Changes to tax in the past year may affect you and your return - find out what has changed
July 9, 2010 by admin
Filed under Prior Year Taxes
Changes to tax in the past year may affect you and your return - find out what has changed
It is time to start organising yourself for 2008-09 tax return preparation and lodgement. The past financial year has seen some changes to the taxation landscape that will certainly make a difference to lot of Australian taxpayers this “tax time”.
Changes include education tax refunds and family tax benefits as well as changes in the Medicare levy surcharge threshold and claiming donations to charity.
Education tax refund
Eligible parents who incurred education expenses for primary or secondary school students in their care on or after 1 July 2008 are able to claim a tax refund for a proportion of the incurred expenses.
Generally, eligible parents are able to claim 50% of their education expenses for the year. The maximum claimable amount for primary and secondary school children is 0 and 00 respectively. This results in a maximum refund of 5 for primary school children and 0 for secondary school children. Parents can claim the full refund for each child who meets the schooling requirement. Independent students under the age of 25 who are undertaking primary or secondary school studies are also eligible to claim a refund on some of their education expenses.
You should be aware that not all expenses can be claimed. Purchases such as laptop and home computers and school text books are able to be claimed, whilst school fees and uniforms are not. The most important thing is keep you receipts in order to verify the eligible purchases in your return.
Family tax benefit
Effective from the 2008-09 financial year you are no longer able to claim the family tax benefit in your return. In order to claim the benefit for both current and existing years you must claim it as either a fortnightly or a lump sum payment through the Family Assistance Office.
Family Assistance Offices are located in Medicare Australia offices and Centrelink Customer Service Centres around the country or you can contact them on 13 61 50 for assistance with your family tax benefit queries.
First home saver accounts
First home saver accounts were introduced in October 2008. For those with a first home saver account the Government will make an annual contribution to that account based on contribution amounts for the year. You are not required to pay tax on any earnings by the account and as a result you don’t need to declare any income from this account on your tax return. If you are not required to lodge a tax return, you will need to lodge a First home saver account – notification of eligibility form before the Government will pay any contributions.
Medicare levy surcharge thresholds
For the previous financial year, 2008-09, the Medicare levy surcharge thresholds have been increased for both single persons and families. For single persons who earned above ,000 during 2008-09 and did not have private patient hospital cover a surcharge of 1 percent for any period during the year that they did not have the cover will be levied. For families the threshold is increased to 0,000.
For the 2008-09 financial year only, you are considered to have been covered by private hospital cover all year if you took out an appropriate policy some time between 1 July 2008 and 31 December 2008, and then continued to be covered from 1 January to 30 June 2009.
Claiming donations to charity
As a result of the dramatic events of the past year, such as the Victorian bushfires and Queensland floods, many taxpayers made donations to fund-raising and charitable organisations.
You are able to claim a tax deduction in your 2009 tax return for any gift or donation if the organisation is a registered deductible gift recipient.
When claiming the deduction you should be sure to keep your receipt as evidence. For donations made via the web, over the phone or through a third party such as a bank or retail outlet web receipts or credit card statements are acceptable. Additionally, for any ‘bucket donations’ made during the year you are able to claim a tax deduction equal to your contribution up to without being required to produce a receipt.
The team of accountants and tax agents at The Quinn Group are able to advise you on all of the deductions and refunds that you are eligible for in your 2008-9 tax return. We will work with you to legally minimise your tax liability and get you the maximum return that you are eligible for. Contact us on 1300 QUINNS or click here to submit an online enquiry.
The Quinn Group is an integrated, accounting, legal, and financial planning practice offering expert advice to help you achieve your business and personal goals. With more than 15 years’ professional experience, we are committed to building long-lasting relationships with our clients by providing superior service in a timely and cost-effective manner. For more free advice please visit Lawyers.
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Free Tax Help - How To Find It
October 11, 2009 by admin
Filed under Tax Articles
Finding free tax help is much simpler than you think. Even though there are several ways to do your taxes, most individuals still try to do it on their own, without the assistance of professionals services. This may be a very good thing and is absolutely the most affordable way to file your taxes, but it also means that you have to face problems and questions on your own. Since errors on your taxes could be costly and long, drawn out problems, it is best to have the ability to seek the help you want beforehand. If you would like free tax help, know exactly where to go before tax time hits. Reading all this about taxes is sure to help you get a better understanding of taxess. So make full use of the information we have provided here.
