Tax & Super Advice

Spudj2

I'm currently in Oz but leaving soon & wanted to thank everyone on this forum for helping with my Oz experience. I've been workin with a tax agent for the past fee months & wanted to pass on some knowledge before leaving the forum.( if some of the info below is incorrect please feel free to amend)

Tax year in Australia runs from 1st July until 30th June each yr

You claim your tax back at end of tax year or if leaving the country & do not plan to return to work b4 end of tax year.

You Must do a tax return each year. ( not advisable to leave them build up until you leave )

When completing a tax return you need to include all your income & the tax you paid. ( you cannot be selective on which jobs you wanna claim back)

The filing deadline for a tax return is the 31st Oct. ( if you miss this use a registered tax agent to avoid penalties)

You must stay in Australia for at least 183 days to have any Chance of getting Taxback ( holidays of less than 6 weeks at any 1 stage are allowed... Anything longer is considered leaving the country)

If you arrive after Jan wait until you have completed 183 days to file ... Increases chances of a refund

To be a resident for tax purposes you should stay in 1 place for at least 6 months ..(this is not strictly followed by ATO but if your return is subject to audit you need to be able to proof this)

All WHV holders should try to be residents for tax purposes because your first 18200 of income will be tax free

If a non resident for tax purposes you are subject to pay 32.5% on every dollar

You can claim upto 300 dollars expenses without receipts. (This does not mean you get the full amount back
,it decreases your taxable income by that amount)

Irish people on temp working visas with incomes over 18200 in a tax year should apply for a Medicare levy exempt Cert ( basically because we don't have Medicare we get extra back on tax)

Tax returns are nothing to do with your Visa

No ! You don't get it all back in your first year - it's always dependant on your income & tax paid throughout the year ... Most people work/earn more in yr 2 ( higher your income the more tax your expected to pay)

My Advice

Keep records of all pay you receive - e.g. Payslips/Summarys & all work related expenses (tools, uniform)

Give a forwarding email & physical address to your employer & ask them to send on your pay docs ...( many people fin work on a Friday & leave before getting there last payslip)

YOU NEED - your final payslip with YTD figures or a Payment Summary to claim taxes back

I also advise that you use a register agent in year 1 to ensure your first return is carried out correctly ... After this is you are comfortable doing it yourself then go for it ,,,

Don't trust another backpacker or the know it all in the hostel who claim they can get you this & that. Your tax return is your responsibility - make sure u do it right

SuperAnnuation

This is your pension.
Your Employer pays it
It's approx 9.25% on top of your wage if you earn over 450 per month ( will eventually move from 9-12% over next few years)

Aussies get this at retirement - most backpackers get this once we have left country.

In order to claim it back you must

Be outside Oz
No longer have working rights e.g, visa expired or cancelled

MOST IMPORTANT thing is to ensure u only have 1 fund... (Makes it easier to claim back)

Set one up before you start working or on 1st job & stick with it . Each time you change jobs give your new employer your Super details to ensure money all in 1 account

If you have multiple accounts merge them to avoid monthly fees on multiple accounts

You are entitled to approx 65% of your Super back if you claim it before retirement age ( most will do this)

A lot of the Super Paperwork can now be done before leaving - Don't leave it until your last week/day to get it done !!!!

skippy2

Well done for posting for others. I'm sure plenty will benefit. Had a few good bits for me there also

bladebrew

I am a bit mystified about the resident for tax part of the tax situation in Australia
I am flying to Australia in January so i understand i should wait until August at least to file a return to go over 6 months to be a resident?!, I will be moving from Brisbane to Sydney travelling then go do regional possibly in Queensland and hopefully move to Melbourne so i wont be in the same place for 6 months which seems to be affect the resident bit, even though i will be there over 6 months hopefully then,
Is it better i find a tax accountant or should i put not resident for tax? and if i tick non resident for tax where does the 32% tax go do you get a bigger tax return when you file or do you just lose it? surely everyone should just put resident to get a tax free allowance and the 19% tax rate?

