Personal investors guide to capital gains tax 2010

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More information

Internet

For general tax information and comprehensive information about deductions, visit www.a to.gov.au

Publications

Publications referred to in this guide are:

• Carrying on a business of share trading - fact sheet
• General value shifting regime: who it affects
• Guide to capital gains tax 2010 (NAT   4151)
• Capital gains tax (CGT) concessions for small business - overview
• You and your shares 2010 (NAT   2632)

To get publications, taxation rulings, practice statements and forms referred to in this guide:

• visit our website at www.ato.gov.au/publications
• phone our Publications Distribution Service on 1300   720   092 , or
• visit one of our shopfronts .

Infolines

We can offer a more personalised service if you provide a tax file number (TFN).

Individual - 13   28   61

Individual income tax and general personal tax enquiries, including capital gains tax

Business - 13   28   66

General business tax enquiries including capital gains tax, GST rulings, Australian business number (ABN), pay as you go (PAYG) instalments, business deductions, activity statements (including lodgment and payment), accounts and business registration (including ABN and TFN), dividend and royalty withholding tax.

Superannuation - 13 10 20

Other services

Translating and Interpreting Service - 13 14 50

If you do not speak English well and need help from the ATO, phone the Translating and Interpreting Service.

Hearing or speech impairment

If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, you can phone us through the National Relay Service (NRS).

• TTY users, phone 13   36   77 and ask for the ATO number you need. If you need to contact an ATO 1800 free call number, phone 1800   555   677 and ask for the ATO number you need.
• Speak and Listen (speech to speech relay) users, phone 1300   555   727 and ask for the ATO number you need. If you need to contact an ATO 1800 free call number, phone 1800   555   727 and ask for the number you need.
• internet relay users, connect to the NRS ( www.relayservice.com.au ) and ask for the ATO number you need.

Why not lodge online using e-tax?

• E-tax is our free online tax preparation and lodgment software.
• E-tax is secure, user friendly, and you can access your individual information using the pre-filling service.
• Most refunds are issued within 14   days.

How self-assessment affects you

Self-assessment means the Tax Office uses the information you give on your tax return and any related schedules and forms to work out your refund or tax liability. We do not take any responsibility for checking the accuracy of the details you provide, although our system automatically checks the arithmetic.

Although we do not check the accuracy of your tax return at the time of processing, at a later date we may examine the details more thoroughly by reviewing specific parts, orby conducting an audit of your tax affairs. We also have a number of audit programs that are designed to continually check for missing, inaccurate or incomplete information.

What are your responsibilities?

It is your responsibility to lodge a tax return that is signed, complete and correct. Even if someone else - including a tax agent - helps you to prepare your tax return and any related schedules, you are still legally responsible for the accuracy of your information.

What if you lodge an incorrect tax return?

If you become aware that your tax return is incorrect, you must contact us straight away.

Initiatives to complement self-assessment

There are a number of systems and entitlements that complement self-assessment, including:

• the private ruling system
• the amendment system (if you find you have left something out of your tax return)
• your entitlement to interest on early payment or over-payment of a tax debt.

Do you need to ask for a private ruling?

If you are uncertain about how a tax law applies to your personal tax affairs, you can ask for a private ruling. To do this, complete a Private ruling application form (non-tax professionals) (NAT   13742), or contact us.

Lodge your tax return by the due date, even if you are waiting for the response to your application. You may need to request an amendment to your tax return once you have received the private ruling.

We publish all private rulings on our website. (Before we publish we edit the text to remove information that would identify you.)

Last Modified: Tuesday, 29 June 2010

Our commitment to you

We are committed to providing you with accurate, consistent and clear information to help you understand your rights and entitlements and meet your obligations.

If you follow our information and it turns out to be incorrect, or it is misleading and you make a mistake as a result, we will take that into account when determining what action, if any, we should take.

Some of the information on this website applies to a specific financial year. This is clearly marked. Make sure you have the information for the right year before making decisions based on that information.

If you feel that our information does not fully cover your circumstances, or you are unsure how it applies to you, contact us or seek professional advice.

Copyright

Commonwealth of Australia

This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 , all other rights are reserved.

Requests for further authorisation should be directed to the Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Copyright Law Branch, Attorney-General's Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, BARTON ACT 2600 or posted at http://www.ag.gov.au/cca .

ATO references:
NO NAT 4152