All knowledge base posts in ATO Community

myGovID and RAM for tax professionals

BreeH — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 03:04:11 GMT

Ahead of the retirement of AUSkey at the end of March 2020, we’ve seen a lot of questions about myGovID and Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM). These services are designed to work together to provide authorised persons with access to Online services for agents and Standard Business Reporting (SBR) enabled software.

How do I access the myGovID app?

The myGovID app is available to download from the Google Play or Apple App Store and is compatible with most smart devices using Nougat 7.0 or later (Android) or iOS 10 or later (Apple).

Why can’t I login from a desktop?

There will be no desktop version for myGovID. Your myGovID is unique to you and uses the security and identification features of your smart device to protect your identity and help stop other people accessing your information.

It’s important to understand that myGovID allows you to log on to an online service from any browser, or device that is supported eg. Firefox, Chrome, PC, laptop or tablet.

Modern security standards require extra security to verify that the person who is logging in is who they say they are. This is why myGovID is a credential that is unique to a real person, not a computer.

What email address should I use to login?

The email you use to set up and login to your myGovID must belong to you. It shouldn’t be a shared email. It’s important to remember that your myGovID is unique to you, not your employer if you change jobs.

You can link your business, or be authorised in RAM, using a different email address to the one used to set up your myGovID.

Can we use one myGovID for all staff?

No, a myGovID is unique to an individual and shouldn’t be shared with anyone. Everyone who will be acting on behalf of a business needs their own myGovID.

Will this mean my employer has access to my identity documents?

No, your employer cannot access your identity documents. Your identity documents are used to verify your identity against existing government records and are not stored on your smart device.

I already have a myGov account, aren’t I already set up?

No, myGovID is different to myGov. Your myGov account is how you access government online services, like the ATO. Your myGovID proves who you are before you can access them.

How do I link my practice in RAM?

Find out how to link your practice Australian Business Number (ABN) in RAM and authorise others to act on behalf of your practice at ato.gov.au/TPmyGovID. You must be the principal authority (business owner or listed associate on the Australian Business Register) to link your ABN to your myGovID.

Do I need my clients’ myGovID details?

No, a myGovID is unique to an individual and shouldn’t be shared with anyone. The way you add clients through Access Manager or notify us about working on behalf of a client will not change. You can get to Access Manager via RAM or log in directly using your myGovID.

How do I use myGovID if I don’t have mobile phone reception in my office?

To access your myGovID you don’t need mobile phone coverage, just an internet connection like when accessing government online services.

Is a Standard identity strength all I need to login to Online services for agents?

Yes, you can set up a myGovID with a Standard identity strength by providing two of the following Australian identity documents:

passport
driver’s licence
Medicare card
birth certificate.

Will the smart device I use for my myGovID be deductible?

If you use your own device or internet for work purposes, you may be able to claim a deduction if you paid for these costs and have records to support your claims.

If you use your phone or internet for both work and private use, you will need to work out the percentage that reasonably relates to your work use. Read more about claiming mobile phone, internet and home phone expenses.

Find out more

More information to help tax professionals with the move to myGovID and RAM is available at www.ato.gov.au/TPmyGovID videos and factsheets.

Linking your myGov account to the ATO

PaulM — Fri, 02 Aug 2019 01:06:00 GMT

Welcome to the Community.

In most cases, you can link your myGov account to the ATO without a linking code.

To link your myGov account to the ATO, you’ll need your TFN and details from two of the following documents:

a notice of assessment received in the last five years
a PAYG payment summary received in the last two years
a super account statement from the last five years
a dividends statement from the last two years
a Centrelink payment summary from the last two years
your bank account details (see note).

Note: If you choose to use your bank account to confirm your identity, it must be an account you had your individual income tax refund paid into last year, or one that has earned interest in the last two years.

You can find more information on linking your myGov account to us on our website. If you’re having trouble linking your myGov account, check out our Troubleshooting for individuals page.

Still unable to link after troubleshooting?

If you’re still unable to link after trying our troubleshooting steps (or you’ve received the error message ‘Ineligible to link’), then you’ll need a linking code. You’ll need to call us to obtain a linking code as we’ll need to establish your identity by asking you a number of privacy questions and verifying details from one of the following identification documents:

Australian birth certificate
Australian passport
Australian citizenship certificate
ImmiCard
Australian driver's licence or learner's permit
Medicare card
Australian marriage certificate
Change of name certificate
Australian visa with an overseas passport.

We appreciate tax time is a busy time for everyone, so we’ve extended our operating hours. You can find our phone number and operating hours and as well as information if you’re calling us from overseas on our website

ATO Community

A quick guide to Community answers

AmandaE — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 05:36:17 GMT

When you’re working out your tax and super, you want to make sure you make the right decision. Based on your feedback, we’ve developed this guide to explain icons you’ll find on our Community to help you do just that.

ATO Certified

A single Google search can return millions of results on tax obligations, superannuation, small business reporting and managing your student loans - but how do you decide whether the information you're reading is correct? We use the ‘ATO-certified’ tag to help you identify the right info:

Responses that have been ‘ATO-Certified’ have been reviewed by our Support team and:

Provide the best possible information to help answer the question
Are clear and easy to read
Don’t contain financial advice and
Have links to useful content at https://ato.gov.au

What does this mean for you? You can use ATO-certified answers to help you make decisions and manage your tax affairs – just remember to check what date the answer was posted and check our website to make sure it’s current and applies to your situation.

If you’re not sure that the information in the answer covers your situation, seek the advice of a registered tax practitioner or contact us with specific details about your circumstances.

Answered

A ‘answered’ tick shows that someone – either the original poster or our Support team – feels that the reply answers the question or solves the problem. You don’t need to wait for us – if someone posts a reply that answers your question, hit that green “Answered” button to let them know they helped! You can usually see it just below the title of the post on the right, or in the teal banner at the top of the answering post (as above).

Our Support team checks all ‘solved’ questions to make sure that the answers are technically correct and to add an ‘ATO Certified’ where they can, but you should always keep in mind that your situation may be different.

Knowledge base articles

Knowledge Base articles contain information certified by the ATO on a specific topic, usually drawn from member questions, comments or responses. Knowledge Base articles can also be written by Community Support, Community Moderator or a Community Manager if we see that certain topics are causing confusion amongst members.

If you spot any out-of-date articles or think we need to clarify some points in our Knowledge Base, or if you just have a suggestion for a new one, let us know by sending us an email.

Answering your questions

Our Community is your Community – we love reading your questions and seeing you help each other out! Where we can, we try to wait a little while to see what answers Community members are able to provide one another without us stepping in.

If we see questions with incorrect information, or where other members haven’t been able to provide a response, we’ll try to get back to you within 3 business days.

Sometimes, we need to ask specialist areas for help to make sure you get a full, complete answer – when this happens, we’ll usually post a quick message to let you know that we expect to get back to you soon.

Tailored advice

We do our best to make sure that everyone has all the information they need to make decisions about their tax and super affairs – but we’re here to provide general information.

Please remember that we can’t answer any questions about your personal tax account (including how any returns or other documents are progressing). We take the safety of your personal information very seriously, and we advise against sharing private information in a public forum.

If you need to discuss something sensitive, or if you’d rather not ask something here on Community, there’s a range of different ways you can contact us.

If you need advice tailored to your specific circumstances, you can:

Search for registered tax practitioners who have the experience you need to answer your questions. You can find practitioners near you by searching the register on the Tax Practitioners Board website.
Contact our Early engagement team – specialists who can help answer complex tax technical questions by phone or email. We try to get back to you within a few days of receiving your request.
Write to us to request a private ruling. Private rulings are written advice from us that applies tax law to your situation. It’s a free service, and we usually reply within 28 days.

Thanks for joining us!

GST on postage on online purchases

AmandaE — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 01:00:03 GMT

Question

I've ordered a number of products from online businesses and I'm not sure that retailers are adding GST to the delivery properly.

Isn't GST for goods and services supplied by the company only, if they are not personally delivering the product then it shouldn't be applied on freight?

Answer

If you purchase a product online and arrange to have it delivered, costs associated with the delivery are a necessary part of the sale of the product. Retailers treat delivered goods as an ‘integrated supply’ – the supply includes the product you’ve purchased as well as costs associated with selecting, packing and delivery your product.

How the retailer calculates the GST on the delivered product depends on whether the product is taxable, non-taxable or a mixture of the two. The following table from Goods and Services Tax Determination GSTD 2002/3 Goods and services tax: how do I account for G...? explains the formula retailers use to calculate GST on the delivery of goods:

Type of goods supplied	GST payable
All goods supplied are taxable	1/11^th of the total cost including the delivery fee. No apportionment is required.
All of the goods supplied are non-taxable	Nil
Goods supplied include both taxable and non-taxable goods	1/11^th of the price of the taxable items, plus 1/11^th of the portion of the delivery fee that relates to the taxable goods.

Example 1 – Domestic supply - Goods sourced from Australian warehouse

Let’s say you bought a single chair online that’s worth $80 from a retailer who warehouses the goods in Australia. The chair is considered to be a taxable item – that is, GST will be applied to this sale.

Because the retailer doesn’t have a store front, the only way to get your chair to you (a condition of the sale) is to post it in a large box. Due to the product’s size, the retailer has to purchase $22 postage (GST inclusive) to have it shipped to your address.

As this is an ‘integrated supply’, the retailer adds the cost of the postage to the cost of your chair on the invoice.

They should calculate the total cost to you as follows:

Chair	$80
Postage/delivery cost	$20
Total without GST	$100
GST 10%	$10
Total inc GST	$110

The retailer only charges $20 for postage because they’re entitled to claim a GST credit from the ATO. On their next activity statement, the retailer completes the following calculation and pays us the difference in GST paid and collected:

GST paid to business	$10
GST to be claimed by business	$2
Total to be paid to ATO on activity statement	$8

Example 2 – International delivery - goods sourced from overseas warehouse

This is the same scenario, but this time the company you bought your $80 chair from stores the goods outside Australia. For this example you have purchased your chair using an electronic distribution platform (think etsy) and the retailer has agreed to deliver the goods to your nominated delivery address in Australia.

The retailer you bought it from purchases $20 for international postage. The retailer is not charged GST by the foreign postal organisation because international post to Australian delivery addresses is GST-free.

Chair	$80
International Postage/delivery cost	$20
Total without GST	$100
GST 10%	$10
Total inc GST	$110

Changes to Australian tax law means that the electronic distribution platform (EDP) we mentioned above is required to be registered to collect GST on the retailer’s behalf. Most EDPs will add GST in at checkout therefore increasing the list price by 10% prior to purchase. The EDP is responsible for sending the GST to the ATO and not the retailer.

Because GST doesn’t apply to international delivery, no entity is entitled to claim a GST-credit on for international post on their activity statement:

GST payable by EDP	$10
No GST credit for retailer on international post	$0
Total to be paid to ATO on activity statement	$10

Under Universal Postal Union agreements between international postal agency and Australia Post, the foreign postal organisation will pay Australia Post a portion of the amount received for international delivery. The postal services by Australia Post to the foreign postal organisation are also GST-free.

Delivering food or goods using a digital platform or app?

AmandaE — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 01:21:52 GMT

As a delivery driver, do I need to register for GST or apply for an ABN?

