Frequently Asked Questions

Please wait until you receive your notice of assessment and statement of account, as these documents should explain why this is the case.

In the vast majority of cases your notice of assessment will match our tax estimate precisely with any differences usually being attributable to one or more of the following common causes;

• outstanding tax liabilities owed to the ATO,
• money owed to other government departments such as Centrelink or Child Support,
• monies being directed to a trustee in bankruptcy,
• fines and/or general interest charge being applied by the ATO, or
• variances in the amount of your HELP/SFSS or TSL loan repayment.

The amount of any adjustment is shown on your statement of account. If any of your refund was paid to another government department, the name of that department is also shown on the statement of account.

If your notice of assessment differs from our estimate or you are unsure please contact our office and speak with your accountant.

Where you have already lodged your tax return and subsequently;

• Receive a second/amended PAYG Payment Summary,
• Realised you have forgotten to declare some income,
• Found some extra receipts for deductions, or
• Discover an error in the original return.

You will need to contact your accountant to arrange for an amendment to be made to your original return as soon as possible.

You generally only have a limited period of two years to amend your tax return so time is of the essence in these situations.

ATO penalties for failure to declare income can range from 25% to 125% of the amount of additional tax payable.

In instances where you discover that you have omitted income from your return, making a voluntary amendment before the ATO reviews your return and does it for you can save you a lot of money, so don’t delay!