Australian Tax Office (ATO) provides a free program (called e-tax) that you can use to calculate and e-file your tax return. How good is that! No more paying $39.95 for QuickTax or an equivalent.
As Australian tax year ends on June 30th, personal taxes must be filed by October 31st. If you have an accountant prepare your tax return, you can wait until the end of April to file your taxes. Talk about procrastinating!
Unlike in Canada, in Australia you only pay income tax to the federal government. It does not matter which (Australian) state you live in, you pay the same personal tax rate everywhere.
Current Australian personal income tax rates for 2010 are:
| Taxable income | Tax on this income |
|---|---|
| 0 – $6,000 | Nil |
| $6,001 – $35,000 | 15c for each $1 over $6,000 |
| $35,001 – $80,000 | $4,350 plus 30c for each $1 over $35,000 |
| $80,001 – $180,000 | $17,850 plus 38c for each $1 over $80,000 |
| $180,001 and over | $55,850 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000 |
Everyone who makes over $20,000 is charged a medical levy of 1.5% in addition to the above personal tax rates. On top of that, you will be charged additional 1% if you don't have private health coverage AND you make over $73,000 (if you are single) or $146,000 (combined family income). As you can see, health care is free, but you pay for it up front.
As this was my first year to file taxes here, I could not e-file my taxes but had to do them the old fashioned way. Luckily, the e-tax software was able to print out the completed return using the information that I had already entered. All done!
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