Annual Tax Return Taxi Driver – what do you need to do?
There is a misconception among Taxi drivers regarding annual income tax returns. Most of the Taxi drivers are unaware that they have to lodge an annual income tax return. According to their knowledge, the quarterly BAS is what they consider as the tax return.
First of all, let me explain what the business activity statement (BAS) is. Business activity statement is a form which is prepared to calculate the tax obligation of the business. These statements can be used to prepare various types of taxes such as pay as you go withholding tax, luxury car tax, fringe benefit tax etc. For taxi drivers, BAS is used for reporting GST. GST is not a tax that the taxi driver has to pay from his own money. GST should be collected from the end user of the service, in this case that will be the passenger. Out of the fare that was collected by the taxi driver, 10% of it will be the GST amount. GST is a tax that is collected by the business on behalf of the government. The ATO requests businesses to declare the amount that they have collected in a timely manner depending on the size of the business. For most of the taxi drivers, BAS should be lodged quarterly. The government allows businesses to deduct the GST paid for goods and services to carry on the business, from the GST collected.
Annual Tax Return Taxi Driver Income tax return is lodged annually and the tax you have to pay is based on your annual income. You are required to pay your fair share of what you earned during the financial year as the income tax, to build the nation. The total income will be the total of all four total sales figures in the 4 activity statements you lodged during the year. If you would like to know about the current income tax rates, please click on the following link and it will show you what your income tax liability is. http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?doc=/content/12333.htm&mnu=42590&mfp=001
The government allows you to deduct all the expenses you incurred to earn your income, if you have receipts or other proofs. There are certain exceptions and if you would like to know more please talk to us.
You are not required to learn much about the tax returns because at MAS tax we do look after all your accounting needs to make your job stress free and risk free. We will advice you if you need to concern about anything. The ATO put a penalty if you do not lodge your annual tax return. To avoid paying your hard earned money on fines, I would advice you to talk to one of our tax accountants to see whether you are up to date with your business account. We might not charge you if your account is up to date and if not, don’t worry we will help you.
We hope that you have a better understanding about the BAS and income tax returns. As mentioned above, if you are worried about anything please do not hesitate to book an appointment to talk further about your business. It is better to know where you are right now than paying fines later. So call now!
For an appointment, or a confidential discussion of your needs, please contact our Tax Accountants today, or call 1300 627 829.