If you deliver food or goods for someone else as an employee, you will not have any goods and services (GST) obligations as part of your employment
If you’re a contractor (i.e. you run your own business as a service provider for a larger company) and your turnover is under $75,000 (and you expect to earn less than this) in a financial year, then you are not required to register for GST. You are, however, required to apply for an Australian Business Number (ABN). You can register for an ABN (for free) at this website. You may need to contact the digital platform directly about linking your ABN to your account.
If your turnover is $75,000 or more (or you think you’ll earn above this amount) then you’ll need to get an ABN and register to collect GST. Once you’ve registered, you must charge, collect and then report the GST you’ve collected to us via a business activity statement (BAS) – you’ll also be able to claim GST credits for business expenses.

I deliver food or goods using a digital platform or app, how does this affect my tax return?

How you report your income on your tax return depends on whether you’re an employee or whether you’re a contractor.

If you’re employed by the delivery service provider, you’ll report your income as salary and wages; if you’re a contractor, you’ll need to complete the business sections in your tax return to report your net income or loss. You can confirm your employment status by checking any contracts you’ve signed with the service provider, or check out guide on employees versus contractors over on our website.

You can usually claim income tax deductions relating to income you earn as long as:

You’ve spent the money and not been reimbursed
The costs relate to doing your job and aren’t a private expense (such as travel from home to the job)
You work out how much of the total expense is for your business and how much for personal use
You keep appropriate records to prove your claim.

If I am a contractor, how do I make sure I manage my tax?

There are a couple of options you can use to make sure you don’t get a tax bill when you lodge your return:

You can pay smaller amounts towards your income tax account ahead of time. You can make a payment using our preferred payment methods at any time and as often as you like using your payment reference number (PRN).
You can sign up for our pay as you go income tax instalment system (PAYGI). PAYGI is particularly useful where you have a regular source of income and you can predict how much you’ll make in a year. You tell us how much you think you’ll earn (and in some cases, how much tax you’ll need to pay) and we’ll issue you an instalment activity statement each month, quarter or year so you can increase or decrease your payments as required.

If you’ve reached the end of the financial year and have a tax bill to pay, we can often help you by setting up a payment plan. You can create a payment plan online using our online services in myGov, or you can phone us to discuss your situation for tailored advice and support.

I’m here in Australia on a working holiday maker visa and I deliver using a digital platform or app to earn some cash. Do I need to lodge a tax return?

There are a couple of things you’ll need to work out before you lodge your tax return:

Are you an Australian resident for tax purposes? Generally speaking, if you earn assessable income in Australia during the financial year you’ll need to lodge an Australian tax return. Different tax rates may apply depending on your situation, and you may need to report your income at a particular section in your return to be taxed at the right rate.
Are you an employee or a contractor? If you’re employed, they’ll apply the working holiday maker tax rate of 15% to any payments you receive, and you’ll report your earnings at Adjustments – Working holiday makers on your tax return. If you’re a contractor, you’ll need to register for an ABN and manage your tax affairs as a small business.

Our guide to the sharing economy and tax is full of handy information for new food or goods delivery drivers – you can also ask our Community for help!

Paying my HELP debt

AmandaE — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 23:49:15 GMT

How is my HELP or study loan repaid?

Study loans (which include HELP, SFSS, VSL, SSL, ABSTUDY SSL and TSL) are re-paid through compulsory repayments (including overseas levy), voluntary repayments or both.

Compulsory repayments are made when your repayment income exceeds the repayment threshold. This includes your:

taxable income
fringe benefits
investment loss
super contributions
foreign employment income

You should inform your employer of your study loan on your tax file number declaration form or withholding declaration form if you’re already employed. This lets them know to withhold amounts from your pay throughout the year to cover your anticipated compulsory repayment.

Your compulsory repayment rate increases as your income increases – the more you earn, the higher your repayment.

You can also choose to make voluntary repayments at any time to reduce the balance of your debt. You may still have to make a compulsory repayment or pay an overseas levy if, after making your voluntary repayment:

you still have a debt; and
your repayment income is above the minimum repayment threshold.

Voluntary repayments can be made at any time to reduce the balance of your loan. They are non-refundable and are paid directly to us.

You may still have to make a compulsory repayment or pay an overseas levy if:

you still have a debt
your repayment income exceeds the repayment threshold.

How can I check my HELP or study loan balance?

You can check out how much you have left to pay by logging into your account in our online services via myGov.

What if my employer withholds incorrect amounts?

If your employer fails to withhold amounts from your pay throughout the year, or withholds too much, we’ll calculate your debt or refund after you lodge your tax return.

If a debt causes you financial hardship, you can talk to us about setting up a payment plan.

Why isn't my loan decreasing?

The amounts your employer withholds from your pay won't come off your loan until you've lodged your income tax return and we've calculated your repayment amount.

Once your income tax return is lodged and your compulsory repayment is calculated and paid onto our account, you will see it come off your loan as an annual lump sum rather than weekly or fortnightly payments.

How do deductions work?

AmandaE — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 01:16:57 GMT

Most deductions are expenses you’ve had to pay in order to earn income. If these costs meet certain criteria, you can reduce your taxable income by the value of your expenses. There are a few different kinds of deductions you can claim:

Work related expenses - costs you had to pay as part of your employment/earning income. There are three main rules to claiming work related expenses – you had to spend the money yourself (i.e. not reimbursed), it has to directly relate to earning income and you have to have records to prove it. Work related expenses include costs like laundry, home office and car and travel expenses.
Investment expenses – expenses you paid to earn interest, buy shares or rental property. Some costs involved in setting up your investments may not be deductible, so it’s worth checking our website to learn more about what you can and can’t claim.
Gifts and donations - if you’ve made a gift or donation to certain charities or groups, you may be eligible to claim a tax deduction. Your gift must be money or property given to a deductible gift recipient voluntarily and where you don’t receive any material benefit or advantage. Deductions can be claimed from a $2 bucket donation through to more expensive donations to groups provided you meet all the relevant criteria.
Cost of managing your tax affairs – if you use the services of a registered tax professional to seek tax advice or prepare and lodge your tax documents, you may be entitled to claim some of these costs in your return.
Other deductions – some costs you pay to earn income need to be claimed over time. This category of deductions covers a range of different expense types.

Unlike offsets – which are generally dollar for dollar – you usually won't get back the total dollar value of deductions that you claim.

Example – calculating how deductions apply to your tax return

A person earned $32,000 (their assessable income) in the 2017-18 financial year. During the year, they had the following costs that they can claim as deductions on their tax return:

uniform expenses of $120
bucket donations of $10
work-related mobile phone expenses of $50
cost of seeing a tax agent last tax time of $99

We subtract the total of their deductions ($120 + $10 + $50 + $99 = $279) from their assessable income to get their taxable income:

$32,000 – $279 = $31,721

Their taxable income is $31,721. For the sake of simplicity, we won’t include the Medicare Levy, HELP repayments and so on. From the income tax rates, you can see that this person will be taxed at 19% for every dollar they earn over $18,200 (the tax-free threshold). This means:

($31,721 – $18,200) x 19% = $2,568

The person’s total tax payable, with deductions included, is $2,568.

Now let’s see what their tax payable would be if they hadn’t claimed any deductions. In this scenario, because there aren’t any deductions to subtract, their taxable income is the same as their assessable income - $32,000.

We’re still in the same income tax bracket, so they’ll be taxed at 19% for every dollar they earn over $18,200.

($32,000 – $18,200) x 19% = $2,622

Their total tax payable without deductions is $2,622.

If we compare the two scenarios, we can see their tax payable has been reduced by $54 by claiming deductions ($2,622 – $2,568 = $54). Although the total dollar amount of their deductions was $279, this did not equate to a dollar-for-dollar reduction in their total tax payable.

If you’d like to see how deductions could affect your tax payable, check out the income tax estimator (note this calculator can only provide an estimate).

Completing tax returns from previous years

AmandaE — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 04:49:18 GMT

It’s great you’re taking the first step to get your tax affairs back on track! With more resources now available online, it’s easier than ever before to get up to speed.

There are three main options available to lodge any outstanding tax returns:

Lodge online

You can lodge prior returns from 2014 onwards online and free of charge (though you’ll need to meet certain eligibility criteria to lodge 2014 and 2015 returns online). Online lodgement options for 2013 and earlier aren’t available, so you’ll need to either lodge with a registered tax agent or via paper.

Live chat service

Lodging online gives you access to our live chat service. Live chat can answer questions on:

Income and deductions
Private health insurance
Amendments and ATO errors
Higher education loans
Tax offsets
Income tax advice
Capital gains tax

The live chat team can answer specific questions to help you complete your tax return but they can’t provide financial advice or prepare your tax return for you like a registered tax agent can.

myTax instructions guide

We also produce a myTax instructions guide for 2017 and 2018 to explain what information to enter in each section of your return. You can also use the ‘Help?’ menu on the right-hand side of the screen if you need information on what to enter into each field on your tax return. Don’t forget you can also ask us general questions here on Community too!

Tools and calculators

We have an extensive range of tools and calculators on our website to help you:

work out whether you need to lodge a tax return for a prior year
estimate how much tax you paid on your gross income
establish your residency for income tax purposes
figure out if you’re exempt from the Medicare Levy

All our calculators go back at least five years (from the current financial year).

It’s important to keep a copy of any determinations from our tools (either as screenshots or print-outs) in case we ask you for more information.

Lodge with a registered agent

If you'd like to receive financial advice relating to your specific circumstances, you can contact a registered tax practitioner in your local area by searching the Tax Practitioner Board website. Only registered agents are allowed to charge for managing your tax affairs.

Lodge a paper return

If you prefer using paper forms to prepare your tax returns, you can download previous year returns and print and post them to us. Keep in mind paper returns can take up to 50 days to process.

I can’t afford a tax agent. What options are available to me?

If you earn less than $60,000 a year and have simple tax affairs, you might be eligible for our Tax Help program. Tax Help is a network of ATO-trained and accredited community volunteers who provide a free and confidential service to help people complete their tax returns online using myTax.

The program runs from July to October each year, and volunteers can show you how to sign up for a myGov account, link to our online services and use myTax to prepare your returns. You can make an appointment by contacting us.

Recovering lost information

You need to keep tax records for up to five years after you lodge the relevant income tax return. If you don’t have the information you need to prepare your return, you’ll need to re-create your records and be able to justify your claims if we ask you to.

If you have lost, missing or incorrect payment summaries, the first step is to ask your payer for a copy or to check your myTax return in our online services to see if the information has been pre-filled. Centrelink can reissue payments summaries for most government payments and you can use your bank records or pay slips to replace any missing payment summaries from jobs you might have worked.

If you’ve used a registered agent in the past, it’s also worth asking to see if they have any of your old records.

In some cases we might be able to help fill in missing employment summary details over the phone. If you contact us make sure to have information about your tax records when you phone so we can access your account.

Will I receive a fine?

In some cases, we may apply a penalty, particularly if we have reason to believe you delayed lodgments or provided incorrect information deliberately.

If you do receive a fine for lodging your tax returns late and have a good reason, we may be able to c ancel those penalties or fines in certain circumstances. Contact us to discuss your situation if this occurs.

How do I calculate capital gains tax on cryptocurrencies?

AmandaE — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 02:02:32 GMT

Question

Hi! If I make an investment in crypto, say $50,000, and that crypto investment increases in value to be worth $1,000,000, how do I work out how much tax I'll need to pay? Is it true that if I hold on to my crypto for 12 months or more that the amount of tax I have to pay is halved?

