Shae's Tips : Tax Lodgement dates

With 10 years of Experience, our specialist in Customer Service Shae is a wealth of Knowledge In Tax, Accounting and Financial Planning. Every Month, she will share her tips with us (always with a dash of humour!) to have a better understanding of laws and regulations.

As the end to another Financial Year draws nearer, we are becoming very aware of looming taxation lodgement dates for individuals, companies, trusts & self-managed super funds.

Did you know that the ATO has different entities due to lodge their tax returns on different dates?

I am willing to bet most of you out there think the rule of thumb lodgement date is October 31st. That only really applies if you are an individual and who doesn’t use a tax agent and are submitting your tax return yourself. If you have an accountant who submits for you, chances are your lodgement date is different. Dates can vary from May 15th, October 31st, January 15th & March 31st, depending on what type of entity you are, what your (company) annual turnover is and how late you are with previous years’ lodgements!

At Verve, we schedule our business, Trust & Self-Managed Super Fund clients’ work in correspondence with their ATO lodgement date, so at the end of each AGM, your accountant will discuss this date with you and adjust your EOFY scheduling so we can get you lodged on time.

The benefits of having a tax agent far outweighs doing everything yourself, in my opinion!

I remember as a teen having my tax done by my father and I dreaded it. Every year it was a struggle for me to get everything he told me I needed finding a year’s worth of bank statements, having to keep track of receipts and donations, ugh! And my father was not the most patient of men, so it was an exercise in restraint for both of us! As soon as I was adult enough to choose an accountant, I did and I have never looked back.

Having a tax agent/accountant submit my tax is much less stress and I can claim back the accounting fees for the next year, too! They can maximise your tax refund by identifying all eligible deductions, they are up to date with new laws and regulations around claims and rebates and can do all of the heavy lifting as far as dealing with the ATO goes, and take it from me, those dealings can be time consuming and convoluted! Another benefit afforded by having a tax agent are extended deadlines. I mentioned above the October 31st due date. Yeah, that doesn’t apply to us tax and accounting clients. We are granted an additional 7 months (around the May 15th mark, depending on when the weekend falls) to track down all the items we want to claim. Our bookkeeping clients also get an additional month to submit their Business Activity (related) Statements as well as a practiced admin person to negotiate further extensions or payment plans if need be.

Another benefit is using accounting services is the accountant can also help project the following year’s tax requirements and can suggest ways to legally minimise your obligations. They can help clients with cash flow, planning for a sound financial future as well as budgeting for big and small clients.

So, ask yourself, what can my tax agent do for me? Then ask us and we’ll tell you.