How long until I get my refund?
The ATO generally process electronically lodged tax returns within two weeks. Manual paper tax returns can take up to ten weeks to process.
Once you have received a notification that your tax return has been processed it can take up to 5 business days to appear in your bank account.
If your tax refund has not been processed within 2 weeks, the ATO may require more information, or your return may be subject to an audit. If this happens to you, contact the ATO directly to find out what your next steps are.
I didn’t receive my full refund in my bank account, why?
If you did not receive the full refund amount your were expecting, chances are you have had a previous ATO, Centrelink or child support debt recovered from your refund.
If you have previously been registered for GST, often the ATO will make an estimate of GST owed and apply this to your account if you do not declare your earnings on ABN income or de-register yourself. This is quite common for former sole-traders and can be remedied by updating your BAS and contacting the ATO.
I’m not getting a refund. Why do I owe the ATO?
Quite simply, you haven’t payed enough tax throughout the year to cover the income you received.
With more people this tax year receiving a Centrelink benefit, this is a common occurrence! Many people don’t know that Centrelink do not deduct income tax from Jobseeker and other allowances unless you request it. If your only income is from government benefits or pensions usually its not a problem, because the sum of these payments are usually under the tax-free threshold. However, if you have worked for part of the year and received a benefit for part of the year, your taxable income may be much higher than the tax-free threshold.
Unfortunately, this means the amount deducted from your income during the year is not enough to cover the tax owed on income for the year.
How can I avoid this in future? When you apply for a benefit with Centrelink you can request to have tax deducted from your payments. This does mean you will receive less in the hand each pay, but it will ensure you are not hit with a tax bill at the end of the financial year that could cause a lot of stress!