I also have read that if I sell some of my crypto to buy a car (for example) CGT wouldn't be payable - is this true? What if I sell the crypto to buy a house? Would that be treated any differently?

Answer

Great questions! Before we start, a couple of caveats:

The following information applies if you’re an investor in cryptocurrencies, rather than a trader. If you’re a trader, you’re considered to be in the business of trading cryptocurrencies, and different rules apply.
We’re using his example here, but obviously different scenarios will apply the information differently. We have a range of tools and guides available, so we encourage you to do your due diligence and make sure you understand how the rules apply to your situation.

You’re correct that cryptocurrency is not a form of money/currency for tax purposes. Under existing legislation, cryptocurrency is considered to be a capital asset, and capital gains tax rules apply on the disposal of these assets.

If you invested $50,000 into cryptocurrency and made $1,000,000 on your investment, firstly, congratulations! Secondly, the original $50,000 would become part of your cost base. The cost base includes a range of expenses associated with purchasing (or ‘acquiring’) your asset:

If you’ve paid other capital costs to acquire or own your cryptocurrency, these will also be included into your cost base.

Once you’ve worked out your cost base, you take its value from your capital proceeds (or what you make on the disposal of your cryptocurrency) to establish if you’ve made a capital gain or a capital loss. If you’ve made a loss, you’ll also need to work out your reduced cost base.

If you make a capital gain, you’ll need to work out if you’re entitled to a CGT discount. If you’ve owned your cryptocurrency for more than 12 months, you can either discount your capital gain by 50% or establish what indexation factor you can apply against your capital gain. You use whichever method provides the best outcome for you.

If you’ve owned your cryptocurrency for less than 12 months, you must use the ‘other’ method, where you simply subtract your cost base from your capital proceeds.

Once you’ve worked out your capital gain or loss:

You either use your capital loss against an existing capital gain, or carry it forward to a future year. If you carry a capital loss forward, you must apply it to your next available capital gain.
You add your capital gain in with the rest of your taxable income, and you pay tax on your total taxable income for the year. The tax will be applied at standard marginal rates - so if you earn more than $180,001 overall that year, you'll pay the highest rate; if you make more than $18,201 but less than $37,000, you'll pay tax at 19%.

Using your example and simplifying the situation:

If your total cost base was $50,000, you take this away from $1,000,000 for a capital gain of $950,000.
If you held your cryptocurrency for more than 12 months, you apply a CGT discount of 50% = $475,000 net capital gain
Add your net capital gain to the rest of your taxable income - let’s say your total taxable income for the year was $97,663 because you had some deductible expenses. $475,000 + $97,663 = $572,663.
Apply tax at the relevant marginal rate. If you earn more than $180,001 for the year, you pay $54,097 in tax + 45c for each dollar over $180,000 = $230,795 tax payable.

CGT always applies on capital assets, regardless of how long you hold them. You’re only entitled to a CGT discount when you hold the asset for more than 12 months.

Finally, ‘disposal’ occurs when you sell, gift or trade cryptocurrency - even if you don’t receive any money for it. When you swap one cryptocurrency for another, you’re considered to have disposed of one cryptocurrency and acquired a new one, which means that CGT applies. The same is true where you gift someone some cryptocurrency - the ‘market value substitution rule’ applies, and you’ve taken to have received the market value of the asset at the time you gifted it.

If you buy an asset with cryptocurrency that you’ve used for investment purposes, you’ll need to calculate the value of the cryptocurrency according to a reputable exchange and then convert this amount into Australian dollars and report it on your tax return.

Completing the Medicare questions on your tax return.

AmandaE — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 01:55:47 GMT

What’s the difference between the Medicare Levy and the Medicare Levy Surcharge?

Medicare gives Australian residents access to a range of medical services, low cost prescriptions and public hospital health care. Medicare is partly funded by the Australian public – most people pay a Medicare levy of 2% of their taxable income.

The Medicare Levy is generally collected as part of your pay as you go withholding from salary and wages, or as part of your pay as you go income tax instalments. Once you’ve lodged your income tax return, we’ll calculate your Medicare Levy based on your taxable income.

The Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) is an additional charge (on top of the Medicare Levy) designed to encourage people earning over a certain amount to take out private hospital cover. You may have to pay MLS if you earn more than $90,000 as a single or $180,000 as a family and don’t have appropriate private hospital cover. MLS is not included as part of your pay as you go withholding or pay as you go instalments, so you may end up with a tax bill at the end of the financial year if you’re not exempt. People in different income brackets will also pay different rates of MLS.

Do I have to pay the Medicare Levy?

I'm a pensioner

Your Medicare levy may be reduced if your taxable income is below a certain threshold. In some cases you may not have to pay the levy at all. You may be eligible to claim a full or half exemption if you:

were a blind pensioner
received sickness allowance from Centrelink
were entitled to full free medical treatment for all conditions under Defence Force arrangements or Veterans’ Affairs Repatriation Health Card (Gold Card)

You will also need to meet certain conditions regarding family income to claim an exemption.

I'm not an Australian resident

If you were a foreign resident:

for the full year – you can claim a full exemption for the Medicare levy
for only part of the year – you can claim a full exemption for that period if
- you did not have any dependants for that period, or
- all your dependants were in an exemption category for that period.

I'm not entitled to Medicare benefits

You are exempt from paying the Medicare levy if you:

were a temporary resident and you did not have any dependants or they were all in an exemption category for that period
were not an Australian citizen

However, in order to claim an exemption you must have applied for and received a Medicare Entitlement Statement from the Department of Human Services before you lodge your tax return. If you have not received the exemption before you lodge, your claim may be disallowed and you will be charged the Medicare Levy.

If you’re entitled to a Medicare Levy exemption and you haven’t claimed it, you may still be able to by lodging an amendment once you've received your Medicare Entitlement Statement.

I have private health insurance but you charged me Medicare Levy Surcharge!

If you earn more than the MLS income thresholds, you’ll be exempt from paying MLS as long as you have an appropriate level of private hospital insurance. Private patient hospital insurance is provided by registered health insurers for hospital treatment in Australia.

An ‘appropriate level of cover’ differs depending on your situation. You must have

an excess of $500 or less as a single, or
an excess of $1,000 or less as a couple or a family.

General cover, also known as 'extras', is not private patient hospital cover. Travel insurance and cover from overseas funds are also not considered private patient hospital cover for the purposes of the MLS.

Spouse details and your tax return

AmandaE — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 04:37:28 GMT

Including your spouse's income in your tax return allows us to work out if you’re entitled to specific offsets, rebates or reductions and whether you're liable for the Medicare levy surcharge. If you don't include it, we may need to amend your tax return, leaving you with a possible debt. We consider a spouse anyone you've lived with in a genuine domestic relationship at any point during the year, including de facto and same-gender couples. Even if you're not married, you may have a spouse for tax purposes.

We’ve listed some of the commonly asked questions and answers about providing spouse income details in your tax return. If you can’t find the answer to your question here, ask the rest of the Community!

Do I have to include my spouse's income in my tax return?

Yes, even if you keep your tax affairs separate from your spouse, you'll still need to provide us with their income information. We need this information to work out whether:

you’ll need to pay the full Medicare levy or the Medicare levy surcharge
you’re entitled to tax offsets such as the seniors and pensioners tax offset, super contributions on behalf of your spouse tax offset, zone or overseas forces offset, invalid and invalid carer offsets
you’re entitled to a private health insurance rebate

What spouse income information do I include?

You'll need to include your spouse's taxable income.
Check through the spouse income labels on your tax return to see if there are other fields that apply to your spouse's income.

What if I don't know my partner's income details?

If you can't access this information, you can make a reasonable estimate of these amounts using information such as your spouse's PAYG payment summaries (or income statement) from their employment and taxable government payments such as Centrelink, bank statements, dividend statement or other supporting documentation. As long as you make a reasonable estimate and act in good faith, penalties won’t apply if you make a mistake.

What if I seperated from my spouse or started a new relationship?

If you’ve entered into a spousal relationship during the year, or separated from your spouse part way through, you’ll need to tell us the relevant dates so we can accurately calculate these amounts.If you’ve separated from your spouse throughout the financial year and are now back together, you’ll need to tell us the dates you separated and reunited so we can work out your entitlement to certain tax offsets. We’ll work out the number of days and apportion your entitlement.

We use information about your spouse, your family income and your private health insurance to help work out whether you’ll need to pay the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS). You’ll need to work out whether you were liable for MLS for any period during the financial year that you:

were single (that is, you had no spouse or dependent children) so you can apply the single surcharge threshold of $90,000 to your income
had a spouse or any dependent children so that you can apply the family surcharge threshold of $180,000, plus $1,500 for each dependent child after the first, to your income.

If your income was above the relevant surcharge threshold that applies to you, and you and all of your dependants (including your spouse, if any) did not have an appropriate level of private patient hospital cover or were not in a Medicare levy exemption category for the whole year, then you may be liable to pay MLS.

Lodging your first tax return?

AmandaE — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 02:05:00 GMT

Question

Hi, I am completely lost right now and I don't know what to do next. This is the first year I’ve had a job and working out how to do my tax, how the financial year works etc. is all new to me. I have linked my myGov account with ATO but I’m not sure what to do now.

Can someone please point me to the right direction?

Answer

Welcome to Community! We have heaps of handy resources to help you through your first tax time.

Like most countries, Australia runs on a self-assessment system. Our income tax year runs from 1 July until 30 June the following year, and most Australians will need to complete an income tax return and submit it to the Australian Taxation Office between 1 July and 31 October.

Your payers collect tax from your salary and wages each pay period ('pay-as-you-go withholding') and send it to us at the end of the tax year. We then use the information in your tax return to work out how much tax you need to pay for the year, and use the money your payers have sent to credit your account. If too much tax has been withheld, you'll receive a refund; if not enough tax has been withheld, you'll receive a tax bill.

You can start lodging your tax return from 1 July - and if you prepare your own tax return, you have until 31 October to lodge it with us. Your payer will give you a payment summary to help you complete your return by 14 July, and send us this information around mid-August.

Most people either lodge:

myTax will ask you a series of questions and direct you to only the relevant parts of your tax return - and if you get stuck, you can click the Help icons to go straight to useful web content or select Chat to ask ATO operators questions in real time. Or, if you meet certain criteria, our Tax Help volunteers can help you complete your return.

You can also choose to lodge via a registered tax practitioner (like a tax agent). Only registered tax practitioners are allowed to charge you a fee to prepare your tax return, and they must meet certain standards and a Code of Professional Conduct in their interactions with you. You can find registered agents in your area by searching the Tax Practitioners Board register.

There are some important concepts you’ll need to understand when preparing your tax:

What is income? We use a pretty simple definition for ‘income’ – it’s the amount of money you earn from ‘personal exertion’ and investments. This can include salary and wages, allowances from your payer, bonuses as well as from payers like insurers, educational institutions or crowdfunding. You’ll also need to know the difference between assessable income (your gross income before deductions), taxable income (gross income minus deductions) and adjusted taxable income (taxable income plus certain other income and losses declared by you, usually used to work out your tax offsets)
How deductions work. Deductible expenses are allowable costs you’ve paid to help you earn income – for example, stationery, equipment, telephones. Your deductions are taken away from your assessable income to work out your taxable income – so you won’t get all of the money you’ve spent ‘refunded’.
What do tax offsets do? Tax offsets are entitlements which reduce the amount of income tax you need to pay. You may need to apply for these in your tax return in some cases; we’ll usually work out how much of an offset you’re entitled to based on your situation.
What records do I need to keep? During the financial year you'll receive documents you’ll need to help you prepare your tax, like payment summaries, receipts, invoices and contracts. You’ll usually need to keep these records for up to five years after you lodge your tax return in case we ask you to confirm information later. You can keep records electronically using myDeductions in our ATO app and backing up to the cloud, or by storing paper versions in a safe place.

