In these early months of tax season the ATO has let go some interest snippets of information. It would seem that there are still many fraudsters out there, only to willing to part you of your hard earned money and the government of its tax revenue.
Illegal Early Release of Super
Some promoters are only to willing to convince you that you CAN withdraw money from your super and you CAN pay them a big commission to do it. All too often the clients end up with large fees (say 20%) taken from their fund plus misappropriation of their super by the promoter and/or penalties from the ATO. This is a terrible result. People should be warned (and the ATO are doing this now) that super can only be withdrawn under limited circumstances and it does not cost a fortune to withdraw it – all you need is some quick advice from your fund, accountant and/or a financial planner and it won’t cost you the world.
Illegal Tax Refund Fraud
Fake payment summaries claiming huge tax refunds, education tax refund claims out of the blue, enormous deduction claims… basically – forget about it. The ATO systems have now developed to such an extent that they are picking up any of these odd patterns and blocking them on the spot. Unfortunately, for those of us with “unusual situations” who claim large deductions for genuine reasons, your tax refund many be delayed while they do some checking. Our hint to you is to prepare for the ATO call – yes, they do call you up based on the phone number provided in the tax return. If you can explain clearly over the phone your refund will be out to you soon and ATO action minimised, or at least provide documents asap. Otherwise your wait could be many, many weeks.
Do you have tax issues that need resolving?
We have dealt with the ATO under at all levels and are knowledgeable about what to look out for and what to avoid. Contact us to talk about your tax concerns.
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