PAYG withholding variation for dummies 2014

S

s0805

Hi Guys,

First time doing the tax variation this year....so please forgive my ignorance....

Looking at past forums seems like there are some panalties if I've get my estimate wrong, how do you guys manage that,
i am thinking of not declaring some of my deduction ( e.g. work related expenses, donations etc...) to give me that buffer.

I've requested the application for 2014 from ATO as they don't have pdf file on their website (not sure why)...but somehow i manage
to get pdf for previous year and hopefully most of the Q's are same...

under income and tax offsets section it is asking for 'Australian annuties and supperannuation income streams'- do i have calculate how
much my compulsary 9% contribution will be and add here or something.....

under deduction for rental property it is asking for 'Decline in value of depericiating items' i gather i put the amount
given in my depericiation report listed for 2013-14 yr only, is that right?

Any tips/suggestions/advise to get this right would be helpful....

thanks
S0805
 
I manage it by underestimated deductions/overestimating income.
They arent accepting paper apps anymore, you have to complete it online....
No, you dont need to calculate employer super, I reckon that bits only for those receiving income from super etc
Depreciation, yup.

Id suggest keeping it simple. Make it similar to previous years tax return. You dont get in trouble if you got the mix wrong, (claimed depreciation, when it wasnt applicable, but the same amount of interest was for instance) just if you have underestimated tax in total.
 
thanks tobe.

I m not planning to paper application, but wanted to see the latest for and Q's to make sure i understand them correctly before applying....from my understanding you'll have to apply for at least every fin year unless some drastic change to your situation or something.....
 
I've requested the application for 2014 from ATO as they don't have pdf file on their website (not sure why)...but somehow i manage
to get pdf for previous year and hopefully most of the Q's are same...
Click to expand...

Do it as a e-variation even if the software the ATO use is archaic. It's quicker and lodged online straight away and you get the confirmation it has been lodged.

Go to this ATO page - http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?doc=/content/6650.htm
 
Tony, if I do e-variation...i guess i can attach the depericiation report and my payslip and send them electronically? any other documents you need to supply.....
 
s0805 said:
thanks tobe.

I m not planning to paper application, but wanted to see the latest for and Q's to make sure i understand them correctly before applying....from my understanding you'll have to apply for at least every fin year unless some drastic change to your situation or something.....
Click to expand...

Once you begin the online version, you can save your progress and print the form (as a PDF if you like).
 
s0805 said:
Tony, if I do e-variation...i guess i can attach the depericiation report and my payslip and send them electronically? any other documents you need to supply.....
Click to expand...

You don't have to attach depreciation reports or pay slips.

Its all just your estimates for each.

In the end, you are signing off on it, so as you say leave a little buffer.

One year, I got the calculations a little off, but there was no penalty, and no problem doing the variation for the following year.
 
Apparently the penalty is if your estimate is more than 25% out. My accountnat says though that they've never worried about anybody overestimating it.

You do get to vary your estimate through the tax year- so if it's hugely wrong by May, just go in and change your estimates then.

Estimates can become more complex when there's trust distributions as well.
 
AXXO said:
Do it as a e-variation even if the software the ATO use is archaic. It's quicker and lodged online straight away and you get the confirmation it has been lodged.

Go to this ATO page - http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?doc=/content/6650.htm
Click to expand...

The ATO online form was very annoying - crashed twice before we finally got ours lodged!

But is by far the quickest way, as our letter came in the mail about a week later.

You can print it out and keep a copy of what you've lodged. Then in May, review the figures and amend if needed.
 
I am too in the same situation - last year got my accountant to do it for me (who had to do it after our tax appointment as she didn't know how! Sigh....won't be going back there this year).

So being that she didn't know how to do it i was kind off offput and heard that ATO can stop you from doing them in the future. Good to know someone else is going to have a go.

Just really worried i will stuff it up :/ Need to look into this again!
 
I did my hubby's variation on paper last year and pretty much copied the figures that the accountant had used the year before. It was very easy. Then in July we bought another IP that will require me to have my own tax variation. Again I followed the accountant's general bits but used the figures for the new house. In order to have a buffer, I deliberately left out any depreciation amount.

For 2014 I did it by eVariation and there is a thread here if it can help you. Saved myself nearly $500 on accountant's fees with GST and got the approval from the ATO about two weeks later.

http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87677
 
Ok i have just had a look at the e-variation. Few questions, they may be obvious but i'm new to all of this :/

Ok so i work two jobs - and the variation just goes to the main employer, just want to make sure ive done the following right. And since i have a variation in place currently.
- Section B Q9 - Gross payment per period? I have put my gross pay from main employer only for the fortnight....?
- Section B Q10 - Tax withheld per payment? I have a current variation in place so is this the tax withheld before my variation is in place (i.e. using the fortnightly tax table that is the value i should enter?) or the current tax being withheld with my variation in place?
- Section E Q1a(i) - Annual income - here i have included my gross salary from both jobs? But excluded rental income as that is in a later question.

And then other general questions:
- Section D Q6 - Amount of deductions - this is the total of all of my expenses including insurance, interest, depreciation, etc?
- Section D Q7 - Number of investment units purchased? Only have the 1 property so i assume 1?
- Section F Q1a/b - Work related expenses? I use my car for inspections etc so i use the log book method - do i put this amount in car or travel expense or does it not really matter?
- Section F Q3 - Expenses - insurance and rates? I'm guessing i put my water & esl expenses in with rates and insurance?

