Australians planning to file their own tax return have just one month left to do it before the deadline on October 31.
Australian Taxation Office assistant commissioner Rob Thomson has urged those who are yet to finalise their tax returns or engage with a registered tax agent to act now to avoid potential late penalties.
“If you’re lodging your own tax return, the due date to lodge is (October 31, 2024),” Thompson said.
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“If you’re using a tax agent, you need to be on their books before then.
“You need to ensure they are a registered tax agent which you can check by searching the Tax Practitioners Board’s Public Register at tpb.gov.au.”
As of September 22, the ATO had received more than 7.9 million income tax returns from individuals for the 2024 financial year.
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Over four million individuals self-lodged their income tax return, while 3.8 million chose to use a registered tax agent.
“If you believe you may have difficulty meeting your tax obligations, contact the ATO prior to the deadline to lodge so that we can take your circumstances into account,” Thomson said.
“It is your choice if you lodge yourself or use a registered tax agent. For taxpayers with simple tax affairs, lodging online through myTax is easy as most of the information you need is already pre-filled.
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“You simply need to check your details, add any additional income, and claim the deductions you’re entitled to.”
Individuals can be fined a penalty unit for every 28 days their return is overdue, to a maximum of five penalty units.
Each penalty unit is $313, so a maximum fine of $1565 is possible.
The ATO also reminded people to make sure their claims for work-related expenses are accurate, and to not just copy and paste claims from last year.
“If your circumstances have changed, then so will your deductions. We see a lot of people changing jobs but not their claims,” Thomson said.
“Remember, the job that you do affects the deductions you can claim, that’s why we have a series of 40 occupation and industry-specific guides which can assist you.”
The deadline to pay a tax bill is November 21 for those who file their own returns – regardless of whether or not the return is filed on time.
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