/2th of $6000 or $500.

Business owners and special professionals

Individuals who are carrying a business or earn income from certain specific activities must lodge under the following provisions:

  • Business owners who have an Australian business number and are involved in business must lodge even if their earnings fall below the tax-free threshold of $6000.
  • They must also lodge if their business made a loss, or if they are claiming a loss made in a previous year.
  • Professionals covered by the income averaging provisions, such as the authors of literary, dramatic, performance, musical or other artistic works, along with inventors, production associates, and active sportspeople must also lodge a return.

Seniors

If you are a senior who was eligible for the senior Australian tax offset, you must lodge if your individual rebate income comes in above the following thresholds:

  • $30,685 if you were single, separated, or widowed at any time during 2010-11.
  • $29,600 if you had a spouse but either one of you lived in a nursing home or apart due to an illness.
  • $26,680 if you and your spouse lived together for the whole financial year.

You must also lodge if you received an Australian superannuation lump sum payment during the year under the following circumstances:

  • You were 60 or older and the payment included an untaxed element.
  • You were under 60 years old and the payment included either a taxed or an untaxed element.

Recipients of Australian Government pension, allowance, or payment

In general, if you received some form of allowance or payment from the Australian Government you will have to lodge, even if you were not eligible for the senior Australian tax offset, but provided your rebate income falls above a certain threshold.

For example, if you received an Australian Government pension, allowance, or payment from Centrelink, you must lodge a return if your rebate income was more than:

  • $29,670 if you were single, widowed, or separated at any time during the year.
  • $28,636 if you had a spouse but either one of you lived in a nursing home or apart due to an illness.
  • $24,156 if you lived with your spouse for the whole year.

Similarly, if you received an Australian government pension, allowance, or payment from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, you will have to lodge a return if your rebate income was above the following:

  • $30,439 if you were single, widowed, or separated at any time during the year.
  • $29,439 if you had a spouse but lived apart due to an illness or if either one of you lived in a nursing home.
  • $24,810 if you lived with your spouse for the full financial year.

Finally, if you received an Australian Government allowance such as the Youth Allowance, Newstart, an Austudy or other taxable payment, you will have to lodge if:

  • The total of the payments made to you exceeded $16,000.

Please see the full list of payments that apply at the ATO instructions page for question 5 of your tax return.

Pay as you go (PAYG) Tax payers

Employees who choose to pay their taxes throughout the year by suing PAYG withholding must lodge a return under the following conditions:

  • They had a reportable fringe benefits amount listed on their individual non-business PAYG payment summary or their foreign employment PAYG payment summary.
  • They had reportable superannuation contributions from their employer listed on their individual non-business, foreign employment, or business and personal services income PAYG payment summaries.

Remember that even if none of these conditions apply to you and you don’t need to lodge a return you still must complete a Non-Lodgment Advice and send it to the ATO. Note also that the list above is not exhaustive. Consult your tax professional for further details.

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What’s New for the 2010-11 Tax Lodgment Season?

Posted by Tax Advisor on 1 July, 2011

Another tax season is about to begin, and even though the major changes outlined in the 2011 budget have yet to become law there are a few exemptions and deductions in effect for the 2010-11 income year that you should take note of as you prepare to lodge your tax return.

We provide a summary below. Once again, we’ve made sure to integrate these developments in our ELodge system to ensure your lodgment with us goes as smoothly as possible.

ATO updates for 2011

Tax exemptions for payments made following natural disasters in 2010-11.

The Government has introduced legislation under which the following payments would be free of tax:

  • Disaster income recovery subsidy paid for Cyclone Yasi and the floods than began on November 29th, 2010.
  • Clean-up and recovery grants paid to small business and primary producers under category C of the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery arrangements for Cyclone Yasi and flooding which started on 29 November 2010.
  • Voluntary, ex-gratia payments made by the Commonwealth to New Zealand non-protected special category visa holders after an Australian natural disaster in the 2010-11 income year.

Tax deduction for donations made towards natural disasters assistance:

  • Those who made donations of $2 or more to bucket collections collections conducted by an approved organisation for natural disasters can claim a tax deduction of up to $10 for the total of their contributions without having a receipt.
  • The natural disasters included are: the floods in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria; the bushfires in Western Australia; Cyclone Yasi in Queensland, and the earthquakes in Christchurch and north-eastern Japan.
  • If a donation of more than $2 was made over the phone or via the web, a credit card statement or web receipt will be accepted. Store or bank receipts are sufficient for donations made through third parties such as banks and retail outlets. Contributions made through workplace-giving arrangements are shown on the payment summary.

Study expense deductions for the recipients of Youth Allowance, Austudy, & ABSTUDY.

A recent decision of the High Court has made it possible for those who receive Youth Allowance, Austudy, or ABSTUDY to claim a deduction for their study expenses.