What would be the best way to keep a buffer? Only put half of my depreciation in or keep it off completely? I'm guessing i will have to keep it out of both sections - total and the split up of expenses.

Any help/advice would be appreciated. Now that i've had a good look at the form it actually doesn't look as daunting as i thought it would be :) Cheers!
 
Ploengy said:
Ok i have just had a look at the e-variation. Few questions, they may be obvious but i'm new to all of this :/

Ok so i work two jobs - and the variation just goes to the main employer, just want to make sure ive done the following right. And since i have a variation in place currently.
- Section B Q9 - Gross payment per period? I have put my gross pay from main employer only for the fortnight....?
- Section B Q10 - Tax withheld per payment? I have a current variation in place so is this the tax withheld before my variation is in place (i.e. using the fortnightly tax table that is the value i should enter?) or the current tax being withheld with my variation in place?
- Section E Q1a(i) - Annual income - here i have included my gross salary from both jobs? But excluded rental income as that is in a later question.

And then other general questions:
- Section D Q6 - Amount of deductions - this is the total of all of my expenses including insurance, interest, depreciation, etc?
- Section D Q7 - Number of investment units purchased? Only have the 1 property so i assume 1?
- Section F Q1a/b - Work related expenses? I use my car for inspections etc so i use the log book method - do i put this amount in car or travel expense or does it not really matter?
- Section F Q3 - Expenses - insurance and rates? I'm guessing i put my water & esl expenses in with rates and insurance?

What would be the best way to keep a buffer? Only put half of my depreciation in or keep it off completely? I'm guessing i will have to keep it out of both sections - total and the split up of expenses.

Any help/advice would be appreciated. Now that i've had a good look at the form it actually doesn't look as daunting as i thought it would be :) Cheers!
Click to expand...

B Q9 - Gross payment from all employers eg per week
B Q10 - Tax withheld from all employers eg per week
Starting from 1.7.13, old variation expires 30.06.13, so it's the the normal gross & tax
D Q6 & Q7 - Does not concern you if you only have rental properties, it's for other types of investments
F Q1a/b - only relates to work expenses as in expenses in relation to your EMPLOYMENT
F Q3 - All rental expenses go here, yes put there.

Your buffer is up to you as your situation is unique from other taxpayers, I'm not your accountant and I don't charge $500 or more for this stuff.
Also if you have more than one employer you adjust tax from only the one employer, the one taking highest tax out per week would probably work
 
Ploengy

I'm not qualified to even start answering any of your questions specifically.

Your aim in submitting a variation forms will be to try to pay the right amount of tax as you go. If you pay too much tax, that's not a big problem except for your cash flow- that may or may not be important to you.

If you are working two jobs, you should have your second employer taking a larger proportion of tax out than the main employer. You may find that you will achieve the same result as submitting a waiver form by just changing the way the second employer deducts PAYG tax- just give him a revised TFN declaration form.

If nothing much has changed from last year, just use last year's tax to estimate what should be taken out. If you didn't have depreciation last year, just reduce your estimated taxable income by the depreciation amount.

You have a 25% margin for error. And if you get it wrong, just fix it up by May or June next year.

Actually you may be better off to hold off for this Financial Year- there's not too much to be gained by doing all that work now. Get your tax done quickly, and do it next year based on that.
 
geoffw said:
Ploengy
Actually you may be better off to hold off for this Financial Year- there's not too much to be gained by doing all that work now. Get your tax done quickly, and do it next year based on that.
Click to expand...


Or get your tax done in July/August as Geoff said and then submit a tax variation for the rest of 2013/14 based on what your accountant puts for the 2012/2013 year.
 
Hi Axxo,

Thanks for all the tips, helped me understand it all alot better - just one more question in regards to Section F Q1a/b - you say it only relates to work expenses as in expenses in relation to your EMPLOYMENT but i also keep a log book for any mail runs or bank runs i do in my car so i guess i better put these in that section - i use log book - so car or travel?

And yes i will have a think about the buffer.

Geoffw - i have not heard of the waiver form before? And yes i am getting taxed higher from second employer.

Geoffw and Angel - Yes i probably will wait until after FY, just wanted to suss it all out. I keep a spreadsheet with all of my IP stuff anyway so pretty much have all the info, just need to know how to do it all :)

Thanks everyone for the advice :)
 
Hi Ploengy

Driving the car to the bank and post office will be car expenses, cents per klm. Are these tasks related to one of your jobs? I do these things for our IPs on my way home from my day job so they don't count as tax deductable for me. Actually I use internet banking and correspond via emails so almost never need to go to the bank or post office.

We claim trips to the accountant, visits to the properties and visits to meet with the property manager or mortgage broker.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Paul@PFI
PAYG Variation
Replies
0
Views
945
Paul@PFI
Paul@PFI
F
What is tax deductable for a rental property? variation
Replies
18
Views
2K
fullylucky
F
U
Starting a portfolio
Replies
8
Views
2K
joanmc
J
T
Help an accounting dummy please
Replies
2
Views
729
AXXO
AXXO
J
Help with what to do with a windfall
2
Replies
32
Views
3K
johnpendles
J
Back
Top