KEEPING UP TO DATE

Individual Tax Return Deadlines
What an SME owner needs to know​

The deadline for Individual (Employee) tax returns is coming up and as a result small business owners and managers could face more questions about how employees access their information.

            Key things to keep in mind:

• This tax return convers the financial year from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020.
• The vast majority of employees will be required to submit a tax return to the ATO, or have it registered with a tax agent, by 31 October 2020.
• To lodge their tax return as a Business Owner you have to have completed the Single Touch Payroll functions necessary to release the information to the employees. It includes how much money (including overtime, termination payments, allowances etc) they earnt (income) and any deductions (such as superannuation contributions) they can claim as a deduction. This information allows the ATO to check how much tax you should have paid on their behalf.
• They may be able to claim more deductible items this year than normal if they set up a home office or used their internet for work purposes etc.
• If they have paid more tax than you need to, the ATO will refund the extra amount to them. Although, if you have not deducted enough then they may receive a tax bill.
• The non-lodgement of personal tax returns is only a problem for employers if they have not supplied the required information to the employee as legally required.

  So if your employees are starting to ask questions again here are some great resources to help.

• If you’re unsure whether you need to lodge, use the ATO’s Do I need to lodge a tax return tool.
• Remind your employees that they can check on their myGov account and go to the ATO online services. For more information click HERE or contact the ATO.
• If for some reason there is a tax debt, employees can request that you deduct a little extra tax each paycycle to avoid future nasty surprises. Any adjustments requested must be in writing.The government is bringing forward personal tax cuts for this financial year and more money will be going into employee pockets soon. This does mean a slight change to business cash flow as many SMEs would have had additional money sitting in this BAS accounts after in was deducted until the next quarterly BAS was due.We hope that this deadline is one that breezes past you as everything is in place. However, if issues arise, we are here to assist.