This entitlement is not affected by the Government’s announcement in the 2011 Federal Budget that it intended to prevent deductions being claimed against all government assistance payments from July 1st, 2011.

Deductions for job search expenses incurred by Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients.

The same High Court decision also allows Newstart or Youth Allowance job seekers to claim deductions for expenses they incurred while actively seeking paid employment. Included are expenses recorded while meeting the requirements of the Employment Pathway Plan.

These are expenses that can be claimed:

  • Short term travel costs, for example travelling to a job interview.
  • Text books and training courses, including self-employment training and assistance.
  • The cost of phone calls made seeking paid work.
  • Costs incurred in resume preparation.

However, the following expenses cannot be claimed:

  • Expenses of a domestic or private nature, such as grooming, meals, and conventional clothing that relate to seeking a job only in a general way.
  • Expenses paid for by a Job Services Australia Provided.

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Lodge Your Tax Return and Beat the Deadline

Posted by Tax Advisor on 31 October, 2010

Sunday, the 31st of October is the official deadline for lodging your 2009-2010 tax return. This is true whether you plan on lodging electronically, or if you decide to paper lodge. All individual 2009-2010 returns lodged after the 31st of October may be subject to FTL (Failing to Lodge) penalties and interest on tax owed, so if you owe any tax to the ATO you should lodge as quickly as possible. Lodge your tax return prior to midnight through ELodge.com.au to avoid these complications.

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8-10 Day Refunds NOT Guaranteed as ATO Experiences Delays

Posted by Tax Advisor on 22 July, 2010

UPDATE: The ATO has announced in July 2010 that many taxpayers’ refunds will take up to 30 days from the date of electronic lodgement.
We regret the inconvenience this has caused for many of our customers, and we are sorry to say that we are unable to influence the ATO to provide your refunds more promptly. Unfortunately, while some taxpayers are still receiving timely refunds, these ATO delays may affect any particular tax return and we are unable to reliably predict whether any individual’s refund will be delayed.

Are you experiencing financial hardship, and need a quicker refund?
You should fill out the financial hardship income tax refund request form on the ATO’s website.

The Australian Taxation Office’s new computer systems, first used this January, have caused a number of problems with tax return processing and the issuing of tax refunds, from missing refund cheques in April to four-month delays in some taxpayers’ refunds being issued. We all hoped that as the 2008-2009 tax year ends and the new 2009-2010 tax return lodgement season begins, these wrinkles would be smoothed out and everything would proceed as quickly as in past years.

However, the ATO’s problems appear to be persisting. Despite stating that their target for electronically lodged return processing was 14 days or less, the ATO is taking longer to release most taxpayers’ refunds than the quick turnaround times that some of us enjoyed in previous years. Part of the reason is a two-day delay caused by screening returns for possible fraud, and part of this may be due to the problems with the new computer systems that first became so prominent in April.

While we at ELodge.com.au have promoted a fast 8-10 working day refund, we are sorry to announce that with the ATO’s current difficulties, we must caution all our customers to expect delays in the processing of their tax return and overall a longer time from lodgment to refund than you’ve become accustomed to in past years. We try to provide our customers with the quickest and easiest tax return preparation possible, but unfortunately we have no remedy for delays on the ATO side of things.

Refer to the following sources for more detail on these issues:

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What’s New for the 2009-2010 Tax Lodgment Season?

Posted by Tax Advisor on 30 June, 2010

What you need to know before you lodge online.

The tax season is upon us, and it’s time to lodge your 2009-2010 tax return. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has made some major changes to the tax code, which you need to be aware of in order to get the most out of your tax return. ELodge has provided the following breakdown of the biggest changed to keep you informed – and we’ve incorporated all these developments into our own system, so you can lodge your tax return online worry-free, even if you’re unsure how these updates affect you.

All the major ATO updates for 2010:

