Frequently Asked Questions

Our team at Tax Expect strives to make tax advice as easy and hassle-free as possible. Whether you’re lodging an individual, trust or company tax return, our team is always happy to help.

Generally, yes. Whether you are an individual, business or other legal entity, if you have received payments during this financial year, you are required to lodge a tax return. However, you may be exempt from lodging a normal tax return if your taxable income resides under a certain threshold and your taxes are not withheld from your payment.

Even if you believe you're eligible for non-lodgement, it is important to seek professional advice from our team at Tax Expect.

If you are a permanent resident of Australia, you are required to declare any income you received, regardless of location. However, if you are a non-Australian resident, you will only need to pay income taxes on Australian-sourced income.

No. If you still hold an asset, you aren't required to declare a capital gain or loss until a CGT event occurs (e.g., the disposal of an asset), at which point the Capital Gains Tax may apply. This applies to assets such as shares, cryptocurrency, investment properties or other CGT assets unless specifically exempt.

Dishonest people attempt to take advantage of others during tax season by running scams such as this one. Rest assured that if you have a tax debt, we will inform you of it. If you believe you've received an ATO scam call, get in touch with us or ATO as soon as possible.

No, we do not! We’re more than happy to visit with you in person, but we understand that face-to-face lodgment services aren’t ideal for everyone. To that end, we’re happy to provide options such as over-the-phone and online lodgment services. 

If online lodgment is your ideal way to process your return, we can provide following steps for your convenience when we receive your request:

1. Our team will email you a list of questions and request further information when we receive your inquiry.

2. We will quote a tax estimate based on the complexity of your return.

3. Once you’re pleased with the estimate, we will request substantiating documentation and a photo ID to verify your identity.

4. We will then send you an assignment letter, which will appoint us as an agent authorised to work on your behalf.

5. After collecting all the necessary information, we will complete your tax return lodgment.

6. Once we lodge your return, you will receive a tax refund in one to two weeks, and a NOA from ATO will be mailed to you in two to four weeks. 

Many clients misunderstand the difference between tax offset and tax deduction, which is that deductions are directly discounted from assessable income, while offsets are directly discounted from tax liability. For example, if your accessible income is $30k, any deductions you claim are taken directly from that $30k. Your taxable income will hit a certain tax bracket and generate a tax liability. Any tax offsets will be directly subtracted from your tax liability, which will have a huge impact against tax liability on your final tax refund.

 

Your tax refund is determined by your tax bracket. If you are in a higher tax bracket, then your return will be less than someone in a lower tax bracket, even if the same deductions are claimed. Additionally, your tax refund will also be influenced by elements such as marital status, family and health insurance.

 

Sometimes — often due to reasons such as untaxed income or high bank interest — your tax lodgement will result in a tax bill rather than a refund. If you owe money, the ATO will assume that you will have a similar tax liability situation in subsequent years. In order to reduce your cash flow burden, ATO will ask you to ensure that a prepayment is withheld in advance to offset the next year's tax bill. 

It is common for PAYG instalments to change after lodging a new tax return, as your PAYG payments are determined by your most recent return. If your new PAYG payments seem inflated, it's important to get in touch with our team at Tax Expect for assistance.

HELP repayment incomes are not the same as taxable income. Your HECS-HELP repayment income is determined by all of these factors:

• Your annual taxable income

• Your combined net investment losses

• Your total reportable fringe benefits amounts as determined by your PAYG summary, if applicable

• Your reportable superannuation contributions, if applicable

• Any exempt foreign employment income from the most recent income year, if applicable