Tax Return:: Which Payslip Should I Send to My Accountant for My Tax Return?

Hello, this is your tax and super specialist, P&C Tax Professionals.

One of the most frequently asked questions by our clients each financial year is which payslip to send to your accountant when you apply for your tax return. It is perfectly normal to be unsure of this taking into account the number of payslips you would have received during the year from your employer(s). Therefore, in today’s blog post, we will like to answer this very important question for those of you who are interested in applying for your tax return through an accountant.

The common mistake that is made by many people when it comes to submitting their payslip to their accountant is that they send through the payslip they received during the first week of July. Using the 2022 financial year as our example, you only need to send through the last payslip you received on or before 30th June 2022 (whichever is the closest date to 30th June 2022 but which does not go beyond this date). The important fact to note here is that you must look at the payment date or pay date on your payslips not the period you were paid for. For instance, if you were paid for the work you did from 17th June to 30th June 2022 on 1st July 2022 and the payment date on your payslip shows 1st July 2022, the wage you have received on the given payslip will be included as part of your next financial year’s gross income.

Another great tip to easily and correctly identify the right payslip to use for your tax return is to look at the year-to-date (YTD) figures for your gross income and PAYG tax. This is basically the gross income and tax withheld amount that has accumulated throughout the entire financial year and therefore, these figures will automatically be reset at the beginning of a new financial year. Which is why you may notice that the first payslip you receive in July will have YTD figures that corresponds to your “this pay” figures. However, there are cases when your employer forgets to reset your YTD figures and just continues to add on from your previous financial year’s YTD gross income and tax withheld amount. If you are in such a position, you should consult with your employer and ask for a payment summary for the relevant financial year instead.

The above information is applicable to those of you who have held onto a single visa and hence, have not changed your visa during the financial year (1 July 2021 – 30 June 2022). Things will get a little complicated for people who have transferred from a working holiday visa to another visa such as a student visa during the given financial year. This is because the individual tax rates for working holiday makers and Australian residents for tax purposes (including student visa holders, 482 visa holders, 408 visa holders, 491 visa holders, etc.) are different. In this case, you would have to send through the following:

> Your last payslip as a working holiday maker, AND

> The first payslip you received after transferring to your new visa, AND

> The last payslip you received as at 30th June 2022 (this will have your final YTD gross income and tax withheld figures for the financial year)

Today we have gone through a rather essential part of applying for your tax return which is the payslip you would need for your annual tax return. We hope that this blog post has helped you in preparing for your tax return but if you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us through our official Facebook Page (P&C Tax Professionals – Australia) or send through your enquiries to our email address at pnctax@naver.com.

Thank you and bye for now!