Don't miss out on family tax benefit payments

Q. I recently received a letter from Centrelink reminding me to lodge my tax return before the end of the financial year. Why? Aren't my tax details separate from my family payments?

There are a lot of good reasons to lodge your 2013-14 return before the end of this financial year - and not just to collect a tax refund!

If you lodge your tax return by June 30, 2015, you won't miss out on receiving your full family tax benefit entitlement, including the Family Tax Benefit Part A supplement, which puts up to $726.35 per child back in your pocket.

After you have lodged your return, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) will automatically send your details to the Department of Human Services so that we can balance your payments and send you any money you are owed.

This means that you only need to provide certain details to the government once. If you don't need to lodge a tax return, you also need to tell us this by June 30, 2015.

The great news is that you can now take care of the entire job in one place - just visit my.gov.au to get started.

For more information, visit the DHS website: humanservices.gov.au/taxnonlodgement.

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