Any business generating some form of revenue has to pay taxes and present the relevant financial authority of the country it’s operating in with its financial records. This is done with the help of tax returns, which are a series of documents that reflects various financial details over the fiscal year. Tax return filing isn’t easy and people regularly make mistakes. These are some of the most common ones:
Delayed Filing
A wide number of businesses and individuals get done with their income tax returns fairly close to the deadline. This is a dangerous approach, especially considering the extensive paperwork in the process that you have to be aware of. It’s smart to have a tax accountant working on it as early as possible so that you’re free of any errors.
In case you don’t submit your tax returns by the due date, the ATO will start charging you as the days go by, with the amount going up significantly depending on how overdue you are.
Missing Details
It’s natural for people to make a lot of mistakes on their tax returns and the ATO allows people some opportunity to lodge a complaint and make some corrections. In case these errors slip by you and make it to the ATO past the complaint lodging period, you’ll be required to resubmit a fresh batch of documents. People often forget a section or two, which is expected considering the hefty amount of information they have to go through.
The best way to deal with this process is to utilize previous year’s reports for any information that hasn’t changed so that your work is easier.
Making Mistakes
Calculation mistakes are common across tax returns and can often slip by. If you fail to lodge a request to resubmit, you can be charged with a penalty from the ATO. Unless you’re an account, dealing with the Taxation Office tax return papers can be a hassle for you.
Either use some sort of tax software or have a tax accountant deal with the headache of making these calculations for you.
Failure To Follow the Tax Code Changes
While the ATO’s tax code doesn’t change that significantly, it’s still important to stay up to date on the changes that do take place and how they differ from past iterations. Failure to keep up with the latest iteration of the tax code can be a recipe for disaster. You’ll be updated on the ATO’s website or your tax preparer will keep a log of the latest reports so that you’re up to date.
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