You'll need to be organised when you’re ready to get started by having your documents ready - for example:

your pay-as-you-go payment summaries from your employer and Centrelink
records of other types of payments you may have received – like bank statements showing interest you've earned
any private health insurance statements you might have
records to support any deductions or tax offsets you might be entitled to.

You don't need to include your tax file number on your tax return, but it may take us longer to finalise your return if you choose not to include it.

If you lodge your return online (either in myTax or with a registered agent) a lot of this information will be pre-filled in your return if you can wait until after mid-August - this is the cut-off date for most service providers to send us your info. You may also need to phone us the first time you lodge your tax return online – our online services may not have enough information to verify you, so you’ll need to ask us for a linking code to be able to access myTax.

Hopefully this information helps explain some of the basics - let us know if you have any other questions!

How much tax should I pay on a second job? Claiming the tax free threshold.

AmandaE — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 00:16:47 GMT

I work two different part time jobs. Do I have to pay a higher rate of tax on my second job?

No, you don’t pay extra tax for having a second job. You will pay the same amount of tax on your income whether you have one single job or multiple jobs. So if you earn $1000 a week from a single employer, or from multiple employers, the tax you need to pay will be the same. At the end of the year when you do your income tax return, all of your income will be added together and we will calculate the tax you need to pay based on your combined income.

You can use the ATO’s online tax withheld calculator to find out how much tax should be withheld on our income.

Why does it feel like I pay more tax on my second job than my first job?

You will end up paying the same tax on your income irrelevant if you earn it through one employer or many. At the end of the year when you do your income tax return, all of your income will be added together and we will calculate your tax liability based on your combined income as a lump sum. The reason it might feel like you pay more tax on one job than the other could be because of the tax free threshold.

Basically, Australian residents for tax purposes receive the first $18,200 they earn tax free each year. This is known as the tax free threshold and equates to receiving the first $350 a week or $700 a fortnight income tax free from your employer.

You can only claim this from one employer at a time which means you cannot claim this from a second or subsequent employer. If you did, it would be double dipping and you would end up getting two tax free thresholds and probably a tax bill at the end of the year. If you're certain your total annual income from all employers or payers will be less than $18,200 you can claim the tax-free threshold from each payer. Read more information about claiming the tax free threshold.

As you don't claim the tax free threshold from your second employer, any income you receive from them will be taxed from the first dollar – you won’t receive any amount tax free amount from this employer. This might be why it feels like you are paying more tax on a second job.

What if I have changed jobs during the financial year. Can I still claim the tax free threshold?

Yes, you can change which employer you claim the tax free threshold from at any time. As long as you ensure you are only claiming it from one employer at a time, it will be fine.

You can claim the tax free threshold from one employer at a time, so if you change employers you will stop claiming it from the employer you left and you can chose to claim from your new employer instead.

If you stop working for an employer, you do not need to formally end claiming the tax free threshold with them – when they stop paying you they will stop giving you any tax free amounts as you are no longer earning income from them. When you commence work with your new employer, you will fill out a new tax file number declaration and you can select ‘yes’ to the tax free threshold to claim it through your new employer. There is no limit to how many times you can change your tax free threshold, as long as you are only claiming it through one employer at a time.

Tax Time 2018: Answering your frequently asked questions

AmandaE — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 01:22:00 GMT

Welcome to Tax Time 2018!

We know that there are certain questions people ask every tax time – welcome to our new Knowledge Base article series that’s designed to make it easier to find what you’re looking for!

Find the answers to tax return questions in the following knowledge base articles:

If you have other tax-related questions, why not ask our Community? We have a specialist Tax Time board for questions on how to complete your return, as well as a tax space where you can ask for general info on other tax topics.

I’ve lodged my return, what happens next?

AmandaE — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 05:53:41 GMT

If you’ve noticed the status of your tax return change this is quite normal and part of processing. There’s no need to contact the Tax Office, if the processing time is still within the service standard. Electronic returns are normally processed within two weeks.

There is information on the Tax Office website which explains what the various statuses mean. So, the key takeaway from this is, if you lodged your tax return less than two weeks ago then don’t contact the Tax Office. Let the full process run its course.

Tax Time 2018: What do I do if I made a mistake on my tax return?

AmandaE — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 01:23:54 GMT

Pobody’s nerfect. Whether you’ve forgotten to add something on your return or made some miscalculations, this article explains how you can fix mistakes quickly and easily.

We all make mistakes occasionally. You may need to correct the information you reported to us for a variety of reasons – because you made a mistake in entering a figure, failed to report some income, incorrectly claimed deductions, or received new information after you lodged a return.

Fortunately, it’s easy to fix mistakes on your tax return by requesting an amendment. In fact, most people can now correct their return online via myGov.

Requesting an amendment online

If you’ve noticed an error in your tax return after you’ve lodged, timing is everything – so if your return is already ‘balancing accounts’, it might be worth waiting until we’ve finished before you try to amend.

Once you’ve pinpointed the mistake:

Open the return containing the error
Find the relevant field and either
1. over-write the mistake with the correct information or
2. add or delete records as necessary.
Take the opportunity to check the rest of your return to confirm the rest of your information is correct
Click ‘Calculate’.

We’ll re-calculate your return based on the new information and send you a notice of amended assessment explaining the outcome. You don’t need to send us documentation explaining the reason for the changes unless we ask for it.

We usually process online amendments within 20 business days.

Requesting an amendment through your registered tax practitioner

Even if you prepare your original return yourself, if you’ve made a mistake and you’re not sure how to fix it, you can choose to hire the services of a registered tax practitioner to help.

Registered tax practitioners can work with you to identify any errors or missed information on current or previous tax returns and submit a request on your behalf. Because most tax practitioners lodge amendments online, we usually process them within 20 business days. Find registered tax practitioners in your area by searching the Tax Practitioners Board register.

Requesting an amendment by paper

If you can’t complete your amendment online for some reason, you have two options:

Complete a ‘Request for amendment of income tax return for individuals’ (if you’re an individual or sole trader) or
Send us a letter containing detailed information about the amendment(s) you wish to make.

If you send us a request for amendment by paper, it can take up to 50 business days to manually update and process your request.

What if the ATO made the mistake?

Yup, sometimes even we make mistakes – but we’re always happy to fix them! If you believe we’ve made a mistake on your return, the best thing to do is phone us on 13 28 61 between 8:00am and 6:00pm Monday to Friday to ask us to explain your notice of assessment. If we identify that the mistake is our fault, we can lodge a request for you and get it fixed without you needing to submit an amendment.

If you have a registered tax practitioner, they can also ask us to amend your return on your behalf.

Where’s my tax return?

AmandaE — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 01:56:40 GMT

Explaining timeframes, ‘processed’ and ‘effective’ dates and balancing accounts

If you’ve lodged online we’ll aim to finalise the outcome within two weeks. If you send us paper forms, it can take up to 10 weeks – while we manually enter and process your documentation.

You can use our online services via myGov to track the progress of your tax return in real time as it moves through the following stages:

Stage	Status and outcome
1	In progress We’ve received your return, and we’ve started processing it.
2	In progress – information pending We’re collecting information to help us complete processing your return. This may take several days. We may contact you if we need some extra information from you.
3	In progress – under review This status indicates that we’re reviewing your return to make sure everything is right before we finalise it. We may contact you if we need additional information.
4	Cancelled We are reviewing your tax return. This may include ensuring you have included all the information that has been reported to us. You should not attempt to lodge your return again.
5	In progress – balancing account Balancing accounts indicates that we have the result of your return, and that we’re calculating your refund or bill based on your account balance. Your return may still take a few more days while we review your accounts with us and other Australian Government agencies.
6	In progress – processing We’ve finalised your return and generating your notice of assessment.
7	Issued - $ Amount You’ll be able to see your notice of assessment in myGov, along with the effective date for payment if you’re entitled to a refund. Your refund will be sent to your nominated bank account.

What’s the difference between ‘processed’ dates and ‘effective’ dates?

The processed date is the date we finish processing your return and update your tax account.

If you’re entitled to a refund, the effective date is usually the date we send your refund to your financial institution. You’ll need to check with your financial institution to find out how long it may take for them to process your refund.

If you have a tax bill, the effective date will be the date your payment is due.

My return has taken longer than two weeks. What do I do?

We do our best to process tax returns within two weeks, but there are reasons why it may take longer – for example, if:

We need to check information in your return. We may need to contact payers, financial institutions, private health insurers or you to confirm or cross-check information in your return. You don’t need to take any action – if we need any additional information from you, we’ll let you know.
You’ve lodged tax returns for several years all at once. We need to process all of your returns so we can make sure your account is up to date before we issue any refunds or requests for payment.
You’ve entered into a debt or bankruptcy arrangement. If you’ve declared insolvency or entered into a Part IX agreement, we need to undertake additional checks before we can finalise your return. Check to make sure your insolvency practitioner advises us of your situation before you lodge your tax return.
We need to check in with other Australian Government agencies (like Centrelink or the Child Support Agency). We’re required to pay part or all of your tax refund to other agencies if there are outstanding amounts, and we’ll write to let you know if this is the case.

Where possible, we’ll let you know if we need you to take any action, especially if we need extra information from you to process your return. You don’t need to phone us to follow up on the progress of your return as you can use myGov to track the progress of your return.

I need my tax refund to pay my bills.

We know that people experiencing financial difficulties or serious hardship often rely on their tax refund to help pay for essential goods and services. If you can demonstrate that you’re experiencing serious financial hardship, we may be able to process your return as a priority.

If you don’t meet these criteria, you can keep up-to-date with the progress of your return via myGov.

Tax time 2018: How do I lodge my return?

AmandaE — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 01:42:10 GMT

Never lodged before? Have your circumstances changed and you need a hand to get your tax return right? We’re here to help make the process as simple as possible. Learn more about lodgment options, information you’ll need and how to get started.

There are two main ways to lodge your tax return:

Online using myTax
Via a registered tax practitioner

Lodging online using myTax

The easiest and fastest way to lodge your tax return is online using myTax – our online lodgment tool available through myGov.

You’ll need to create a myGov account and then link to ATO online services in order to lodge your return. Check out our instructional video on linking to our online services below:

If you meet certain criteria, you might be eligible for extra assistance from our Tax Help program. ATO-trained volunteers will help you complete your return using myTax at your nearest Tax Help centre. You’ll need to confirm your eligibility and phone us on 13 28 61 to make an appointment.

Lodging via registered tax practitioners

Did you know that registered tax practitioners are the only people allowed to charge you to lodge a tax return? All tax practitioners must be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) and comply with the Code of Professional Conduct. Tax practitioners may also be eligible to lodge your tax return after 31 October – but you must be registered as a client at their practice to get the extension.

Find registered tax practitioners in your area by searching the TPB register.

Tax time 2018: Do I need to lodge a return?

AmandaE — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 01:43:08 GMT

Not sure if you even need to lodge a tax return? While most people will need to lodge, certain groups of people won’t. Read the article below to find out what you’ll need to do this tax time.

