Everyone who earns Australian Taxable income during the period 1st July to 30th June must lodge a tax return. This includes wages and any rent that you may have received on your Australian property. You will not need to include your Singapore income since moving here.
If you lived in Australia for part of the year, it is likely that you had earned a salary and paid tax on it. For just about every expatriate, the first year that you come abroad will generate a tax refund entitlement as usually the tax deducted from your salary will be far greater than the actual tax payable.
It is important that you also consider some Capital Gains Tax issues on any shares that you may have when you left Australia. Under Australian Tax Law you are deemed to have sold all your non property Australian assets at the market value on the date of departure.
If there is any capital gain, then you may be entitled to a 50% discount if the assets had been owned longer than 12 months. The reason for the deemed sale is that these shares will become non taxable for you as you now become a non resident of Australia for taxation purposes.
It is possible to defer this capital gains tax calculation by making a written election in your return to wait until the sale of the shares sometime in the future, although this is usually not in your best interests.
In most cases, even the payment of some capital gains tax is not enough to soak up the full tax refund, particularly if you had a property rented out with a loan on it.
With the end of the Australian tax year just passing on 30th June, you are required to lodge your return by the 31st October if you do it yourself, or we can arrange an extension should you need additional time.
When a cash refund is likely, most people do not need any encouragement to come in and complete their tax return early
