Tell us. If you had the opportunity to get around $2,500 of cold hard dosh in your sky rocket for little effort, you’d want to know how to get on that money train wouldn’t you?
Yes, that’s what we thought. So, if you’ve been working while you’ve been in Oz and you haven’t done your tax yet, then you darn well should.
About $2,500 could get you 1,000 packets of chewing gum, 500 schooners of beer, a bloody good trip around Australia or a return flight back here for next time. Again, why haven’t you done this yet?
The cash aside, you have less than three months to get your act in gear before the deadline on October 31.
So, what is a tax return? In a nutshell, a it is used to determine if you’ve been paying the correct tax over the last financial year, says Christina Hosback, marketing manager for taxback.com Australia.
“Many working holiday makers and international students overpay tax and are due some kind of a refund from the tax office.”
To do your tax you can either download the software from www.ato.gov.au (although not on a Mac), pick up a tax pack at the post office or pay a tax agent to do it for you.
All you need is your PAYG summary from your employer, your Tax File Number and any relevant receipts.
Christina says the amount you receive depends on the amount you earned, how long you have been working, whether you had any work expenses, that kind of thing.
“Our customers receive an average Australian refund of $2,500 and your money can be sent anywhere in the world,” she added.
If you have earned more than $450 a month then you are also eligible to apply for a superannuation refund. This can only be done once your visa has expired however, so best leave that one till home time.
So come on, hop to it!