Under our current tax system, most Australian residents can earn up to $18,200 a year tax-free. If you receive salary and wages or other Australian government payments, your payer will take this tax-free threshold into consideration when they withhold tax from your payments. However, if you earn less than $18,200 in an income year and haven’t had any tax withheld from your pay, or if you meet certain conditions, you may not need to complete a tax return.

If you received an Australian Government payment, allowance or pension, you may not need to lodge a tax return if your total annual income is below a certain amount. You may also not need to lodge if you were not a resident for tax purposes and did not earn any Australian income.

Our online “Do I need to lodge a tax return?” tool will ask a series of simple questions to help you work out what your tax return requirements are this financial year. You’ll need to know how much income you’ve received, and if any tax has been withheld from any payments. You can also print the results from the tool for your records.

If the tool indicates you don’t need to lodge a return, let us know by sending us a non-lodgment advice. The fastest way to do this is using myGov:

Log in to our online services
Select the ‘Tax’ tab at the top of the screen,
Roll your mouse over ‘Lodgments’ and pick ‘Non-lodgment advice’ from the right hand pop-up menu.

Pick the year you don’t need to lodge and complete the instructions on the screen.

You may also be able to claim a refund of franking credits or declare your worldwide income to establish your compulsory Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) or Trade Support Loan (TSL) repayment online.

If you’re confident you won’t need to lodge tax returns in the future (for example, as an Australian aged pensioner) you can tick the box on your advice form to let us know.

Once we’ve received your non-lodgment advice, we’ll update our records so we don’t send you any follow up reminders to lodge a tax return.

Welcome to Community Events!

AmandaE — Fri, 18 May 2018 06:26:18 GMT

Community events are awesome - they’re your opportunity to ask our specialist staff, experts and advocates questions to help you manage your tax and super affairs.

Make the most of your Community event experience by checking out our tips below:

New to ATO Community? Don’t forget to register for an account before the event starts so you can ask your questions as soon as you think of them. Decide on a username, enter your email address and pick a password that contains 8 characters and you’re good to go!
Once you’re registered, getting started is easy - just click ‘Ask us a question’ on the event board. We can’t guarantee that we’ll see your post if you comment on a thread we’ve already answered, so please start a new post each time you want to talk to us.
Check out our House Rules and Moderation Guidelines before you post. Our mods are here helping out, and if we come across comments that are offensive, bullying or in breach of our rules, we will delete them.
Remember, our guests are here to help. We do our best to answer event posts straight away, but sometimes we might need to check something before we get back to you. If we can’t give you an answer during the event, we’ll let you know when we’ll get back to you.
Have a question that doesn’t relate to the event? We have a whole Community you can look through – and you can even ask them your tax and super questions if you can’t find what you’re looking for!

We heart feedback, so if you have suggestions to improve our recommendations or just want us to run an event on a particular topic, drop us a line!

- Your Community Support team

Gifting cryptocurrency to other people

AmandaE — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 01:13:02 GMT

Question

What are the tax consequences (for me) if I give cryptocurrency to someone as a gift?

Answer

Our view is that cryptocurrency is neither money nor foreign currency. Cryptocurrency is considered to be a kind of property and an asset for capital gains tax (CGT) purposes.

If you own cryptocurrency, and you transfer it to another person, you’ve disposed of a capital asset and a CGT event has occurred. You've made a disposal, even if you haven't received any consideration for the transfer.

If you gift a cryptocurrency, you're taken to have received its market value at the time of the disposal as capital proceeds, and you'll need to work out whether you have made a capital gain or a capital loss on the transaction.

This is a similar scenario to the transfer of shares – if someone transfers shares to you, you become the owner of those shares. If you transfer the shares back or on to someone else, you disposed of the shares and a CGT event occurred.

Find more information on the CGT consequences of disposing of cryptocurrency at Cryptocurrency as an investment.

Transacting with cryptocurrency on behalf of someone else

AmandaE — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 07:04:30 GMT

Question

I’ve purchased and traded cryptocurrency for other people (who funded the purchases) and need to pass the currency back to them at some stage.

I’m hoping to clarify how to transfer ownership so that the currency isn’t considered to be my asset, and the real owner is liable to pay any applicable capital gains tax. As cryptocurrency can be stored almost anonymously I’m concerned that I may have difficulty clearly demonstrating the transfer of cryptocurrency assets leaving a wallet/exchange in my name and going to another person’s. How will you recognise ownership of the currency?

Answer

In this situation you’ll need to be able to provide documentation that demonstrates you purchased the cryptocurrency on someone else's behalf, at their request and with their money. This is the same whether the property in question is cryptocurrency, company shares or any other asset.

We recommend at least having a written agreement in place.

If you don't have any such documents that were prepared before or at the time you purchased the cryptocurrency, we suggest you contact our Early Engagement team to discuss your situation, or seek written Advice in a private ruling.

If you can demonstrate that the cryptocurrency was acquired and held for somebody else, transferring the cryptocurrency back to that person (the owner) would not be a CGT event.

Mining cryptocurrency

BreeH — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 03:49:15 GMT

If I start mining crypto and don't cash out before 30 June, how do I declare the Bitcoing and what value in my tax return? Can I offset equipment and electricity costs? How much tax would I pay?

Generally, when undertaking Bitcoin mining activities, it needs to be determined by analysis of your own activities as to whether this involves carrying on a business or not: see Are-you-in-business on our website for more information. If your circumstances are such that you are in the business of Bitcoin mining you will need to treat your activity the same way as any other business activity.

If you are carrying on a business of bitcoin mining:

All reporting to the ATO must be made in Australian dollars. To convert the value of Bitcoin to Australian dollars you can use the Bitcoin value as published by a reputable exchange on the date of the relevant transaction. You can find more information on our website about record keeping for Cryptocurrency.

Where you are in the business of mining bitcoin, any income that you derive from the transfer of the mined bitcoin to a third party would be included in your assessable income.

Any expenses incurred in respect to the mining activity – including electricity costs - would be allowed as a deduction. The cost of capital assets, such as hardware and software can be depreciated over their effective life.

If you are in business you may be able to apply the small business instant asset write-off to the cost of capital assets. For more information see Applying the $20,000 instant asset write-off or Deductions on our website.

As a miner carrying on a business any bitcoin that you acquire from mining is treated as ‘trading stock’. As in any other business, proceeds from the disposal of trading stock represent assessable income. Also, even if you don’t dispose of your bitcoin, an increase in the total of your trading stock value at the end of the year from any amounts at the start of the year is treated as assessable income, (while a decrease is treated as an allowable deduction). This is also referred to as ‘bringing your trading stock to account’ at the end of the year. There are three methods for working out the value of trading stock at end of the year. For information about valuing trading stock see information on our website about valuing-trading-stock.

Losses you make from a business of Bitcoin mining will be deductible against your other income, however losses you make will be subject to the Non-commercial loss provisions.

Your net income (roughly income less deductions) is the amount that is included in your assessable income, and you will pay tax on this income at your marginal rate.

If you have undertaken some Bitcoin mining activities in a way that is not part of a business your mined Bitcoin would constitute holding of an asset, and the Bitcoin you hold would be a be a capital gains tax (CGT) asset. This means that the CGT rules would apply. No deductions would be allowable. The CGT rules would need to be applied on the disposal of the Bitcoin. You can find more information about Cryptocurrency as an investment and how to work it out on our website.

Although you may view your mining activities as a hobby, the personal use asset exemption rules would not apply to exclude any capital gains made on disposal of the bitcoin. The exemption applies on the basis of how you use or keep the bitcoin that you have acquired from your previous mining activities. Even if your costs of mining the acquired bitcoin are less than $10,000, this would not fit within the definition of that of using or keeping mined bitcoin as a personal use asset. A personal use asset is defined as an asset “that is used or kept mainly for your personal use or enjoyment”. The primary situation that the ATO considers that Bitcoin can be used or kept mainly for personal use or enjoyment is where it is (acquired and then) kept temporarily in order to obtain personal use items- such as paying for goods or services with cryptocurrency. In your situation your main ‘use’ or ‘keeping’ of the bitcoin is not for personal use or enjoyment.

Can cryptocurrency be a personal use asset?

AmandaE — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 01:45:34 GMT

Question

Do you have to declare bitcoin gains if you acquired the bitcoin for your own personal use? Is it taxed? And at what rate?

Answer

Cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, is an asset for tax purposes, and there may be tax consequences if you sell it or use it to buy other goods or services. This means that, most of the time, when you dispose of cryptocurrency (by trading, selling or gifting) you’ll need to work out if you have made a capital gain or loss.

However, you may be able to ignore cryptocurrency transactions that are done for your personal use.

If you buy and use cryptocurrency solely to purchase goods or services like clothing or music, the cryptocurrency is usually considered to be a personal use asset, and there are no tax consequences.

Example : Personal use

Michael wants to attend a concert. The concert provider offers discounted ticket prices for payments made in cryptocurrency. Michael pays $270 to acquire cryptocurrency and uses the cryptocurrency to pay for the tickets on the same day. The cryptocurrency in these circumstances is a personal use asset, and there are no tax consequences for Michael.

Example : Investment

Peter has been regularly acquiring cryptocurrency for over six months with the intention of selling at a favourable exchange rate. He has decided to buy some goods directly with some of his cryptocurrency. Because Peter was holding the cryptocurrency as an investment, the cryptocurrency is not a personal use asset. This means that Peter will need to consider the tax issues connected with trading his cryptocurrency, and return any gains or profits in his income for the year.

Cryptocurrency is not a personal use asset if it is acquired, kept or used as an investment, in a profit-making scheme, or in the course of carrying on a business. It’s also worth keeping in mind that the longer you hold your cryptocurrency, the less likely it is that it will be a personal use asset.

If you do make a capital gain, you'll add that capital gain to your assessable income for the year and this may increase the amount of tax you need to pay. Because tax isn't withheld from your salary and wages to cover capital gains, you may want to work out how much tax you'll owe and set aside sufficient funds to cover the amount.

Special rules apply in calculating capital gains, and you'll need to ensure you keep accurate records to help you complete your tax return. You can’t make capital losses on personal use assets.

Changes to the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House

KelbeM — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 04:35:54 GMT

Small Business Superannuation Clearing House

The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) joined ATO online services on 26 February 2018. It is no longer accessible with user ID and password authentication.

ATO online services gives you access to a range of tax and super services with one logon, including lodging activity statements and updating your business registration details. As a result of integrating with online services, the new SBSCH has functionality including the ability to sort employee listings and payment by credit card.

Small business, sole traders and individual WPN holders

Secure access to these services is through either of the following authentication credentials used to identify you and your business:
• Manage ABN Connections via myGov account
• AUSkey.

You can use our decision tool to determine which credential will suit your business.

Tax professionals

Tax professionals can use the SBSCH on behalf of their clients via the Tax and BAS Agent Portals.

Got questions?

Ask any questions that you may have about the SBSCH or share your experience over on the Super Clearng House discussion board.

Guide to claiming your departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP) online - frequently asked questions

AmandaE — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 04:56:56 GMT

How can I claim my DASP?

If you visited Australia on a temporary visa, and you earned superannuation while working here, you may be eligible to claim your super back when you leave the country. The eligibility requirements for claiming a DASP will depend on whether your super is held by a super fund and/or by the ATO.

You’ll need to make sure your visa has ceased (for example, your visa is cancelled or has otherwise expired). You’ll also need to have left Australia before you can lodge your claim.

