Hey people,

So myself and my wife have been travelling in Australia since end of Feb 2013 on a WHV, we are due to receive a pay summary from our employer for our tax. When we receive it does anyone have and advise on where to do our tax return?
And also do we receive ALL of our tax back or just a percentage?

A final question also, we are due to leave our current employer in November 2013 to move on elsewhere in Australia, what do we then do about the tax return for this financial year?

Help/advise very much appreciated :-)

Log on to the eTax website - unless you have some very complicated allowances and deductions, which is unlikely on a WHV, you will find everything you need there to post your return online.

Have you been over paying your tax that you are aware of? Contrary to urban myth, You are not entitled to your tax back just because you are on a WHV.

Everyone i have spoken to who is on a WHV is doing their tax claims though so i thought we must be entitled to something?

You are entitled (possibly) to something if you have been taxed on the basis of working for the whole tax-year but have only worked for a few months - but definitely not all your tax.

Ok, so if we have worked from say july until end of october THIS year, then when we leave can we complete a tax refund for this financial year?

Any good? http://www.workstay.com.au/working_holiday_tax.htm

It appears this is quite complicated depending on your residency status

That is why I said it is an urban myth. Some WHV holders end up with a tax bill when they complete their return. It depends upon residency status.

Taxation is complicated and influenced by so many factors. For example, if you're a permanent resident you're entitled to the tax free threshold of $18,200. If you're not a permanent resident, you pay tax on every dollar you earn (there may be exceptions to this, I'm no expert). Best to follow the links provided and work through one of the calculators that applies to your situation.

But really, the bottom line is if your employer/s have been deducting the correct amount of tax from your wages, then you're unlikely to get much, if anything, back.

Three questions need to be answered, and the results can be very different:

Did you tell the employer that you were NOT tax resident ?
Did the employer deduct the correct tax even if you did ?
Were you Tax Resident or Non Tax Resident ?

Based on this following example, you could vary between $5,200 tax refund and $2,352 in tax DEBT !!

http://www.ato.gov.au/General/Intern...ign-residents/

See the examples of Kate and Janine at this webpage - one is a tax resident of Australia, the other isn't.

Consider taking professional advice if you aren't sure in what camp you should be best placed.

Best regards.

I'm sure when the ATO briefs on website design, they insist on making information being as difficult to obtain as possible. The new design looks like it's been thrown together fairly quickly in Wordpress, and what was previously easier (read less difficult) to find now requires a search rather than using menu options to get there the quickest way possible.

Agreed.

Not sure what was wrong with the previous website ... dare I suggest that the ATO had an IT budget and had to spend it before the end of the financial year ...

Best regards.

That website has nothing to do with the ATO, it is an accountants website. There is no ATO etax website, there is only the ATO etax software.

I would suggest that it could be misleading, that website you linked to branding their service etax.

I agree, having looked at the link I've edited the original site. Seems to be an accountancy firm, NOT the ATO.