There are several people out there who do not know much about taxes. This is the reason we have compiled this article on taxes, to let them learn. The best place to begin for the free tax help that you need is right from the source. The IRS, or Internal Revenue Service, is perhaps the most reliable source of help you will find, if you do not mind waiting for assistance. There are phone numbers available depending on the kind of question or need that you have. You may also find local organizations to provide help that are branches of the IRS. Yet, perhaps your best source of information and free tax help is from the IRS’s website at IRS.gov. It is a comprehensive web site that provides several tools for you to use including forms and instructions, tutorials, frequently asked questions and search tools. The more specific the kind of help you need, the simpler it will be for you to locate the free tax help you want from their web site.
There are also other places to get the kind of help that you need. During the months of February and March, you will often find tax preparation help locally from non profit organizations. For senior citizens, this might be through the community center or those organizations aimed at seniors. This is a good way to work hand in hand with a professional, or a knowledgeable person, for your tax needs. This kind of free tax help is often available through local governmental offices and may also be used for city, state and county taxes. We are proud to say we have dominance in the say of taxes. This is because we have read vastly and extensively on taxes.
Perhaps the biggest source of free tax help is online. You will get a range of web sites offering help, but be careful. Outdated information or even mistakes may often be found on the web. Make sure that you know who is providing you the help that you need before you use it. After all, getting the assistance that you need, begin with someone having the necessary knowledge. For free tax help, begin with your own local organizations or go right to the IRS for their ability. This article was written with the intention of providing as much information on taxes to its reader. Hope this objective has been fulfilled.
Andrew Chin is a recognized authority on the subject of Online Tax http://www.taxesexposed.com. His website Taxes Exposed provides a wealth of information on Online Tax Help. Articles may be reprinted as long as the content and links remains intact and unchanged.
How Do I Find the Right Tax Advisor?
October 6, 2009 by admin
Filed under Tax Articles
This is the time of year when all Americans think about their tax situation and what they might do differently to reduce their heavy tax burden. There is a record of an ancient civilization that was required to pay 50% of their earnings to their captors. They considered themselves in bondage. And yet, many Americans who earn over $100,000 per year pay far more than that in federal and state income tax, sales tax, social security tax, property tax and excise taxes.
I’m not against paying taxes for necessary government services. To the contrary. What I am opposed to is paying a dime more than I have to. But MOST OF YOU are paying far more than you have to. Why? In most cases, it’s simply because you are getting poor tax advice.
The reality is that the Internal Revenue Code is full of opportunities to reduce your taxes. I have spent almost 30 years pouring through the Code and learning all of these opportunities. And I am continually learning new ways to reduce taxes. It’s all a matter of understanding the law and applying it the way Congress intended. That’s right, Congress intended to provide tax benefits to individuals and companies who behave a certain way. Why? Simply because Congress has long used the Internal Revenue Code as a way to promote social, energy and economic policies.
But how do you know if your tax advisor is giving you the best advice? Unless you are legally paying no taxes, you really don’t. The answer, quite frankly, is to have another, experienced tax advisor review your tax returns from prior years and your current tax situation. It may be that when you were a simple wage earner that there were few ways to reduce your taxes. But now you are in business or you are investing in real estate. What’s happened is that YOU HAVE OUTGROWN YOUR TAX ADVISOR!
Before you commit to another advisor, have them review your situation. Don’t expect that they will give you free advice. But find out if they think they can do something different. Just the other day while reviewing a tax return I found $60,000 of taxes that a prospective client was paying that we could easily eliminate. What would you do if I found $60,000 of ANNUAL tax savings for you? I hope you would jump on this opportunity immediately.
Whatever you do, remember that “if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got!”
Tom Wheelwright is not only the founder and CEO of Provision, but he is the creative force behind Provision Wealth Strategists. In addition to his management responsibilities, Tom likes to coach clients on wealth, business, and tax strategies. Along with his frequent seminars on such strategies, Tom is an adjunct professor in the Masters of Tax program at Arizona State University. For more information, please visit http://www.provisionwealth.com