You can claim your DASP online if you have departed Australia using the online application whcih is free of charge.

You can also make a claim by sending your super fund a paper form. You’ll need to pay a fee to the Department of Home Affairs to obtain an Immigration certificate if you send a paper application where your super balance is $5000 or more.

When will I receive my DASP?

Your DASP should generally be paid within 28 days of sending us your application, as long as your super fund has all the required information. If you are claiming back more than $5000, your fund will ask for more information, so it’s a good idea to check with them before you leave Australia to prepare the documents they require.

If we’re looking after your super in a special holding account, we’ll send your payment to an Australian bank account. If you don't have an Australian bank account, we’ll send you a cheque. We can’t send your DASP to an overseas bank account by EFT. Contact us if you haven’t received your ATO-held super within 28 days of lodging your application (please allow more time if your payment is being made by cheque, as it may take longer for mail to be received overseas).

If your super is being held by your fund, you’ll need to contact them directly to follow up on the progress of your application.

How will my DASP be taxed?

The DASP tax rate will be determined by each super fund individually, as each super fund is making a separate payment.

Each super fund will assess your application and determine the tax rate to apply based on the information it holds in relation to your contributions. If you have held a WHM visa, your super fund will check whether the DASP includes amounts attributable to super contributions made while you held a WHM visa. If it does, the super fund will apply the DASP WHM tax rate. If it doesn’t, the super fund will apply the DASP ordinary tax rates.

Your DASP will be taxed as per the table below from 1 July 2017:

Payment component	DASP ordinary tax rate (for non-WHM)	DASP WHM tax rate (for WHM with super contributions made under the WHM visa(s)
Tax-free component	Nil	Nil
Taxable component – taxed element	35%	65%
Taxable component – untaxed element	45%	65%

Because DASP is a ‘final’ tax, you don’t include the payment or the tax withheld on your tax return.

I received an email saying my application has been saved but not sent. Why?

There are two situations where you’ll receive an email about your application “not sent”:

where DIBP’s records indicate you still have an active visa (even if it isn’t a work visa).
Where you’ve selected to ‘save’ your application without sending it to us.

You can ask DIBP to cancel your visa by emailing Super.Hobart@border.gov.au, including:

a statement that you wish to cancel your visa
your full name and date of birth
your passport number when you visited Australia
the subclass of the visa you wish to have cancelled
your current residential address
the date that you departed Australia.

Find out more at http://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/.

Once your visa has been cancelled, or when you are ready to submit your application, you’ll need to return to DASP online to submit your application. Go to the online application system and enter your details with your shared secret question to resume your saved application.

I keep getting an error message saying ‘DIMIA link unavailable’. How can I complete my claim?

This error message generally occurs where we’re experiencing issues with the online application system. Please try again in a day or two.

If this is an ongoing issue, you can choose to complete a paper application.

My former employer didn’t pay all the super I was entitled to. How can I claim this back on my DASP?

If you’re eligible for super guarantee contributions from your employer, your employer must pay 9.5% of your ordinary time earnings to your super fund every quarter (up to a maximum limit). If you believe your employer hasn’t paid the right amount of super to your fund, you should:

Check that you’re entitled to super
Work out how much super you should have been paid
Talk to your employer – ask how much they’ve paid, how often they were making payments and that they have the correct fund details.
Talk to your super fund and ask for your most recent member contribution statement
If all else fails, lodge an ‘unpaid super enquiry’ with us. We’ll investigate your situation and work out how much super your employer should have paid.

There are a number of steps we need to take during your enquiry, and so it can take some time to finalise this process. We’ll keep you updated on the progress of your case and let you know once it’s finalised.

You can submit a claim for your DASP once your unpaid super enquiry has finalised.

I’ve completed my DASP, but now my superfund is asking for more information.

If your super balance is more $5000 or more, your fund will need certified copies of your proof of identification documentation as per the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing Act 2006. Most people find it much easier to get documents certified before they leave Australia.

Some funds may ask for additional information before processing your DASP. It’s a good idea to check with your super fund before you lodge your application so you can provide them with all the information they need to help prevent delays.

If you have any issues with the fund’s requirements, ask them to provide additional information or lodge a complaint with your fund. Where you can’t resolve your complaint with your super fund, you can choose to contact the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal for more information and support.

I’ve heard that if I claim a DASP I can’t return to Australia in the future. Is this true?

No, claiming your DASP when you leave Australia won’t prevent you from applying for a visa in the future.

If you have any questions about your current or future immigration status or visa, contact the Department of Home Affairs.

Guide to claiming your departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP) online - Superannuation details

AmandaE — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 05:18:14 GMT

The ‘Superannuation details’ section of our guide will help you:

enter information about your superannuation fund
complete your application and
successfully lodge your application.

Click here to return to the ‘Claim information’ section of this guide.

Superannuation details

Once you’ve created a new application, you will need to provide as much information as you can so we can match you to the account details we have on file for you. You may receive one of two screens when you add an application, depending on your situation.

Screen 1 is the default screen. You’ll need to provide the ABN for your superannuation fund so the system knows where to forward your application. If you don’t know the ABN for your superannuation fund, you can use the Super Fund Lookup’ link.
1. If you haven’t claimed your super from your fund within 6 months of leaving Australia, and your visa isn’t in effect, your super fund may send your money to us. To apply to the ATO, you’ll need to provide our ABN 51-824-753-556.
2. If your super fund is still managing your super for you, you’ll need to complete as many fields as possible to allow us to send your claim to your fund. You should be able to find all this information on any member contribution statements your fund has sent to you.
3. If you don’t have any information about your super fund, the best place to start is to contact your former employer. They should be able to tell you which fund they paid your contributions into. If your former employer doesn’t have this information, you can phone or Skype us on +61 2 6216 1111 between 8:00am and 5:00pm (AEST) Monday to Friday – let the operator know you’re calling from overseas when you call and they can arrange a call back.

This screen will also ask for employment information – the name, address and ABN of an employer who contributed to your super fund. If you worked for multiple employers, you still only need to include details for one of them.

Screen 2 will display when we identify any unclaimed super accounts held by a super fund based on your TFN. Select ‘Pay to self’ if you’ve left Australia and are not a permanent resident of Australia, or a citizen of Australia or New Zealand.

- If you don’t have any information about your super fund, the best place to start is to contact your former employer. They should be able to tell you which fund they paid your contributions into.

Once you’ve filled in as much information as possible, you’ll need to click ‘Next’ to proceed. Only tick the box ‘I would like to save my details and return to this application at a later date’ if you’re not able to complete your application right now.

You should land on the ‘Add an application’ page from earlier. Check the section called ‘New applications’ to make sure that your details have saved and click ‘Next’ to move forward.

You’ll be directed to a page asking if you have left Australia. Click ‘Yes’ to proceed. This should take you to the confirmation screen, which will ask you to check the following details:

Fund name
Email address
Postal address.

If everything is correct, click ‘Submit’.

If you need to change any of your details click the ‘Back’ button. It may take a few minutes for your submission to go through – please don’t refresh your screen or close this window.

Once everything has been sent successfully, you’ll see the ‘Application complete’ screen. You’ll also receive an email to confirm that your application has been successfully submitted.

Congratulations on completing your DASP application! Our frequently asked questions guide is here to answer questions you might have on:

the progress of your application
how you’ll receive your payment
how your payment will be taxed.

Guide to claiming your departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP) online - Claim information

AmandaE — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 05:32:12 GMT

The ‘Claim information’ section of our guide will help you:

enter your contact details
report your visa details.

Click here to go back to the ‘Getting started’ section of this guide.

Claim information

Now that you’ve entered your personal details, you’ll need to provide us with your contact details, including:

Your email address.
Your current postal address – DASP payments may be made by cheque, so it’s important to confirm this information before you send us your application.
Your most recent Australian address and previous Australian address – we use this information to help confirm your identity and process your payment.
Tip – if you don’t remember your most recent Australian address, use the address to which you had your tax file number posted.
Other names you’ve been known by – this information can help us match your details if you were known by another name to your former employer or super fund.
Your preferred payment method – you can tell us how you’d prefer to receive your DASP, however the option you select may not be possible. If your super is held by your super fund, you’ll need to check with them how they can make your payment. We can only pay DASP into Australian bank accounts; if you’ve closed your Australian accounts, we will send your payment by cheque.

Once you’ve checked the information you’ve entered on this page, click ‘Next’ in the bottom right corner.

Departing Australia superannuation payment: contact details screen (part 2)

From 1 July 2017, DASP will be taxed at a different rate for working holiday makers in certain circumstances. In the next screen, you'll be to see what visa information the DIBP has recorded for you. You'll see one of these two sentences:

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has advised that you never held a working holiday maker (WHM) visa.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has advised that you have held working holiday maker (WHM) visa(s).

It's very important that the information about your visa information is correct, because your super fund will use this information to work out which DASP tax rate to use for your payment.

If the information reported on this screen is incorrect (for example, you were incorrectly advised that you held a working holiday maker visa), you should not submit your application. You'll need to contact the DIBP and request they update your details by submitting Form 1194 Certification of immigration status and/or request to cancel a Temporary Resident visa (PDA, 290KB).

When completing Form 1194, include a note with as much information as possible regarding the visas you have held. The DIBP will investigate your visa information before emailing you and your super fund a correct Certificate of Immigration.

After you have sent Form 1194 to the DIBP, you can either:

Send a paper application to your super fund. Your super fund will process this once they have received the Certificate from DIBP. If the visa information on the Certificate issued by DIBP is still incorrect, you'll need to follow up with DIBP by reply email. You'll also need to contact your super fund to let them know that incorrect visa information was supplied by DIBP.

Wait until you have received the certificate from the DIBP, then return to your online application once the visa information has been updated. Your super fund will process the application when they received it.

Click ‘Next’ to proceed.

If you entered your TFN at the start of your application, you’ll see a list of your current super accounts. If you haven’t entered your TFN, the next page displays information about any previous applications you’ve submitted. To create a new application, you’ll need to click ‘Add another application’ and ‘Next’ to generate a new application.

We're finished filling out the claim information section, which means there's only a few more screens to go! Click here for tips on completing the superannuation details section of your application.

Guide to claiming your departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP) online - Getting started

AmandaE — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 05:27:06 GMT

If you’ve worked and accumulated super while visiting Australia on a temporary visa, you can apply to have your super paid to you as a departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP) after you leave.

This guide provides additional information to help you complete our online DASP application form. For common questions on claiming a DASP, including how to claim a DASP, when a DASP is paid, and how your DASP is taxed, visit our Frequently Asked Questions guide.

Getting started

Generally speaking, you can claim a DASP if all of the following apply:

you accumulated superannuation while working in Australia as a temporary resident
your visa has expired or been cancelled
you have left Australia and
you are not an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or a permanent resident of Australia.

If you meet all of these criteria, you can apply to claim your super from your fund using our online application system.

Your superannuation may also have been transferred to us if your fund hasn’t been able to contact you for longer than six months. Check the information on eligibility for claiming a DASP from the ATO here.

Your DASP is subject to a final withholding tax, which will be withheld by the super fund or the ATO when your payment is made. These amounts are not refundable and shouldn’t be included on your income tax return.

