Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

Most people know that, being on the other end of the planet, Australia’s weather seasons are backwards from ours here in the USA.  When we are in the Summer heat, they are in Winter’s cold, and vice versa. 

What I didn’t know until recently is that their Tax Season is also opposite ours.  While we report our personal income tax data on a January 1 – December 31 calendar year basis, the Aussies are required to keep their books on a tax year from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018.  They even have a special name for June 30, EOFY (End Of Financial Year). Their tax return “lodging” time for that tax year is from July 1, 2018 through October 31, 2018.

Their equivalent to our IRS is the ATO, the Australian Taxation Office.

I actually learned about this from this bit from this week’s episode of “Weekly With Charlie Pickering,” which I have recently become a big fan of.

Click here for a lengthy discussion by the Gruen panelists on how many products are advertised for June 30 EOFY sales, including the fact that last minute purchases of business items are tax deductible. It’s very similar to our December 31 year-end sales here in the US.