  • Baby Bonus removed: The Baby Bonus will NOT be offered on 2009-2010 returns. However, if you did not claim the Baby Bonus for a previous year in which you were eligible, you may still claim the Baby Bonus on a prior year tax return, in some cases, until 30 June 2014.
  • Entitlement Reforms: Changes have been made to the law concerning tax offset entitlements, deduction and tax concession eligibility, Medicare levy surcharges, and HELP and SFSS repayment amounts. The updated calculations for these assessments will be made by our system when you fill out all the requested information for your 2010 tax return.
  • Super Co-Contribution Entitlements: On 2009-2010 tax returns, the ATO will be requesting additional information in order to assess your super co-contribution entitlements, and sorting your income amounts into eligible, ineligible, and assessable income. The changes to these rules will be incorporated into our system, and the necessary calculations will be made when you fill out all the requested information.
  • Same-Sex Couples: The definition of “Spouse” for tax purposes has expanded, to include any person whom the primary taxpayer was in a registered relationship with under state or territory law, OR any person who genuinely lived with the primary taxpayer in a domestic relationship as a couple, whether or not they were legally married.
  • Foreign Employment Income: Most income earned in overseas employment is now assessable as income on your tax return, though you may also be entitled to a tax offset for any foreign tax paid on that income. Your overseas income is still exempt from assessment if you earned that income as an aid or charity worker, or in certain types of government employment or on projects in the national interest.
  • Employee Share Schemes: Discounts on shares and rights acquired in employee share schemes are now assessable as income during the year in which they are acquired. The tax liability for this income may be deferred under some circumstances.
  • Taxation of Financial Arrangements: New rules have been created regarding the taxation of financial arrangements (TOFA). However, the TOFA rules generally only apply to large financial entities with assets or turnover in the tens to hundreds of millions of dollars, or smaller entities who elect to apply the TOFA rules. These rules generally do not apply to individuals.

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Lodgment Deadline 2009 – Beat the Deadline and Avoid Penalties

Posted by Tax Advisor on 28 October, 2009

Saturday, October 31st is the official deadline for lodging your 2009 tax return. This is true whether you plan on lodging electronically, or if you decide to paper lodge. Although people using agents to lodge their returns may have a longer submission period; all individual 2009 returns lodged after the 31st of October may be subject to FTL (Failing to Lodge) penalties.

As of this time, the FTL penalties are calculated at the rate of one penalty unit every 28 days or part thereof that your return is overdue. Each penalty unit is currently valued at $110. The penalty unit value can be offset by a multiple of 2 or 5 depending on size tests for higher income taxpayers. This means that if you make more money and you do not lodge on time, your penalties may be either 2 or 5 times higher than that of others. For more details regarding FTL penalties, you can also refer to Chapter 98 of the ATO Receivables Policy.

The period of time that the return is overdue will be calculated from the day the return is due (The October 31st deadline in this case) to the day BEFORE the return is received. The amount will be increased until it has reached the maximum penalty allowable by law. The maximum penalty will be reached if the return is lodged more than 112 days after the lodgment deadline. This means that there can be four penalty units applied to any taxpayer.

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Time to Lodge Tax Return!

Posted by Tax Advisor on 1 July, 2009

What’s new when you lodge tax return in 2009?

The tax season is just under way and it is time again to lodge your tax return. The Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) ever-changing tax code is designed to accomodate today’s economy. Be aware of some of the changes below for the 2009 tax year. Our tax wizard accomodates these changes so that you will not have to worry while you lodge your tax return online, even if you’re unsure how these updates affect you.

• First Home Saver Accounts: Starting 1 October, 2008 you may open a First Home Saver Account if you are eligable. The Australian Government may make a contribution to this account based on the amount that you have contributed to your First Home Saver Account. Any earnings that are accrued with this account are tax-exempt and you will not need to declare income from this account when you lodge your tax return. If, however, you are not required to lodge a tax return, you will need to lodge a First Home Saver Account with the Australian Taxation Office.

• Education Tax Credit: The Australian Taxation Office has introduced the Education Tax Credit which allows parents of children who are undertaking primary or secondary school studies to claim a refund on some of the education expenses. This rebate also applies to independent students under the age of 25.

• Medicare Levy Surcharge Relief: In previous years, non-privately insured taxpayers earning more than $50,000 ($100,000 if married or defacto) were required to pay an additional 1% levy on their income. After a number of years, this threshold was finally increased to $70,000 ($140,000 if married or defacto).

• Family Tax Benefit: The option to claim the family tax benefit (FTB) payments through the tax system was removed by the 2008 Federal Budget. The Australian Taxation Office will not accept any current or prior family tax benefit claims on or beyond 1 July, 2009. Rather, You will need to apply to the Family Assistance Office (FAO) to claim family tax benefits for the year 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009 and future years.

• HECS -HELP benefit: The HECS-HELP benefit has been introduced by the Australian Government and is available to the following qualifiers:

• Mathematics and science graduates who have completed their natural and physical science course during or after their second semester 2008, and are employed in specified related occupations.

• Early childhood education teachers who work in specified locations including regional or remote areas, Indigenous Australian communities or areas of high socio-economic disadvantage.

Lodge tax returns at ELodge.com.au and maximise your tax refund.

Our range of information and professional assistance and services are available to help you meet your obligations. We offer a secure and simple interface for you to input your financial information for the past year. Within minutes, you can have a calculation of your tax refund and then have your return lodged electronically. There is no need to mail any documentation to the Australian Taxation Office because we will lodge tax returns through our secure network. ELodge will handle the complex tax calculations through our carefully designed tax wizard. Live chat assistance is also available at no charge if you happen to have any questions or concerns while you lodge your tax return.

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