Yahoo Finance Huge $2,300 tax mistake that cost young Aussie: ‘Not happy’
Nat Zelez received her tax refund this week and said she was “disappointed” by the result.
A young Aussie is urging others not to make the same tax mistake she did. The 24-year-old lodged her tax return on July 1 and said it meant she got a smaller tax refund than expected.
Nat Zelez said she was “so excited” to receive her estimated refund of $5,300. The Melbourne resident worked multiple jobs during the year and told Yahoo Finance she had paid extra tax as a result.
Zelez said her refund finally came through this week. But instead of the juicy $5,300 she anticipated, she was “not happy” to find she only got $3,000 back.
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“I’ve always lodged it on the 1st because I’ve always been really keen to get [my refund] back ASAP,” Zelez told Yahoo Finance.
“I’ve always gotten my exact estimate back so that’s why this year I was a bit confused why I got only [about] half of what was estimated.”
The Melbourne resident, who works in hospitality and marketing, said she felt like she had “lost $2,300” even though she knows this isn’t the case.
“The whole year I’ve been paying a huge amount of tax, which I didn’t really mind because I knew I was going to get a tax refund,” she said.
“I was a bit disappointed because I was expecting double what I got. It was still a great amount.”
Do you have a tax story to share? Contact tamika.seeto@yahooinc.com
Zelez said she contacted the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to find out why her refund was lower than expected.
They were unable to give her a clear answer but she believes her estimate was incorrect because she lodged too early and her income information wasn’t yet finalised.
She told other Aussies that lodging too early was “not worth it” and would only get their “feelings hurt”.
“It wouldn’t have changed my tax return, obviously. But it got my hopes up and I thought it was going to be a huge amount but the companies I worked for hadn’t done their tax yet so that’s why the estimate was so off,” she said.
Zelez said she had been planning to use the extra cash towards an upcoming trip to Southeast Asia.
ATO warns tax is ‘not a race’
The ATO has warned taxpayers against rushing to lodge their tax returns before their income statement is marked as ‘tax ready’.
ATO assistant commissioner Rob Thomson said those who lodge in early July were twice as likely to make a mistake in their tax return.
“Tax time is not a race, and there is a much higher chance that your return will be missing important information if you lodge in early July,” Thomson said.
“This is particularly relevant if you are receiving income from multiple sources.”
From late July, most information from employers, banks, government agencies and health funds will be automatically loaded into your tax return.
Once your information has been pre-filled and finalised by your employer, your income statement will be marked as ‘tax ready’.
Millions of Aussies were expecting to score a tax refund this year, with Finder research finding one in 10 thought their refund would be “critical” to their financial wellbeing.
The average Aussie was anticipating a refund of $1,288, which would go towards things like savings, paying off household bills or paying off their mortgage.
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