Pollyana

Am I right that the old easy etax system has changed and each person now has to sign up to this poxy mygov system in order to do a tax return online? Or am I missing something......

Makes things complicated when you are trying to do tax returns for other people

blackcab

It's looking that way Polly, if you have very simple tax affairs, as we have and we all have a MyGov account each, and within the MyGov portal we can access our Medicare and tax affairs, I like it, some will not?

But I am certain you must have a MyGov portal to do a MyTax simple tax return. Some friends who's affairs are really simple received a letter outlining this is the best way to go.

https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/l...-online/mytax/

Opening a MyGov account was pretty simple, what I like about it is if you return to the UK, you have access to all your info within this portal online in one place, better than the UK I feel. Wow me praising Ozzy systems, the lobotomy bust have kicked in.

https://my.gov.au/EnrolService/enrol...cutionKey=e1s1


Pretty sure you can still use etax though. Cannot see why not hey?

https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/L...-online/e-tax/

Pollyana

Just a pain, as I don't need centrelink or any of the other stuff, and the old etax was so easy. My tax is too simple to waste money and time on an accountant, same for the mate who has had me doing his tax online over the last few years.Signing up myself wasn't too bad, only 20 minutes on the phone to the ATO to do it as their system wouldn't recognise me even though I have done my tax online since 2004, but I guess 20 minutes by Aussie standards isn't too bad. But if someone back in the UK has to do that it all starts to cost money.
I think they will see more paper returns than in previous years.

blackcab

Polly, just carry on using e-tax then, they cannot force you to use mytax just because you have a simple tax return. They are just encouraging people to use mytax, so to open a MyGov account me thinks. So why change a winning formula, lodge using etax online just like usual, I bet there will be no problem at all. Its just my other half as this weird way where he hates downloading and installing government software on the pc; he is a conspiracist at heart, its why we are going to try mytax this year. I think it involves no software download.

https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/L...-online/e-tax/

E-tax is a free, convenient and secure way to lodge your own tax return online.

E-tax 2015

E-tax 2015 will be available for use from 1 July 2015

Pollyana

Fab
I did try a few days back to find an etax link thata didn't involve mytax but kept hitting a brick wall - I guess its better hidden to stop us using ig=t that way! You do have to download the software, as in previous years, but hopefuly its separate from the other conglomerate mess!!
Thanks!

DC10

Stories are abounding in the media today about the ATO/MyGov website being hopelessly ill-prepared for the tax return season, with severe outages and slow service. Maybe it's a ruse to deter those who are owed money from getting hold of it too quickly. Be warned

Amazulu

The ATO is a major PITA but one good thing that I will say about them is that I have never had a problem getting refunds back from them - ever. They have always paid promptly

blackcab

Polly,

The Mytax new system is terrible, very very slow and simple. If you are claiming any kind of tax offset then it tells you to do one and use etax.

So I claim work registration costs, I cannot use MyTax, I have to use etax.

So the MyGov account is not much use to me.

Pollyana

Its shocking compared to last year.
I'm trying to do a claim for someone who hasn't had to do a tax return for the last 5 years and it won't let me create a mygv account, so I can't use etaxOR mytax.
To get a paperform and do it that way I have to create ANOTHer account with the ATO publications section, and order paper forms that will come by snail mail.....not even a form that can be printed off and filled in.

And quelle surpirse - even though the calculations of a very savvy guy at work reckon i have been over taxed and am due a refund - etax has come back and presented me with a bill once more, even with a load of work reated tax deductions I still owe them a packet. Why can't the poxy govenerment even tax their own staff correctly in the first place!

DC10

I managed to submit (uncomplicated) tax returns for my wife and I this afternoon. It took about three attempts for each - on the first two occasions I got right to the "submit" point at the end when it would come up with a timeout error, at which point all data was lost and I had to start all over again This timeout error is being reported in the news. It seems that unless you race through the whole return in less than about half an hour it will timeout and all data is lost, notwithstanding the (so-called) "save and continue" button which you hit after each section. If it wasn't for the fact that we are owed quite a few grand I can assure you I would have given up after the first attempt...

The more I am exposed to IT the more difficult I find it to understand how the highly incompetent turkeys who work in the field justify their enormous pay packets and fail to get the simple things right, or be held accountable for their constant disasters (with apologies to all turkeys out there)!

goldchoccycoin

Pollyanna, I feel your pain - I also work for the Government and they never tax me correctly - either too much or too little (this year too much so I get a lot back, but I would have preferred to have that sitting in my account throughout the year not the Government's pocket!).

I don't know why it's so hard - I get paid a salary, no shift allowances or extras - a standard amount every fortnight. I shudder to think how people with OT or shift allowances work it out.

I'll also have to wait for my PAYE summary for another couple of weeks. Sigh. Can't possibly do it online, way to complicated.

Pollyana

Mine is slightly more complex as we do get some shift allowances, but thats all, nothing to claim for. In my previous role there were no shift allowances and even then they got it wrong, even on a basic AO2 salary! i'm glad you see my point-how can it be so hard to tax someone correctly? They manage it in the UK, why can't they manage it here? Then if people have stuff they want to claim, let them do a return, but stop the pain for the rest of us Please!!

My salary this year is virtually the same as last year, deductions are the same (long list of small amounts hardly worth looking at) - same percentage was deducted from the total amount according to my silly bit of paper. Yet last year I got a refund this year I get a bill

Amazulu

In I've always been taxed correctly here - hardly any worse than the UK

I find the UK IR to be more incompetent than the ATO - which is a good thing as you can get away with more, er, avoidance

The ATO are tax nazis

DC10

Agree 100%. It almost felt like tax was optional in the UK, and that you'd have to stand outside the HMRC banging a drum and waving a flag before you'd come to their attention (though they could be tenacious once one did).

Nazism is generally more widespread in bureaucracy over here - I guess most things (borders, just for a start) are easier to police and the black economy is comparatively tiny.

Swerv-o

Yup, and tax avoidance is a crime against the commonwealth - so just be mindful of your citizenship when claiming those 'extras' in your tax return...


S