Progress report 6 - income tax returns since 1 July 2011（FROM ATO）

LENNY_DONG

http://www.ato.gov.au/corporate/ ... ontent/00289094.htm


Latest figures as at close of business 10 August 2011
2011 year returns

Returns received since
1 July 2011
Returns finalised since
1 July 2011
Number of refunds issued since
1 July 2011
Value of refunds issued since
1 July 2011

3,506,000
2,474,000
2,261,000
$5.24 billion



Previous year returns

Returns received since
1 July 2011
Returns finalised since
1 July 2011
Number of refunds issued since
1 July 2011
Value of refunds issued since
1 July 2011

333,000
480,000
243,000
$1.39 billion



The latest on processing

Since 1 July 2011 we have finalised around 2,954,000 returns in total.

In the past week we have received 747,000 lodgements including 698,000 returns for the 2011 year, and have issued 655,000 refunds with a value of $1.54 billion relating to the 2011 year.

E-tax has continued to grow in popularity, with 1,225,536 lodgements received to date, an increase of 5.03% on last year.

A major feature of e-tax is our pre-filling service, which allows taxpayers to download information from a range of providers including financial institutions, employers and Government agencies including Medicare. Last year 72% of e-tax lodgers chose to pre-fill and the service continues to improve with more information available earlier this year.

Processing is continuing according to schedule. We will continue to keep you informed each week during tax time.

Why some returns may take longer

Some returns take longer than others to finalise, for example if:

we require more information or need to cross check data with Centrelink or the Child Support Program (it can take up to three days to check information with another Government agency)
it is a complex tax return and requires a large amount of manual checking by a tax officer, or
it is identified as being potentially fraudulent or including overstated claims.
Errors in a tax return can also delay your refund. Some common errors include:

forgetting to include your date of birth
supplying incorrect bank account details
forgetting to include any name change from a previous year's return, for example in the case of marriage, and
forgetting to include interest from a bank account, or income from a previous job.
To check the progress of your tax return you can call our automated service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 13 28 65 for personal tax returns and 13 72 26 for business tax returns. Upon calling this service you will be asked to enter your Tax File Number so please have this ready before you call.

Fraudulent or over-claimed refunds

Our use of risk models helps us detect potentially overstated or fraudulent claims for refunds.

We have stopped over 49,000 returns with total refunds claimed of around $190 million that are believed to be potentially fraudulent or include overstated claims.