Lodging tax and reporting income.

I receive parenting payment. This last school term I have been cleaning our local kinder (I am not employed by the kinder, I invoice the committee), I have not yet reported this to Centrelink. I need to report these earnings to pay back the small amount that would have been deducted from my parenting payment. I will still be under the tax threshold.

Do I lodge a tax return anyway in a way to report my earnings or do I report straight to Centrelink and not lodge a tax return as I am under the tax threshold?

I'm fairly sure you will still need to lodge a tax return.

I would report to centrelink straight away and then lodge your tax return.

You earned an income, you need to lodge a tax return. You need to report income to CL as you earn it, so you will need to call them ASAP and report it all.

I would contact the ATO, re the need to lodge a tax return. Even though you earned income f you had not tax withheld yo may not be required to lodge. You o still need to declare to Centrelink

I have always been aware that I have to report to centrelink and I have always intended to and the money will come straight from my supplement to pay it back (it is only a very small amount like $300). I am just confused about the tax side as I have only ever been employed rather than working for myself and as it is such a small amount and I still do not earn enough to pay any tax I was unsure. I will call the ATO then lodge an online tax return today.

You will need to speak to ato to query whether you need to lodge a return. Probably not, given the amount. But thats something only ato can confirm

You need to contact c'link and discuss the employment. If you are invoicing the school, its sounds like you are being deemed a contractor/self employed which means you need to fill in paperwork relating to a business interest, profit and loss statements etc.


Fwiw, for anyone reading - it will not just be taken from your supplements. A debt may be raised, which may include an additional penalty for not reporting within 14 days of the change of circumstance. If you are working, income needs to be reported in the period you earn it, not when it's paid to you. For self employment it is processed differently (you fill in anticipated profit and loss for a period of time).

Get on the phone tomorrow and get it sorted...