CANBERRA: The Australian Taxation Office has called out the “boldest” excuses it has heard for late lodgement while reminding Aussies of the 31 October tax return deadline. Calling on Australians to not “let the deadline be a dread-line”, the ATO has published some of the wildest claims it has heard for why tax returns were lodged late.
The tax office said its officers have “heard it all”, highlighting six examples:
- “My paperwork flew out the car window when I was on the way to see the accountant”
- Another late lodger claimed they had a condition that allowed them to work just 30 minutes each week, “so, I couldn’t lodge”
- A variation on the my-dog-ate-my-homework excuse, one late lodger claimed they couldn’t lodge on time because: “My accountant has gone to prison. He is working on it, but it’s taking longer than normal because he can’t access a computer”
- “My ex-wife burnt everything belonging to me, including all of my tax records,” raised eyebrows at the ATO
- One late lodger with a perhaps tenuous grip on the passage of time said he hadn’t lodged returns for the years between 2008 and 2015 because he suffered a back injury in 2016
- The final lodger called out had claimed he couldn’t lodge because his father had died recently. The ATO explained that it was sympathetic until it was revealed that the lodger had used the same excuse more than a year before.
Assistant commissioner at the ATO, Kath Anderson said that the upcoming deadline “shouldn’t be a cause for concern”, while drawing attention to the pre-fill and data-matching technology employed by the myTax software. “With the majority of pre-fill information now available most of the hard work is already done, and it’s even easier if you have been recording your deductions using myDeductions on the ATO app. “In most cases you or your registered agent only need to double-check the pre-filled information, include any work-related expenses and click submit.” However, those looking to cash in on tax-time via work-related expenses should pay attention to the ATO’s warning last year. At the time, assistant commissioner Graham Whyte said: “If we see a claim that appears to be unusual we will check it with the employer. Most people want to do the right thing, but we have seen mistakes, and even instances of people deliberately doing the wrong thing.
“The ATO wants everyone to claim the work-related expenses they are entitled to – no more and no less. To make it fair, we’re catching and penalising people that deliberately make incorrect claims.” Explaining that in order to claim something as a work expense money needs to have been spent by the claimer and not reimbursed, the spending must be “directly related” to earning your income and there needs to be a record of it, the ATO shared seven lessons to learn from those making “dodgy deductions”.
