Tax Blog

Late tax returns

If you haven't lodged a tax return for a few years or you have outstanding or overdue returns, the ATO can apply a number of sanctions and penalties to force you to lodge or penalise you for lodging late.

You should go to them first, rather than making them track you down. If they do have to track you down, then you could be charged with a criminal offence for not lodging or receive a default assessment and penalty.

The quickest way to find out where you currently stand with the ATO is to get in touch with a registered tax agent. A registered tax agent can look at your records on the tax agent portal, and immediately see if you have any un-lodged returns.

Now that you know what you haven’t lodged, you can work out what you need to lodge.

If it turns out that you don’t need to lodge a return, a registered agent can complete a non-lodgement advice for you.

If you do need to lodge a return, then you should start gathering your information.

If you’ve lodged late, you might find yourself owing the ATO back taxes and interest on unpaid tax, or penalties for late lodgement.

Depending on the reasons for lodging your returns late, you may be able to get a remission of the interest and penalties that the ATO charge you. These amounts can be significant, so it is worth speaking to your tax agent if you can get a reduction.

In some situations, you may be also able to negotiate a complete release of the debt, or a payment plan to allow you to pay the debt over time.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us on info@suezaccounting.com.au if you would like to know more …

We regularly add information we believe will be of interest to our clients into our Tax Blog section. The following is the current list, please click a link to read more.

Tax as a Temporary resident

Overseas obligations to repay HELP, VSL or TSL Debt

Late tax returns

Tax as a Working Holiday Maker (WHM)