When Centrelink recipients should lodge their tax return
Centrelink recipients need to wait to lodge their tax return. Here’s why.
Aussies on Centrelink have been told to wait to lodge their tax returns, despite the new financial year beginning on July 1.
Services Australia said all pre-fill information it needed to provide to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) would be completed by the end of July.
“Once all your information pre-fills in myTax, you won’t need to get a Centrelink Payment Summary to lodge your tax return,” Services Australia said.
Also read: Tax trick to boost your deductions by $300
Also read: Boost your tax return: 8 last-minute tips
“Pre-fill means less work for you and helps you get your tax return right the first time. We’ll send you a letter if there’s a change to your 2022-23 Centrelink payment summary details and we’ll also update the ATO.
“If you’re lodging your tax return and it doesn’t match your letter, enter the details from your letter into your return. If you’ve lodged and your payment summary details change, you‘ll need to amend your tax return. If you need help to amend it, contact the ATO via their website.”
Not all Centrelink payments are taxed
Some payments from Services Australia won’t show on the payment summary, but they may still need to be reported to the ATO.
Services Australia urged Aussies to check:
If their payment will show on the payment summary or not
What payments to report or not to report in their tax return
The self-service options they can use to access it
What happens if there are payment changes
Aussies who received the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment, High-Risk Settings Pandemic Payment and the Disaster Recovery Allowance top-up will need to report those to the ATO because they are taxable, but will not show up on the Services Australia payment summary.
However, those who received the Australian government Disaster Recovery Payment do not need to report it to the ATO.
Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to our free daily newsletter.