Return with a vengeance

Records tumble in tax time frenzy

NEARLY one million Australians have lodged their tax returns, breaking the record for the highest number of lodgments received for this period.

Australian Taxation Office (ATO) figures showed in the first nine days of July, as many as 991,000 Australians had lodged individual tax returns — up 11 per cent on last year.

On July 1, the ATO was inundated by cash-strapped Australians rushing to get money back and received 108,000 inother prospective buyers had to be turned away at the gate, due to coronavirus social distancing restrictions.

“We had the auction closed off behind the fence, and reached the capacity of 20 attendees quickly and had to stop people from coming in,” he said.

“It just goes to show the market is still going strong, even in these tough times.” dividual lodgments on that day alone — the highest ever on July 1 and an increase from 98,000 last year.

It sent the ATO website into meltdown as people also rushed to apply to access their superannuation early for the second time this year.

“A record number of Australians have already lodged their tax return, with refunds to land in bank accounts over the course of the week,” Josh Frydenberg said.

The benefits of the low- and middle-income tax offset outlined in the 2019 federal budget would also start to be seen by those lodging their returns.

The federal Treasurer said more than 10 million Australians would benefit this tax time from tax cuts.

“As part of last year’s budget, we increased the low- and middle-income tax offset (LMITO) to $1080 for individuals and $2160 for couples,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“It means people can keep more of what they earn, providing a much-needed boost to the household budgets.”

This applies to 2019-20 tax returns and means Australians may be eligible for a tax offset up to $1080.

Through the LMITO, those earning $37,000 or less can access up to $255, while those earning up to $90,000 can access up to $1080.

Those earning up to $126,000 receive an offset of $1080 minus 3c for every dollar above $90,000.

H&R Block’s director of tax communications Mark Chapman said the rush of people filing returns indicated economic pressures many people faced.

“A lot of people are financially stressed and are potentially eligible for a bigger refund this year,” he said.

“They will be rushing to get their return to get that money in their bank account.”

But Mr Chapman said filing quickly could result in people leaving important information out. “If you lodge later on there’s much less of a chance of that happening,” he said.

ATO figures showed the highest day for lodgments so far was July 9, when 144,000 lodgments were made.