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Oz taxback
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30-04-2009 1:50am#1
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Originally Posted by hussey
avg 1-2 weeks
can all be done online and goes through in no time
Or Maybe a lot longer this year -
http://www.news.com.au/business/money/story/0,28323,25407197-5017313,00.htmlMILLIONS of taxpayers have been told not to hold their breath for their refund this year after the tax office became bogged down sending out cheques for the Government stimulus package.
A backlog has built up at the Australian Taxation Office, which has been described as "understaffed and under the pump".
The group Taxpayers Australia said it will be "logistically impossible" for the ATO to resume business as usual in time for the yearly flood of people expecting a refund within two weeks of lodging their group certificates in July, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Taxpayers Australia spokesman Roger Timms said the ATO was seriously under-resourced.
"There are simply not enough people in the ATO to push the buttons," Mr Timms said.
Mr Timms said the ATO was "under enormous pressure" after being given, at short notice, the mammoth task of processing eight million tax bonus cheques.
"There were many political considerations in all of this -- the tax office was basically told to get the money into the market place," he said.
"The ATO has had to deal with cutbacks and there are greater duties being handled by fewer people after contractors brought in to help out were not renewed.
"I'd be amazed if they can turn this around in just eight weeks.
"When people have needed their refunds like never before, they're going to be waiting."
Although the ATO will pay interest on delayed refunds, that would be an expense effectively paid by taxpayers, he added.
"That money will be coming out of consolidated revenue at a time when this country can least afford it," Mr Timms said.
"There are many tax agents actually advertising the fact that they are set up to process the quick 14-day turnaround and now they are at the mercy of a system struggling to deliver."
One Sydney accountant, who did not want to be identified, said the ATO had told him that a client, owed $1 million since January, would have to be patient.
"It's all very well to be assured about being paid interest on the amount owing but it's nowhere near the interest rates charged by credit cards and my client's bills go up by 18 per cent every month."
Taxpayers Australia said complaining or just inquiring about a refund's status created more strain on the ATO's operations.
The National Tax Agents Association sympathised with the ATO.
"The problems associated with the payment of the cheques has had a ripple effect on other aspects of our members' day-to-day business," NTAA spokesman Andrew Gardiner said.
A spokesman for the ATO last night denied the tax bonus payments would impact on the 2008-09 returns.
Hopefully the spokesman for the ATO can be trusted
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mp3ireland2 wrote: »Hi,
Does anybody know if there is any advantage to using a company to get your tax back and paying them to do it?
Some companys charge 12.5% which is crazy!
A flat fee of $99 is the cheapest i've seen, but have no idea why people would use this? Is it just laziness or can they get more money for you somehow?
as a backpacker then no, there is no reason, it is really really simple.
If however you need professional advice, or have complicated tax return, then a tax agent can be quite good, e.g. can tax on flights, medicare etc
(Not taxback.com etc)
so unless you need to claim stuff which you don't know how to then just do it yourself ;-), or I could do it for you for 5%
(Joking) 0 -
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