Yahoo Finance Huge tax refund change confirmed by ATO for Aussies: ‘Increasingly difficult’
The ATO will no longer send taxpayers a text message when it has processed their tax returns.
Aussie taxpayers will notice a key difference when they lodge their tax returns this year. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has confirmed it will cut the number of text messages it sends to taxpayers, following a rise in scams.
The ATO previously sent two SMS messages to taxpayers after they lodged their tax returns. The first message was to advise when their return had been processed and the second was to notify them that their refund had been paid.
“We will no longer be sending the first of the two SMS messages,” the ATO said. “This decision was made due to the prevalence of unsolicited SMS messages and it becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish a scam message from a legitimate one.”
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The ATO flagged the change at the Tax Practitioner Stewardship Group meeting this month and noted the change raised no concerns.
“We will monitor and reconsider the new approach in the event of unintended consequences or impacts,” it said.
Aussies have been warned to be on high alert for scams this tax time. The ATO received 2,464 reports of impersonation scams in June, a whopping 48 per cent increase from last month.
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While the vast majority of scams were via email, SMS was the second most common method, followed by phone and social media.
Scammers will often impersonate trusted organisations like the ATO and try to trick people into paying money or giving out their personal information. The ATO said it will never send an unsolicited SMS to you that contains a hyperlink.
The ATO also revealed no Aussies lost money to scammers impersonating it in June. Aussies lost $2.7 billion to scams in 2023.
When will I get my tax refund?
Most tax returns lodged online can take two to four weeks to process. Paper returns can take seven weeks to show in the system.
The easiest way to check the progress of your tax return is by using the ATO’s self-help services, including online services and the ATO app.
If you are lodging your tax return yourself, the deadline is October 31.
If you are using a tax agent, the deadline to register with one is October 31 and they may have up until May 15 next year to lodge your return.
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