Hey I was thinking of putting some money into my ATO tax account (the one on MyGov -> ATO) as tax time is coming up.
Does anyone know if say I have $100 in this account and when I lodge a tax return this $100 was never used, would I get this money back after I lodge my tax return or would it just stay in this account?
Maybe to use the Coles mastercard gift card?
yeah so i have a bunch of these visa/mastercards with very small balances left and i know i'll have to pay extra on tax so thought why not put that money into my tax account now.
I was just curious if say when i lodge my tax return and that additional money i deposited into my tax account was never used would it simply be carried over to next FY (this makes more sense) or would it come back as a tax return. The latter seems a bit suss but curious if anyone knows and has tried it before?
it's fine to put your ATO account in credit. Let me know if you can find a way to use those gift cards with ATO though. Because the last time I check, they can't be used with ATO.
@Slippery Otter: cheers. One thing I'm happy to be wrong about.
Edit: wait, was that a question? Otherwise, anymore details?
Excuse my ignorance, but does this mean you can effectively use the 10% off Coles Mastercards to "pay" your tax, then get it all (minus whatever excess tax you need to pay) back to your bank account at tax time?
My thoughts exactly - which seems a bit suss right?
@Mr Joker: You can - through MyGov->ATO - manually request return of excess funds transferred back to your linked bank account. You don't have to wait till you do your tax return and receive a refund. Remember any credit in your ATO account is your money. The ATO will use it only towards tax debt.
@MITM: Then in that case this is basically an unlimited money glitch 🤣.
I'm sure the ATO has risk measure in place to flag suspicious activity like this and they'll just audit you.
@Mr Joker: Huge speculation here.
1 of 2 things I think could happen.
The reasons I thought of this are examples where people have been charged for ATM’s giving extra cash away. The first time is not the customers fault but the subsequent withdrawals have resulted in charges.
I think you might be fine if you have a tax debt and use vouchers to pay for it. I only think you’d raise flags if you kept doing it and withdrawing manually.
I would certainly do some research to make sure it’s not illegal.
@Sinnerator: Tax can be paid by credit card. Overpayment can be requested to be returned at anytime. No fraud happening here. PAYG is tax paid in advance for a future liability estimated on a past period. There is a due date for PAYG but nothing to say you can't pay well in advance of the due date.
easy money laundering ?
ah
It's not money laundering. It's your own money obtained transparently and legally.
Either OP is so clueless that he is confused what the "ATO tax account" is or this is a scam.
You realise you have an account with the ATO for your tax? You can BPAY etc into it.
OP is asking what happens if they overpay.
This is not a 'bank account' that you "deposit" into. You pay the ATO using your ATO reference number.
Yes you can BPAY into ATO's "bank account". Same for your electricity and gas provider.
I don't understand why people make things so difficult.
🤦
A hand shown pressing against the head of a person, commonly written as facepalm. Used to display frustration or embarrassment at the ineptitude of a person or situation.
May be used in a similar context to the acronym SMH (shaking my head), or in relation to the Picard Facepalm meme.
remember there was this myth that if you got a fine in the mail, you send them 5c over your actual fine amount, and then they send you a refund cheque for that 5c BUT if you don't cash it you don't lose demerit points??
LOL young me believed that for a very long time in the late 90s and early 2000s
If you 'deposit money' then its treated as payment of tax just as any other tax payment. When they do the tax return, its just calculated as tax payable less tax paid. If you have paid more than is payable, regardless of when or why or how, then you get it back as a refund.
It happens with people who have to pay PAYG based on estimated income from non taxed sources (eg dividends or business income). You pay (say) $10k tax per quarter based on estimates by paying the ATO, but at the end of the year it turns out you should have paid $9k tax and you will get your $4k back.
actually, to edit myself outside the edit window - for PAYG you have a liability which you pay, it just turns out that the liability was incorrectly calculated. But if you dont have a liability and pay something towards tax, i dont know what happens. Potentially the ATO will just refund it immediately. But, I guess, if the ATO refunds the full amount, you are then ahead of the game with cash in hand rather than a card.
You must request it be returned otherwise it stays in your tax account. ATO assumes any payment is for a tax debt (what else would it be for) now or in the future so they don't just send it back if you have no tax debt/liability.
I don't know the answer OP, but please report back
I called the ATO just to ask and they said if i pay into this account it'll just bounce back to my nominated bank account. I'm just going to try and see what happens lol
Honestly seems a bit suss it feels like money laundering 🤣
Hey mate, did you test it out and find out?
It should work as a credit balance against your next tax return. If you register for an ABN you get another account you can pay into - so you can pay GST (if registered) or PAYG withholding into it
Nice try ATO! XD
OP’s username checks out?
I have nothing to add other than say hi to all the federal agents from the AML unit reading this.
Not sure using the ATO to launder money is the smartest of ideas.
Can’t you pay phone or utilities bill in advance instead?
Probably less noticeable to the ATO.
You could pay them in advance, but you run the risk of the phone/utility company unilaterally deciding to refund all overpayments back onto your prepaid gift cards (as this person found out the hard way).
Previous OP paid several thousands to AGL in gift cards. Which was silly. I was talking the balance on the gift cards $15 dollars or so.
If ATO receives money that is not due, most likely they will transfer it back.
You could always ask the ATO, it is only a phone call.
They did that
I overpaid my tax account a little to test this out last year (using prepaid gc), however I did not get the overpaid amount back with my tax refund. It’s still sitting in the same account as credit. I called and they said they could only return the money back to the original card, not a bank account. Correct me if I’m wrong as I would love to get that money out.
Arrange your affairs such that you owe tax at the end of the year.
Interesting. I called them and they confirmed that if I don't owe anything for taxes the amount sitting in the account would be given back to me via tax return
ok I'll bite - why are you doing this?