The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is warning taxpayers that you risk any tax refund being delayed or adjusted if you lodge your return before your income statement is marked as ‘tax ready’.

Assistant Commissioner Tim Loh explained that the ATO sees many mistakes in early July as people rush to get their tax returns done.

“You can lodge on 1 July, but you are punting with your tax return by risking delays to any refund you are owed,” he says. “If you forget to include everything, you may end up answering questions from the tax office.

“We pre-fill some of the information in your tax return to help you to get it right the first time. We pre-fill information such as your wages, health insurance and interest from banks.This process is usually finalised by late July.”

Waiting a few extra weeks can make lodging your tax return online quicker and easier, Mr Loh says.

The ATO says that last July, more than 140,000 taxpayers had their 2020-21 returns amended.

“People who lodge in July are twice as likely to have their returns adjusted by the ATO,” Mr Loh says.

Each year, from late July onwards, most information from employers, banks, government agencies and health funds are automatically loaded into tax returns.

To check if pre-filled information is available and to confirm if income statements are ‘tax ready’, visit the ATO app or log in ATO online services via myGov.

“Once the information we collect is available, all you need to do is check it and add anything that’s missing,” says Mr Loh. “This will give you time to find receipts from the past 12 months, which you can upload to the myDeductions tool in the ATO app, then upload straight to your tax return.

“Waiting for the ATO to upload information means people don’t have to roll the dice when they lodge.”

For more information visit: ato.gov.au/prefillavailability to find out when pre-fill information is available, and ato.gov.au/taxessentials.

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