If you made a mistake on your tax return, you can amend your lodgement. If you think it is the ATO that has made a mistake – give them a call, they might be able to fix it with out having to lodge an amendment.
Common errors when doing your own tax returns may include:
- An error answering a question
- Forgotten to include some income made or a capital gain
- Forgotten to put in some deductions, or claim an offset
- Circumstances changed after you lodged such as revised payment summary
If you need to lodge an amendment, wait until you receive notification that your original tax return has been processed – this would be your Notice of Assessment. You can use the amendment process to correct these mistakes after this, as it will help reduced processing delays.
Keep in mind you can only amend a tax return within 2 years of the date on the Notice of Assessment.
If the amendment reduces the tax you owe, you will receive a refund (unless you have other tax debts, then it would offset that). If it increased the tax you owe, the ATO will treat it was a ‘voluntary disclosure’ and this will need to be in an approved form such as online amendment in ATO online services through myGov.
If you want to amend your tax return and it has been over two years, or you don’t agree with the ATO decision about your tax affairs, you will need to lodge an objection. If you are an individual tax payer, the easiest way to submit an objection is by using the ATOs Objection Form – for tax payers.
It helps you provide the correct information and layout.
Ultimately, we do recommend using a professional to lodge your tax returns for you to hopefully avoid any of this!