Spudj2

bladebrew wrote: »

I am a bit mystified about the resident for tax part of the tax situation in Australia
I am flying to Australia in January so i understand i should wait until August at least to file a return to go over 6 months to be a resident?!, I will be moving from Brisbane to Sydney travelling then go do regional possibly in Queensland and hopefully move to Melbourne so i wont be in the same place for 6 months which seems to be affect the resident bit, even though i will be there over 6 months hopefully then,
Is it better i find a tax accountant or should i put not resident for tax? and if i tick non resident for tax where does the 32% tax go do you get a bigger tax return when you file or do you just lose it? surely everyone should just put resident to get a tax free allowance and the 19% tax rate?

Technically for your first 183 days you should tick on your Tax File Declaration form that you are a non resident ... And after this you can move to the resident rate of tax

However not many people do this ... If you intend to stay for more then 6 months i would tick resident for tax purposes & pay the lower rate .... Be advised there is a risk if they decide your a non resident that u will have to pay a tax bill on your tax return ... E.g. The diff between the 32.5% & the 19% ...

Bear in mind what ever you tick on the tax file declaration form doesn't really matter come end of tax yr ... It just determines how much your employer will take each week from your wages.

I wouldn't worry too much about this being honest .... 9/10 tax returns go throught without being audited so most will go through as residents & get their refunds...

The person who gets audited is Jyst plain unlucky ....in order to proof residency you would ideally need to show proof that you have been in 1 place for 6 months ...

Sometimes other residency proof may be used ( depends on audit person in ATO)

This could be

Lease Agreement
Membership to clubs & society's
Proof you have most of your assets in Oz

bladebrew

Cheers for the reply, maybe i am worrying a bit too much about it, It just seems likes they kill you with tax a bit if you travel at all which is the whole point of the visa!
I remember my brother when doing regional he was getting $700 a week while his girlfriend was only getting $400 im am assuming she ticked non resident somewhere and was being taxed at 32% do you get any of the 32% tax back if you switch to resident?

17larsson

I've had a phonecall from taxback.com saying I am owed a couple of hundred in super-annuation return. It's been five years since I've been in Australia. I never claimed my super (too many different accounts so I wasn't bothered) so it's good to be getting something back but should I ask for details on what employers they got it off incase they are taking a bigger commission than they should be or are they trustworthy these days does anyone know?

Sinbad725

Hi! I've been placed on the top rate of tax but when i finish up work i won't have hit the 18200 threshold, will i be able to get it back as ill have living in Melbourne nearly six months and want to use my tax to travel and then head home? going to use an agent but just worried I won't get it all back even though i would be a resident for tax purposes at that stage? thanks for any advice you can give me!

The_Hustler

Spudj2 wrote: »

Technically for your first 183 days you should tick on your Tax File Declaration form that you are a non resident ... And after this you can move to the resident rate of tax

However not many people do this ... If you intend to stay for more then 6 months i would tick resident for tax purposes & pay the lower rate ....

Not sure about the technically part, the tax office advise to tick resident once you intend to stay for over 6 months

Royaler2014

Hi Guys, i was in Oz for approx 15/16 months in 2004, i've no idea what my Tax Number is, any ideas of who to contact in Oz to source this, i've nothing on email, paper documentation etc. Stupid of me i know.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Jellytotsx

I think you actually have to earn over $21,500 to qualify for the Medicare exemption

jackbhoy

Royaler2014 wrote: »

Hi Guys, i was in Oz for approx 15/16 months in 2004, i've no idea what my Tax Number is, any ideas of who to contact in Oz to source this, i've nothing on email, paper documentation etc. Stupid of me i know.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Call or write to the ATO:

https://www.ato.gov.au/About-ATO/About-us/Contact-us/

baldshin

I've been here since mid April and have worked about 6/7 weeks in 2 jobs, not paid much tax but should I file a tax return at this point?

jackbhoy

baldshin wrote: »

I've been here since mid April and have worked about 6/7 weeks in 2 jobs, not paid much tax but should I file a tax return at this point?

Yep. If you pay any tax at all you should file a return. You will probably be refunded anything you paid anyway.

baldshin

jackbhoy wrote: »

Yep. If you pay any tax at all you should file a return. You will probably be refunded anything you paid anyway.

Cool thanks for that!

lg123

Jellytotsx wrote: »

I think you actually have to earn over $21,500 to qualify for the Medicare exemption

don't think this is true.

Jellytotsx

lg123 wrote: »

don't think this is true.

