Year after year, the Australian Tax Office refines and updates their rules and regulations for personal income tax in Australia. With July 1st fast approaching we’ve decided to take a look at the 2011 tax return changes and how they will affect you in preparing your upcoming tax return.
Our expert accountants identified the following 2011 tax return changes that will have the greatest impact on Australians this year:
- Low income tax threshold: The low income tax threshold has been increased to $18,839 for individuals and $31,789 for families. This essentially creates a tax free earning threshold of $18,839.
- Self-Education Expenses: Individuals can now claim a deduction for their study expenses if they received Youth Allowance to study full time and declare it on their tax return.
- Education Tax Refund: Individuals with a child at primary school can claim $397 and those with a child at secondary school can claim $794.
- Donating to Disaster Relief Funds: Gifts of $2 or more to a disaster relief fund are deductible if the appeal is endorsed by the ATO and is a Deductible Gift Recipient. Please check with the ATO if you are unsure if your donation falls into this category.
- HELP/HECS Discount: From 1st January 2012, the discount available to university students electing to pay their student contributions up front will be reduced from 20% to 10%.
- HELP/HECS Repayment: The bonus on making extra voluntary debt repayments to the tax office of $500 or more will be reduced from 10% to 5%.
We hope that this short overview on the 2011 tax return changes have cleared up any of the questions you may have. If you have any further questions or issues please email us on [email protected] or call us on 1300 693 829.
