Tax Time 2019 Shareable Content Working Group key messages 10 June 2020

The Tax Time 2019 Shareable Content Working Group met on 10 June 2020 to review and provide feedback on products developed for people new to the tax and super systems. The communication objectives on all three products are to:

• educate new entrants about the tax and super systems and advise them of their lodgment obligations and how to lodge for the first time
• provide new entrants with a clear pathway to the information required to participate in the tax and super systems
• improve the tax and super literacy of new workforce entrants by providing them and their support networks (for example, employers) with key information to help them get started on their tax and super journey
• enable information to be easily shared
• encourage new entrants to wait for pre-fill data and link to the ATO prior to July for a smoother tax time experience.

The products reviewed were:

Poster focused on lodging your first tax return

Feedback from the group suggested that:

The content needs to be age specific (16–17-year olds) focusing on:

• what tax is and why we pay it
• the benefits of paying tax
• the different platforms you can use to lodge your tax return.

Fact sheet for those new to tax and super

The group agreed that information on not sharing your personal information such as your Tax File Number should be highlighted.

Web content based on the new to tax and super fact sheet

The group provided feedback and advised that the web content needs to be interesting to look at. The ATO should consider:

• visual stimulus
• other platforms to get this information across, social media etc
• what other countries do to promote tax to young people?

The group agreed that all three products need to be reviewed considering all the feedback above.

Final summary

This group will meet again on 9 July 2020 to take a closer look at the Tax Time content. Papers for review will be sent a week prior to the meeting date.