Tax return rush shows extent of virus plight

NEARLY a million Australians have already lodged their tax returns setting a new record for highest number of lodgements received for this period.

Australian Taxation Office figures showed in the first nine days of July 991,000 Australians lodged their individual tax returns — an 11 per cent increase compared with the same time last year.

On July 1 the ATO was inundated by cash-strapped Australians rushing to get money back and received 108,000 individuals lodgements on this day alone — the highest received on July 1 — up from 98,000 last year.

It forced the ATO website to go into meltdown and was also caused by people rushing to apply to access their superannuation early for the second time this year.

The benefits of the Low and Middle Income Tax Offset (LMITO) outlined in the 2019 federal Budget would also start to be seen by those lodging.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said more than 10 million Australians would start to benefit this tax time from the government’s tax cuts.

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

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

This applies to the 2019/20 tax returns and means Australians may be eligible for a tax offset up to $1080 depending on a person’s income.

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

For those earning up to $126,000 they receive an offset of $1080 minus three cents for every dollar earning above $90,000.

Treasurer Frydenberg also said the high volume of people lodging their tax returns in the first two weeks of July would give many getting money back a much-needed financial boost.

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

H&R Block’s director of tax communications Mark Chapman said the rush indicated economic pressures many people continued to face.