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| Friday, December 16, 2005 |
| Stupid Tax |
Ata's Little Brother #1 (MLB#1) moved to China this year. A couple of months ago, he realised he had not filed his tax return - he realised this on the last night before they had to be in. October whateveritwas. Anyway, after several hurried phone calls from China, he had all the details he needed to file the return.
The other day, Ata got an email. Have we had any mail for MLB#1 from the Tax Office? Because he has not seen anything deposited in his account.
Now, Ata has been receiving mail for MLB#1 since he moved to China. This was not an arrangement - it just started turning up here one day, so we put it in a bag in a cupboard with a whole lot of MLB's other stuff. It seemed rude to start opening his mail unrequested.
So Ata ferreted through the Ye Olde Bagge of Maile, and found his Notice of Assessment. She emailed back to indicate that yes, there was a cheque from the ATO, and would he like her to deposit it in his bank account?
Having received the instruction to go ahead with the deposition, Ata was tearing the cheque off the assessment notice just now when she realised - it was not a cheque. It was a request for payment. Which was due on the 5th of December.
Ata called the ATO for assistance. Would her little brother in China be charged interest on unpaid tax, and how could he organise payment of the tax? The back of the page had the instruction to call a 1800 number for more information on direct-depositing payments. Ata did not think MLB#1 could access Australian 1800 numbers in China. At the ATO customer service department, Ata got an Indian Guy. Ata does not have an issue with dealing with Indian Guys. She does not even protest strongly against the outsourcing of vital customer service departments to Delhi. But still, she was not entirely certain that she could get the right information to and from Indian Guy, when it was so difficult to make herself understood. The upshot is, MLB may be required to pay interest. Indian Guy was not going to be pinned down on that point. But he can pay the bill through BPay.
Now Ata feels bad for not having opened the mail when it came. But MLB#1 is, after all, a Big Boy - if he's allowed out of the country by himself, surely he's old enough to either ask for his mail to be opened, or email to check on the status of the Tax Return earlier? Surely I am not a Bad Sister? Please?
I haven't even sent his Christmas Tim-Tams yet. |
posted by Ata @ 1:27 pm  |
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| 3 Comments: |
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Better send those Tim Tams now, Ata!
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You can always wrap the tim tams in his tax notice. How long is he planning to stay in China? If he's gone long enough, those things become forgotten, no?
But seeing that he is unable to ask people whether they can open his mail for him, you should ask him now whether there is anything else he has forgotten that will cost him money in the long run.
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That I have done.
"There shouldn't be much else,' he replied. "Maybe some Optus bills."
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Better send those Tim Tams now, Ata!