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Education Tax Refund – Are you eligible to claim?

Jul 27th, 2011 Comments Off

The Education Tax Refund (ETR) has been raised as a question by many tax payers when processing their income tax returns with Qaccounts. It appears that not everyone understands the eligibility criteria and how the Education Tax Refund is calculated. Although most parents have asked about the Education Tax Refund many have found that they are not eligible to claim the ETR.

To be eligible to claim the Education Tax Refund either of the following must apply:

  • you must be entitled to receive Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A for the child that you wish to claim the Education Tax Refund
  • a payment was made for the child that stopped you from receiving Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A

The ATO has published information on their website that provides further detail surrounding eligibility for the Education Tax Refund. This information can be found by following the link to the ATO website.

If you are having trouble with the eligibility criteria Qaccounts can help you understand how the Education Tax Refund affects you. We can determine if you are eligible and help you claim the correct amounts on your income tax return. Contact us to get help with processing your income tax return including the Education Tax Refund.

Hoax ATO emails circulating

Jun 28th, 2011 Comments Off

One of the latest hoax emails that is circulating inboxes claims to be from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) requesting recipients to “Please submit the tax refund”. An example of the hoax email is included below. If you receive any suspicious emails from anyone claiming to be from the ATO please exercise extreme caution.

Example of what the hoax ATO email looks like

Tax time 2011 – Occupations in the spotlight

Jun 16th, 2011 Comments Off

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has released a list of the occupations that are being specifically targeted for accuracy this financial year. The ATO has stated that around 116,000 tax payers will receive correspondence providing assistance with how to claim their tax deductions and provide information so that people in the targeted occupations are accurately completing their tax returns. People employed as one of the following should expect to see a letter in the mail from the ATO:

  • Earthmovers
  • Flight Attendants
  • Carpenters and Joiners (including apprentices and trainees)
  • Real Estate employees

To ensure that you are claiming your tax deductions correctly contact Qaccounts and we will help you complete your tax return quickly and accurately.

The full ATO media release can be read at the ATO Work related expenses 2011 page.

Taxation statistics 2008-09: 100 people

Jun 10th, 2011 Comments Off

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has released their statistics on income tax return lodgments for the 2008-09 financial year. The report can be viewed at 100 People and expresses the statistics of 12.3 million income tax return lodgments as 100 people.

A summary of these statistics include:

  • An fairly even split showing 52% male to 48% female lodgment ratio
  • 71% of people used a Tax Agent to prepare their tax return
  • 84% of people received a refund upon assessment of their tax return
  • 25% of people did not pay any tax
  • 3% of the population paid 31% of the tax collected by the ATO

For more information visit the ATO website.