There are a few steps involved in completing the application, so we’ve developed this guide to make it easier. To lodge your DASP, you’ll need:

access to an internet connection
your passport details
your superannuation account details – including your fund’s Australian Business Number (ABN) and your membership number

If you enter your tax file number (TFN) in your application, we can search for any unclaimed super you may have in Australia. Our system uses your TFN to search for your super accounts and then pre-populates your fund account information into the application so all you have to do is check and submit. If you choose not to enter your TFN, you’ll need to manually create an application for each super account and enter all your account details for each application.

To begin, head over to https://applicant.tr.super.ato.gov.au/applicants/default.aspx?pid=1. The landing page contains instructions to help you prepare your application as well as general information about the application process.

Once you’ve had a chance to read through the information, click ‘Next’ to move on to the next page.

The second page contains important information about your right to privacy and how we use information you include in your application.

You’ll need to declare that you have read and understood this information to go onto the third page, where you’ll need to complete the declaration that you are lodging the DASP application for yourself.

From here, you’ll be directed to a page requesting information about your passport details, contact details and your tax file number. You can choose to not include your TFN, but without your TFN our system can’t search for any unclaimed super you might have. You must include:

Your name as it appears on your passport and visa
Your date of birth
The country that issued your passport and
The number of the passport you used to enter Australia.

When you select ‘Next’, you’ll be sent to the verification page. Click ‘Next’ on this page – we’ll check your information with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) to make sure you are eligible to claim a DASP. It may take a couple of minutes to finish this search, so please don’t refresh or close the page until the search is complete.

Once DIBP have confirmed that you’re eligible to claim a DASP, they'll display your visa details on the screen.

You’ll then be asked to provide an answer to a ‘shared secret question’. You’ll need to answer this question each time you open your application, so make sure to write the answer down and keep it in a safe place. If you forget the answer to your question, you’ll need to email us to reset it.

That’s the end of the ‘Getting started’ section! Click here for information on how to complete the claim section of your DASP.

How do I sacrifice super into my spouse's super fund?

AmandaE — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 01:40:15 GMT

Salary sacrifice into super

Salary sacrifice is an arrangement with your employer to forego part of your salary or wages in return for your employer providing benefits of a similar value. The sacrificed component of your total salary package is not counted as assessable income for tax purposes, however it will be taxed in your super fund at 15% (which can be less depending on your current marginal tax rate).

Check out our website for more information on how to salary sacrifice into your super.

Just note that not every employer allows salary sacrificing and some might count your salary sacrifice as part of their obligations to pay Super Guarantee of 9.5% of your ordinary time earnings. It's worth checking this out before entering into an arrangement.

Contributions splitting with your spouse

You can ask your super fund to transfer up to 85% of a financial year’s ‘taxed splittable contributions’ to your spouse. These are generally:

any contributions your employer made for you (your 'before-tax contributions'), including any salary sacrifice contributions; or
any personal contributions you made for yourself that you have advised your super fund you will claim as a tax deduction

Find more details on how to do this here.

It's a good idea to talk to your current superannuation fund to see if they offer contribution splitting - they should be able to help you with the process, but both you and your spouse will need to be members of the same superannuation fund.

There are many finanical considerations to think about here, and in some circumstances it might be better to claim the spouse contributions tax offset using 'after-tax' money (i.e. what you receive in your pay) or even to claim a personal super contributions deduction (if eligible) and then split these contributions. You may benefit from contacting your fund, registered tax professional or a financial advisor depending on how complex your personal financial affairs are.

Community FAQs

AmandaE — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 02:59:30 GMT

New to online forums? Learn new terms, navigation skills and helpful tips and tricks here!

What's a...?

Thread

A thread is an online conversation. One conversation can be a single thread or split into multiple threads, depending on how or when the conversation changes direction or topic.

Board

A board is a section of the Community where all conversations on a particular topic are grouped – for example, our General Tax board is where users can ask general tax questions. Boards help members locate threads that interest them.

Tag

Tags are keywords that members can attach (or "tag") to a thread, topic or use to help them find similar conversations or old threads. Tags help members locate content that interests them - the more members who add tags, the more searchable our Community becomes.

Badge

A badge is an icon that shows that a member of the Community has passed a particular milestone - for example, where a Community member has posted five or more questions to the Community.

Knowledge Base

Knowledge Base articles contain information certified by the ATO on a specific topic (usually drawn from member questions, comments or responses). Knowledge Base articles can also be written by Community Support, Community Moderator or Community Manager if we see that certain topics are causing confusion amongst members.

ATO Certified post

A post will be flagged as "ATO certified" when it has been validated by the ATO as being technically correct.

Registered tax practitioner

If you see the below tag next to a user name in a post you can be sure the information is coming from a registered tax professional. If you're an agent, email us at atocommunity@ato.gov.au for more information on how to make your profile stand out!

Where can I find...?

The best answer

When a post has been answered and acknowledged as a "best answer", it will move from the "unanswered" to the "answered" section on the front page of the Community. A post will remain as "unanswered" until the original poster or our Community Support team marks a response as the "best answer".

Other Community member details

You can view user details by clicking on a community member's username. It will show you when they joined, badges they've received, any posts they've made and kudos they've received.

My rank

Your rank will be greyed out next to your username. Your rank will change over time as you interact more with the Community, posting questions and providing responses to others.

More information

Can't find what you're looking for – or have more questions? Email us at atocommunity@ato.gov.au and we'll do our best to find the answer and get back to you.

Tips and tricks

Like a post or article - thank the author!

If you find a post or article particularly helpful, why not "like" it and say thanks to the author? At the bottom of each post will be a "thumbs up" icon - click on this to "like" and say thanks to the author.

Think a comment needs review? Let us know.

If you see behaviour or posts that just aren't right, and you think the Community team needs to step in, let us know by clicking "Report as inappropriate" at the bottom of the post. Tell us why you think it is inappropriate and click "notify the moderator", and we'll review and moderate as required based on our house rules.

Have ideas or suggestions to help us improve? Send us feedback

Suggestions can be made at any time to help us make improvements. Simply select "feedback" on the top right hand corner of the home page. - ATO Community

Terms of Service

KelbeM — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 03:15:08 GMT

The ATO Community (the ‘Community’) is subject to these Terms of Service (TOS) which you agree to by accessing the site. The TOS may be amended without notice to you. You must regularly review the latest version of the TOS, as it will be the terms upon which you access the Community at all times.

The Community presents information provided by registered users. We make no representations as to the accuracy of the information presented that has not expressly originated from and been endorsed by the ATO. For the avoidance of doubt, ATO endorsed content will be clearly identifiable by all users. By using the Community, you agree to bear all risks associated with the use of any information, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such information
We do not pre-screen or regularly review posts, but we have the absolute right (though not the obligation) to modify and/or remove, without notice, any content published.
By agreeing to the TOS, you agree to be subject to the House rules.
The Community will send you emails providing you with information about conversations in which you have participated or conversations and websites in which you might be interested based on your past site activities. By agreeing to the TOS, you consent to receive these emails though this does not affect your ability to opt out of receiving emails by activating the 'opt out' option included in each email.
If you choose to provide us with information that identifies you, this is personal information that is subject to our Privacy Policy.
ATO endorsed content is subject to the ATO’s Commitment Statement.

How to update your Community profile

AmandaE — Wed, 24 May 2017 00:19:51 GMT

Looking to personalise your account? Make your profile your own by updating your details on your profile and changing your profile picture!

The basics

Let’s start by clicking on your username in the top right-hand corner of the website and select ‘My settings’. From settings, you can update your personal profile and switch your avatar.

Personal Profile

Your personal profile allows you to keep your account safe and choose what you share. You can choose to change your:

email address
password
personal information (including your real name, location and personal email. Please keep in mind that this information is public and searchable)
your login options - set up your personal computer to automatically log you in, or turn off auto-login on public computers.

Screenshot of email preferences in personal profile

Avatars

Your avatar is the icon or figure that represents your profile in the Community. We’ll automatically allocate a random avatar when you create your profile, but you can change your avatar as often as you like by selecting from the available options.

Screenshot of avatar (profile picture) options

The best part is that updating your avatar is super simple. Just go to ‘My settings’, select the ‘Avatars’ tab and click on your preferred option.

Next steps

Now that you have the basics down, we have some additional feature you might be interested in. If you’re looking into a particular tax topic, or want to get alerts when our Community members post on a certain thread or article, you can set up useful tags, subscriptions and bookmarks so you can stay up-to-date!

Subscriptions & Bookmarks

Stumbled across an interesting article? Maybe you want to keep an eye on a particular post. You can choose to get alerts on new content by subscribing to a particular board or bookmark topics and posts.

You can opt to subscribe or bookmark on any post you find on the Community. If you’ve forgotten what you’ve signed up for, you have the option to edit and delete bookmarks and subscriptions in your settings. Click on ‘Email Subscriptions Options’, check the topics you want to delete, then click ‘Delete Selected Subscriptions’. It will then ask you to ‘confirm’ you want to delete the email subscription.

Screenshot of subscription and bookmark options in personal profile

Expert

Preferences

More familiar with forums? Use the ‘Preferences’ tab to set up your preferred look and feel. The ‘Preferences’ section lets you decide how to lay out threads, displays, language and privacy settings to help you search and find content faster.

Our ‘Help and Support’ knowledge base is here to answer frequently asked questions about how the Community works. Check out our other articles on our house rules and navigating around the Community while you're here!

How to register your account

AmandaE — Tue, 02 May 2017 07:23:33 GMT

Welcome to our Community! You’ll need to register with us to be able to ask questions, make comments and provide feedback on our boards. Registration is quick and easy - follow the steps below to create an account to join the ATO Community.

Click on ‘Register' at the top right-hand of the page
Register button on ATO Community
Choose your preferred login name for the Community. It must be at least 2 characters long and can include letters, numbers, dashes and underscores. You don’t have to choose your own name as your login, but any alias you do choose needs to follow our house rules. Choose carefully, because you’re unable to change your username in the future.
Registration screen
Create a password for your account. It must be between 6 and 20 characters long and must not contain your login name. We recommend using a combination of letters, numbers and special characters (like @#%*) to strengthen your password security.
Re-enter your password to confirm.
Enter a valid email address. This must be a current / valid email address that you have access to, because we’ll send you a verification email to this address. You’ll need to open this verification email and click on the link before you can post to the Community.
Re-enter the email address to confirm.
Read through the ‘Terms of Service’ and tick the box confirming you have read and accepted the terms.
Click ‘Register’.
If you don’t complete a field, or if you have any errors in your registration, the page will highlight the areas that need to be corrected in red. You’ll need to update this information before you proceed.
You’ll receive a ‘Welcome’ email at the address you provided during registration, asking you to click on a link and confirm your details. We recommend you save this email as it provides important details of your registration.

That's it! Once you have created an account you can start asking and answering questions within the Community. Don't forget, you can update information in your profile at any stage.

- Community Support

House rules

KelbeM — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 02:17:45 GMT

Hi, and welcome to our Community! We're here to help make tax and super easier. Make sure you read our terms of service. We've developed some guidelines to foster a positive, helpful environment.

Good manners don't cost anything, but they mean a lot

Please be patient, calm and kind to each other. We welcome a healthy discussion but if you disagree with a statement or idea, please challenge the information rather than the person providing it.

Do your homework

Material found in our Community has been written by our Community – we read all threads, but we can only vouch for the accuracy of ATO certified content as it is covered by our Commitment Statement. Some material applies to specific years or may have changed. It's worth checking https://ato.gov.au or with a registered tax professional before you make decisions based on material you find here.

