Non Lodgment Advice: Do I need to lodge a tax return or not?

When is a tax return not necessary?

If you earned $18,200 or less in the past financial year AND you had no tax withheld from that income, you might not be required to lodge a tax return.

But be careful: This does not mean you can ignore your taxes. Everyone needs to either lodge a tax return or lodge a “non lodgment advice” form.

Not sure which one applies to you? Read on…

Did you earn less than $18,200, but you still paid tax?

If yes, then you should definitely lodge a tax return. If you paid tax on income you earned during the financial year, you should always lodge a tax return. And, if you earned less than $18,200 it’s likely you’ll get all of the tax you paid back!

What is a Non Lodgment Advice?

A non lodgment advice (also known as an NLA) is a form that is sent to the ATO if you do not need to lodge a tax return. This document tells the ATO you won’t be lodging a tax return this year and ensures they do not mark you down as having an outstanding tax return. This is important as the ATO can impose penalties or fines on outstanding tax returns.

Do I need to lodge a tax return?

Is your total income is below the tax-free threshold? If yes, you probably don’t need to lodge a tax return – unless you’ve had some tax withheld, in which case the tax return will get your money back for you!

Do I need to lodge a tax return even if I didn’t work?

If you did not work during a financial year, you may still need to lodge a tax return, and you won’t be able to lodge a non lodgement advice. Other income paid to you that could be classed as assessable income incude:

• interest earned from bank accounts
• dividends and other interest paid on investments
• some payments from Government agencies such as Centrelink
• capital gains tax (CGT)

How can Etax Accountants help?

We can help you work out whether you need to lodge a tax return this year. And, if you don’t need to do a tax return, we’ll submit the required ATO non lodgment document for you – for FREE! Unlike most tax agents, Etax Accountants does not charge any fees for simply lodging a non lodgment advice form. All non lodgment advice submissions to the ATO through Etax cost $0!

Please note, at lots of tax agents, when they say eg. “from $45” they mean, that’s what they charge for non lodgement! But you can get that done for free at Etax.

Next steps:

1. Simply register your details and select the return year.
2. Enter your basic details, up to and including bank details (for any refund you may receive).
3. Click “My Messages” in the menu at the top the page, click “Send new message”, choose the subject “Other”
4. In the message area, type something like, “Do I need to lodge a return this year?” then click send.

After that, our accountants will check out your taxes and get back to you with some advice. If they find that you need an NLA, they’ll do it for you – for free.

If your details require a tax return, they’ll be happy to do that as well, for a surprisingly low fee.

We’ll do the rest!

You can read more about Etax fees here.

When you enter your details in our Etax return, an Etax accountant will help you with a non lodgement advice if that’s what you need. Otherwise, you’ll be all set to lodge a tax return and get your tax refund.