Hi community,
I was away from the country and not earning an income in Australia for the 4 years between May 2018 and May 2022. I had not turned off my PAYG tax installments and these amounts had been accumulating as debt with interest on top.
As the time period for amendment of this period has passed I think my case needs to be escalated. Am I right in thinking that this debt should get wiped out?
Hi @Aaardvark
Yep! That's an accurate assessment. Each quarter of PAYGI does auto-finalise and this is why that debt has built up.
It sounds like you haven't lodged the tax returns for those years, is that right? Generally, if there had been no income you'd do a non-lodgment advice but, in this case, you should still lodge those tax returns even if it's all zero. Once processed we'll balance out those PAYG instalments and this should wash out the debt.
Hi @Aaardvark
Yep! That's an accurate assessment. Each quarter of PAYGI does auto-finalise and this is why that debt has built up.
It sounds like you haven't lodged the tax returns for those years, is that right? Generally, if there had been no income you'd do a non-lodgment advice but, in this case, you should still lodge those tax returns even if it's all zero. Once processed we'll balance out those PAYG instalments and this should wash out the debt.
Hi Steven, thanks for the response. I have lodged everything now and I don't see anything actionable in my ATO account. I recently requested an escalation on the case and I'm now waiting for it to proceed.
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