Stay on track

Sometimes conversations go 'off track' – and if you weren't there from the beginning, it can be hard to catch up. Make it easy for other members looking for answers by starting a new thread when you start a new conversation.

Stay safe online

Personal details – like your tax file number – are just as valuable as the money in your savings account. Do not disclose your personal information or share this information with others in the Community (including us!)

One person, one account

We're open, honest and transparent, so we ask the same of you. Using the one account across the Community makes it easier for us to provide feedback and send you kudos for your thoughts and recommendations!

Tax practitioners appreciation

Hello fellow tax enthusiasts! If you're a registered tax practitioner, your knowledge and experience is invaluable to our Community and we'd like to make sure everyone knows it. Email us at atocommunity@ato.gov.au for info on how to make your profile stand out.

Employees

Hello fellow tax enthusiasts! You are our greatest asset – our knowledge and skill base. If you're interested in participating in our Community, familiarise yourself with our employee guidelines.

Time out!

Our manager and moderators are here to make sure that the Community is a safe and welcoming environment for everyone. There are certain behaviours we won't allow:

Posts that are inflammatory, threatening, abusive, defamatory, harassing or offensive
Posts that infringe on intellectual property rights (including copyright)
Posts that are unlawful or encourage others to take unlawful actions
Repetitive ('spam') posts
Posts that contain or link to viruses and other malware
Posts that offer commercial solicitations
Posts that misrepresent our staff, our Executive or the Australian Government.

If we find or are notified of a post that breaches these guidelines, we may decide to edit the post, delete it or call 'time out' by placing a block on a user's account. If there are multiple breaches, or where a post is highly offensive, we reserve the right to ban users from our Community permanently. Where we can, we promise to advise you of actions we've taken on your profile in writing. Read our moderation guidelines for more detailed information.

We may provide additional directions if we need to so we can maintain a safe and welcoming environment for everyone.

We promise to lead by example, and we want you to hold us accountable – after all, this is your Community too!

- Community Manager

Moderation guidelines

AmandaE — Mon, 29 Jul 2019 07:17:10 GMT

Hi! We're here to try to help make tax and super easier. You can also ask us questions on our social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). We believe in being open, transparent and accountable, so please take a moment to read our guidelines – we hold everyone, including ourselves, to the same standards.

Play nice!

We live in a diverse world, and our differences are what make our community stronger. We ask you to take those different views into account when you interact with us and each other in our digital communities.

We reserve the right to remove comments that are:

Offensive, abusive or profane
Targeting race/ethnicity, religion, gender, nationality or political beliefs
Fraudulent, deceptive, misleading or unlawful
Not related to our business, products or services
Political in nature
Found to contain personal information of individuals or entities

English, plain and simple.

You know TFW* you can't understand what someone is saying? Help us avoid misunderstandings by writing your questions and comments:

In plain English
In normal sentences and paragraphs
Without using textspeak and technical jargon

Everyone makes spelling errors (especially when you're on your phone!), but if we think pretty much anyone could understand what you're saying, we'll leave your post alone. However, if we don't understand you, or where there's a really obvious error, we'll either edit your post to correct it or remove your post and ask you to re-submit.

^{*TFW = That Feeling When. It took us a while to work it out too.}

Parlez-vous Anglais?

Explaining tax and super can be tricky enough as it is, so we ask our followers to use English when they post. Using one common language can help us make the most of everyone's knowledge and experience.

You can find tax and superannuation info in multiple languages over at https://ato.gov.au/otherlanguages. If you need to discuss your personal tax information, speak to us in your preferred language by phoning Translating and Interpreting Services on +61 3 9268 8332 between 8:00am and 5:00pm (AEST) Monday to Friday and ask for the ATO.

ID Withheld

Personal identification details – like your tax file number or phone number – are extremely valuable. In the wrong hands, your personal details could be used to commit identity fraud in your name.

Do not disclose your personal information or share this information with others in the Community (including us!)

Spam I am

What do you do if you receive a spam email? Delete it unopened and unread? We reserve the right to do the same thing if you post spam on our platforms.

Spam is annoying, distracting and in some cases illegal. Spam includes any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, chain letters, pyramid schemes, unauthorised surveys, contests or any other kind of solicitation. It can also include multiples of the same post – either to get our attention or 'make your point'.

The ‘Do Not Post' register

We try to take care of our Community and we ask you to do the same. The following kinds of posts will be deleted upon detection:

Abusive, threatening or trolling. If you're not sure whether someone might take offense to something you've written, we suggest walking away from your keyboard for 10 minutes and reconsider.
Vandalism. Offensive or pornographic text, images or gifs have nothing to do with tax or super, so they aren't allowed on our platforms.
Malicious software. This refers to but is not limited to software viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots, or any other computer code, files or programs that are designed to attack our software, hardware or telecommunications equipment.

It's worth pointing out that most of the activities above have legal repercussions. If you break the law on our platforms, we are required to report them to the appropriate authorities.

CTRL+C and CTRL+V free™

The temptation to “borrow” someone else's idea can be very strong. Some people have a knack for writing an excellent explanation – they can explain a complex concept in two sentences that just make perfect sense.

Ideas, written and art works, inventions, names and images are all covered by intellectual property (IP) laws – including copyright. We're required to remove any material found to be in breach of IP law, and may also be required to provide law enforcement with your details.

Feel free to share your own ideas and content – but if you do reference someone else's work, make sure you credit them.

Information is power

Our Community is agreat place to share information and personal experiences with tax and super. You can ask questions, talk to others in similar situations and crowd-source information. We encourage you to share information such as quotes from reputable sources, links to our website, and anecdotes about what you've experienced.

However, please be aware that sharing information and providing advice are different. Sharing information is usually of a general nature, whereas providing advice must consider individual circumstances and may differ from person-to-person. Under Australian law, you must be registered with a professional industry body (such as the Tax Practitioners Board, Australian Securities and Investments Commission or the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority) to provide financial advice.

If you're giving someone a list of instructions or steps to take to build wealth or avoid paying tax, we reserve the right to remove these posts to protect our members.

Commercial-in-confidential

Do you hate ads and clickbait? We do too. That's why we ask our members and visitors not to advertise their products and services or seek new clients on our platforms.

If you see something, say something

We do our best to read new posts and questions, but sometimes things slip through the cracks.

That's where you come in. Report behaviour you think breaches our guidelines using our ‘Report inappropriate content' button. We'll review the content against our rules and our terms of service, and will take appropriate action.

We'll get in touch to let you know if one of your posts has been flagged for review and explain what action needs to be taken. We promise to tell you if we've edited your post or why it's been deleted. In serious cases, we may suspend your account for a period of time to help you ‘cool off'. We'll explain why and let you know when you can re-join us.

If you're a repeat offender, our Community isn't for you, and we'll block your account permanently.

Armchair moderation

We're here to help and to make sure our Community runs smoothly. Part of our job means that we'll have to make some tough decisions sometimes, and that some people won't agree with us. We're okay with that.

If you've reported a particular post or behaviour, we promise to look into it. We might not agree, or our rules might not cover that particular issue, so we might decide not to take any (visible) action.

If you don't see a response from us, or see the expected change on a post or user, you don't need to flag it again or take it up with the other person. We will not comment on actions we've taken while acting as moderators, especially where they impact other users.

Negative comments or threads about our moderation practices or posts criticising our moderators are likely to be locked or blocked and may result in temporary suspension.

Artificial inflation

If you contribute in our Community, adding value by answering questions, sharing ideas and supporting others – you're already a superhero! As you interact more with the Community, you'll move up the ranks over time, and your rank doesn't define your skills and knowledge.

Trying to cheat our Community by boosting or bumping your posts artificially (by creating alternate accounts or repeatedly posting the same thing over and over again) doesn't help us. Or our Community. Or you. We will lock threads, delete posts and/or ban you if you repeatedly try to beat the system.

So long, and thanks for all the tax info!

Communities are fun places to visit, but you might decide that you've learned all you can or don't have the time to contribute anymore. Email us at atocommunity@ato.gov.au to let us know you're leaving, and we'll take care of everything else.

From the bottom of our collective heart, thank you for being involved. We hope you found our Community helpful! Thanks for taking the time to read through these guidelines. We hope you enjoy your time with us! - Community team

Employee guidelines

KelbeM — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 01:39:30 GMT

Welcome to our Community!

Hello fellow employees! You’re our greatest assets – our knowledge base and institutional memory. Thank you for coming to help our Community in your own time and of your own volition – we appreciate your drive and dedication.

Your statements and recommendations carry a lot of weight here, so we’ve written these guidelines to define our expectations of you, and what you can expect from us.

What we expect of you

Be truthful

Our approach to our Community is to be open, transparent and accountable. We ask that if you’re an ATO employee who chooses to write comments or post answers here, you let our Community know who you are. It’s as simple as adding a single sentence as a macro:

This is my personal view; I’m an ATO employee who chooses to help out here in my own time.

This shows that you take pride in your work and our community, and helps instil a sense of pride in others as well.

You can add macros to your account by scrolling over your username in the top right corner, selecting ‘My settings’ and clicking on ‘Macros’. Create a title for your macro and paste the sentence above into the ‘Macro 1’ field. And voila! You’re ready to post.

Be cooperative

Our Social Media CEI, APS Values and the APS Code of Conduct apply here, just as they do when you interact anywhere else. If we believe you’ve breached the CEI or Code of Conduct, we may take action. Read the very important documents on myATO. If you’re not sure where to find them, have a chat with your manager.

Take reasonable care

When you provide information in the Community as an ATO employee (even with a disclaimer) the people you’re talking to have an expectation that this information is accurate and applies to their situation. We ask you to be mindful of this and take reasonable care when responding to or interacting with our Community. If you do decide to help out another Community member by suggesting an answer to their question, you might find it useful to refer them to content on ato.gov.au – it’s our single source of truth, and makes it easier for them to find answers to other questions they might not have asked.

If you find yourself in an awkward situation in our Community (for example, another member asking you for confidential information), send an email to atocommunity@ato.gov.au for help! We can assess the situation against our moderation guidelines and take the appropriate action.

What you can expect of us

Treat you fairly and reasonably

When you join our Community, we want your experience here to be positive and rewarding too! You’re automatically entitled to the same rights as any of our other members, and we promise to treat you fairly and reasonably. We also won’t tolerate any unwarranted negative comments from other Community members. Please report any negativity or bad behaviour to us and we’ll take any necessary action as per our Moderation Guidelines.
If you find that you need additional support due to your participation in the Community, you might find it helpful to speak with your manager or consider contacting our Employee Assistance program provider.

Help you to get things right

We know you’re here to help us out. It’s in our best interest to help you get things right! These employee guidelines are a living document. We know that we may need or want to make changes over time, and we value your input. If you have questions or recommendations to help us support you, update these guidelines or improve the Community overall, contact us by emailing atocommunity@ato.gov.au.

Explaining the decisions we make

If we need to take any action on your account, we promise to explain our reasons to you in writing. We’ll explain why we’re contacting you, which secton in the moderation guidelines apply and what action we need you to take to continue participating in our Community.

Respect your right to a review

If you disagree with any feedback or decisions we make about your account or behaviour, you have the right to request a review. You can contact our Community Manager to plead your case and ask us to reconsider our actions. Please note, though – the CM’s decision is final.

That’s it! Don’t forget, if you have extra questions or comments about:

Setting up your profile – check out our Getting started page
Improving the Community – use our Suggestions board

Thank you for joining us.

– Community Manager