$527 million in unclaimed Education Tax Refund

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With back-to-school time upon us again, families are encouraged to hang onto those receipts to take advantage of the Education Tax Refund (ETR).

Figures from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have revealed that only half of all eligible Australian families have lodged a claim, leaving more than $500 million in unclaimed benefits.

The ETR provides parents with much-needed help for education expenses, with refunds of up to $375 per primary school student and $750 per secondary school student.

That means a family with two kids in high school and one in primary school could potentially get a refund of almost $2000 on eligible education expenses.

DID YOU CLAIM YOURS?

According to the ATO only $488 million of the projected $1.02 billion cost has been claimed in tax refunds. The average amount claimed for primary school students was $246.99 while the average for secondary school students is $495.73. That’s not a bad refund for doing nothing but keeping tabs on the expenses incurred.  

Taxpayers still have until March-April 2010 to claim out of pocket education expenses for the 2009 school year, if they lodge their individual tax returns through a tax agent.

Back to school expenses that parents can claim include the cost of buying, establishing, repairing and maintaining any of the following items:

• - school textbooks and other printed learning material, including prescribed textbooks, associated learning materials, study guides and stationery;
• - prescribed trade tools for secondary school trade courses;
• - laptop computers and home computers;
• - computer-related equipment such as printers, USB flash drives, as well as disability aids to assist in the use of computer equipment for students with special needs;
• - home internet connections; and
• - computer software for educational use.

Families can claim the ETR if they have eligible education expenses and received Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A for the child that the expenses relate to.

Families are also eligible if they have children in primary or secondary school who would be eligible for FTB Part A purposes, but for the fact that the child receives certain payments or allowances, including:

•  
  • - Youth Allowance;
  • - Disability Support Pension;
  • - ABSTUDY Living Allowance;
  • - the Veterans’ Children Education Scheme;
  • - Student Financial Supplement Scheme; and
  • - the scheme to provide education and training under s258 of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004.

Tagged as: education tax refund, ETR

Article by Christie Lewis

Christie is Practice Manager at Alan Lewis Accountants . Besides accounting, her passion is for all things small business (and blogging, of course). You can contact Christie directly at christie@lewistaxation.com.au.

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