Tax expert’s important warning ahead of lodging your claim
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With just over a week now until the end of the financial year, more and more Aussies are preparing to lodge their tax returns.
But while many think they’re really organised and are keen to see their returns in their bank accounts sooner rather than later, the experts are warning against it.
The ATO is issuing a warning to Aussies trying to lodge their tax return early. iStock/Getty
“One of the biggest myths around tax time is the earlier you lodge your tax return, the earlier you get your tax refund,” Assistant Tax Commissioner Anita Challen told Nine Money Editor, Effie Zahos.
“That’s actually not true and the best time to lodge is to actually wait until the end of July because the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) actually prefills a lot of information, such as your wages, health insurance information, interest from bank accounts and if you wait for that… you will be less likely to make a mistake.
“In the 2024-2025 financial year, the ATO’s data-matching program adjusted more than 595,000 individual tax returns due to missing income, overstated deductions and tax credits and other discrepancies.
“The other thing people may not know is you are twice as likely to make a mistake if you lodge in that early July period, than if you wait for your pre-fill information,” Anita said.
Ashley Debenham, from E-Tax Accountants, sees some interesting claims come through his office and he raised a coupe of the more interesting ones with Effie.
“We had a lady come in and she worked from home and because she was a bit lonely, she bought a puppy to keep her company,” he said.
“So we had to put the brakes on that one and the other one I really liked was a personal trainer who decided his $500 air-fryer was tax-deductible because it helped him eat healthy and keep in shape for his job.”
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