ellie10990

hi

Im feeling very confused.Help needed.Do we add up any interest from savings to our salaries when submitting tax returns??and if so do we get a bill for part of the interest earned fro the tax man???

I arrived in March and didnt earn any money in Oz,so I didnt fill in a taxform but a non lodgement form instead.Im now worried that I should have submitted a tax form as we did earn some money on our savings.

All advice appreciated

gedge

yes you have to declare this interest
there is a section in the tax return specifically for this, you'll enter the interest paid to you and the tax you paid on this
this information is usually sent to you from the bank at the end of the tax year, you should be able to request it if you don't have it

if the bank knows your TFN then i wouldn't expect you to have a large tax bill to pay on it as you will have already been taxed

you will probably need to speak to the ATO about the previously submitted non lodgement before completing a return

on another note, whose name is the account in?
we keep our main savings account in my wife's name as she has always been the lowest earner or as it is now a non earner, so as to minimise any tax on the interest

anewlife

first things first, you need to find out if you have to lodge a tax return for the tax year 2006/2007. Their is a good tax calculator on the ATO website at

http://calculators.ato.gov.au/script...odge.XR4&go=ok

This will ask you a few questions, all anonymous and will let you know if you have to submit a tax return.

Secondly, when interest is earned, one of two thing will happen. If you have declared you TFN to the financial company, they will pay your interest gross (without tax deducted) but they will inform the ATO. If you have not given the financial company your TFN they will deduct withholding tax and pay your interest net. (tax deducted).

So, you need to also check if any tax has been deducted by the financial company. If it has and you earned less than about $5k in 2006/2007 then it may be worthwhile submitting the relevant paperwork to get the deducted tax back from the ATO.

If you have had your interest paid gross and don't need to submit a tax return, you are smiling

NickyC

That's actually the wrong way round.

If the bank doesn't have your TFN, then they knock off tax at source (to ensure the tax is paid).

If the bank does have your TFN, then they don't knock off any tax and you receive the lot.

If the OP earned less than $6k (?) in interest then it's unlikely that any tax is due.

Agree that she should contact the ATO regarding the non-lodgement return.

anewlife

I think this is only true if your taxable income is greater than $2,000

I think its the other way round. I didnt tell the HSBC my TFN and all interest was paid gross. I did tell the NAB my TFN and all that interest is paid net withholding tax.

oh yes, defintely

we do exactly the same as you

gedge

yes you're right, my mistake
i thought it sounded wrong after i'd typed it

gedge

yes but as we both know it makes sense to declare it if you've a low income, my wife got all her tax interest back this year

anewlife

yep, couldn't agree more. My wife got all hers back as well this year, paid for a weekend on Moreton, lol

steve`o

and dont be clever ( ie dont try to tell um its less than it is )
why steve ??

buggers know to the cent how much your bank has paid out in intrest
went to the accountants about two weeks ago and i wasnt sure how much intrest we had been paid

the accounant punched out tfn numbers into a tax office site and got back to the cent how much the intrest has been paid into our commonwealth accounts

mmmm big brothers watchin

ellie10990

I earned 2.5k in interest only .But I will contact them and ask if I should have completed a tax return

Geelong Gent

It is more than likely to be in your interest (no pun intended) as the tax deducted by your bank is likely to be at a higher rate.