FAQ

ATO aims to process electronic lodgments within 2 weeks however, there may come times when this takes longer and manual processing needs to occur. This can be due to many reasons but some of the most common circumstances are when we need to cross check information.

It’s important to know that if you have a tax debt and you’re due to receive a refund or credit, ATO is required by law to use the refund to reduce your debt. If you’ve paid too much either via your return or by making payments towards your account, the extra amount will be refunded to you. If ATO has applied some or all of your refund against any outstanding liabilities, you should receive a statement of account along with your notice of assessment to explain what has happened to your refund.

ATO uses information about your spouse and family to help work out whether:
you are entitled to a rebate for your private health insurance
you are entitled to the seniors and pensioners tax offset
you are entitled to a Medicare levy reduction
you must pay Medicare levy surcharge.
If you’ve made a financial contribution to raising your children, they may be considered to be a ‘dependant’ for Medicare Levy Surcharge purposes. Children are generally only considered to be dependants if you are paying child support when they aren’t living with you.

ATO aims to process amendments lodged electronically within 20 business days. ATO will contact you if they need more information or your amendment is really complex. If the service standard has passed and you haven’t received your new notice of assessment you can phone ATO on 13 28 61 between 8am – 6pm, Monday – Friday and select options 2 then option 2 to speak with an operator about your return.