Well the tax agents that I work in require this amount before submitting an application for a Medicare exemption form

lg123

a medicare exemption application goes to the Dept of Human Services, the form can be found here http://www.humanservices.gov.au/spw/customer/forms/resources/3169-1306en.pdf

it doesn't ask for your earnings anywhere on the form. your eligibility for exemption is more based on your visa situation and citizenship.

Legend100

Medicare levy is not chargeable on incomes less than $20,542 in 2013-14 regardless of whether you are exempt or not

Of course if you are exempt, this threshold isn't relevant but it would mean one would not have to apply for the exemption cert if their income was below the treshold as they would already not be liable to the levy based on the income treshold

Mellor

Jellytotsx wrote: »

Well the tax agents that I work in require this amount before submitting an application for a Medicare exemption form

That's because below that there is no medicare levy, regardless of exemption. So they'd be waisting their own time.

monariek

Do people generally claim $300 deduction whether they've incurred it or not? I am already claiming $500 deduction for a membership fee. I have an invoice for this, but claiming an additional $300 for, say work related clothing might be pushing it?

mandrake04

monariek wrote: »

Do people generally claim $300 deduction whether they've incurred it or not? I am already claiming $500 deduction for a membership fee. I have an invoice for this, but claiming an additional $300 for, say work related clothing might be pushing it?

$300 is deemed reasonable expenses without requiring receipts, if you have a $500 receipt for professional membership then you can claim that ....plus the $300 for which you don't have receipts.

adam.p

I had exactly the same question when i applied for my Oz tax refund but my account manager from taxback.com advised that I cannot include the Visa fee in the tax return. It is not a work related expense and is not claimable.

Taxback.com

There are a few items here being discussed the first one is in relation to the $300 of expenses - the ATO allow for $300 to be factored into a return as a deduction and the ruling here is that you don’t need to substantiate this in the return but if you were to be reviewed or audited you should still be able to provide evidence that the $300 dollars was incurred in some manner be it for training courses/mobile costs or other work related matters during the year

If an individual has more than $300 of work related costs to report you would in this case not be using the above $300 deduction but report all the expenses that you incurred and these would be factored into the return in the appropriate deduction categories and be able to supply evidence of the cost for each category

The second item in discussion here is Medicare Levy Exemption and Legend 100 mentioned that the Medicare Levy is not chargeable on income less than $20,542 in the 2013/14 financial year and this is absolutely correct

What this means is that if you income during the year has not passed the above threshold then there is no advantage in applying for a Medicare Exemption Cert

If you have earned in excess of this amount and are from a country that qualifies for the exemption it is absolutely worth applying and the only items to take into account that you need to be on a temporary visa such as a working holiday or 457 because as soon as you move onto a PR visa you are entitled to Medicare benefits here in Australia and hence the exemption no longer applies

Feelgood

I think another very important point to note here is do not on your life use ^^^^ taxback.com ^^^^ to do your tax return.

Their charges are ridiculous. I had a return of $5000 due to me and taxback.com took $350 of it. They will take over 5% of whatever is due to you.
Fcuk that....

You can do your own tax return for free online. If you really need the advice of
an accountant, there are plenty of good accountants that will charge a maximum of $100 to submit your tax return for you.

Doc

Dont know if anyone knows what I should do here but I left a job a couple of months after the start of the last tax year and while I was looking for full time work I took a job for about 2 months after which I got a full time job. I contacted the place about getting a group certificate for tax and they said that I was employed as a subcontractor so there is no group certificate for me.
Is this right? I dont have an ABN or anything so not clear on what I should do?

Mellor

Doc wrote: »

Dont know if anyone knows what I should do here but I left a job a couple of months after the start of the last tax year and while I was looking for full time work I took a job for about 2 months after which I got a full time job. I contacted the place about getting a group certificate for tax and they said that I was employed as a subcontractor so there is no group certificate for me.
Is this right? I dont have an ABN or anything so not clear on what I should do?

Did you pay tax while you were there?

Doc

Mellor wrote: »

Did you pay tax while you were there?

I thought I was but I dont think so now. Just got a payment every week.

LTM

Just a quick question if anyone can help, this is my first year lodging a tax return. Do I need to lodge it on paper because it is my first year?