How to dispute your tax refund

If you were expecting a tax refund for 2012-13 there is a good chance you lodged your tax return in July and have already received your assessment.

For many the news will have been good. Others, however, may have received a smaller refund than expected, or even a demand to pay more tax.

If this has happened to you the next step is to decide whether or not to lodge a formal objection.

This is easier to do than many realise. What's more it is free. The main requirement is that you are able to identify the mistake (or mistakes) you believe the tax office has made.

For example, the tax office may have disallowed your claim for one or more tax deductions, such as car expenses or an immediate write-off of work-related equipment.

If you believe the disallowance was incorrect you will have to set out your reasons.

You are not legally required to provide supporting documentation although doing so may speed up the objection process.

While there is also no legal requirement to use the tax office's form (its official title is the Objection form - for taxpayers) doing so helps to ensure you provide all of the required information.

An individual has two years from the date of their assessment to lodge an objection.

As for processing it, the tax office will contact you within 14 days of receiving it to review the detail, request more information or advise that processing will take longer than the usual 56 days.

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