Tax returns - getting rebates
Give your students the right advice when they ask you about tax and tax returns. It may help them save on tax.
If a student has more than one employer, each one must give them a Payment Summary.
At the end of the financial year (June 30 each year), employer will distribute a Payment Summary to all employees. This is an official document which shows the gross (pre-tax) amount of earnings and tax instalment deductions made on the employee's behalf during the year. If a student has more than one employer, each one must give them a Payment Summary. They must be given to all employees by July 14 each year.
It is very important that students keep their certificate because they will need it to claim for a refund. They keep the summary for their tax records.
If a student changes their address, they must make sure they give their employer a new postal address where their Payment Summary can be sent.
Older employees refer to this as a "Group Certificate", the name it used to be called.
The Tax Office has good online advice about whether or not someone needs to lodge a tax return. There are some circumstances when you may not need to, for example:
- The employee earned less than the tax-free threshold ($6,000 for most people) and the employer did not take any tax out of their pay
The Tax office has a web page for young people, which may help them understand exactly what they have to do:
http://www.ato.gov.au/youth/