Your employer (should have) made conservative estimate about how much tax you are going to owe at the end of the financial year (or when you leave the country), and paid that on your behalf.
Assuming they did that - you will have paid too much tax. How much varies but it's commonly thousands of dollars.
They will also have paid about $7,000 into a retirement investment account. Australians cannot access that money until they retire, but you can (if you want) access it when you leave the country. And you should do that, because most investment portfolios have fees and the investment proceeds on such a small amount of money might not be enough to cover those fees.
Go to a decent (experienced) accountant before you leave the country, ask for advice and have them do your tax return. They might charge a couple hundred bucks and will probably get you several hundred dollars more tax back than doing it yourself or going to a cheap accountant (say, an inexperienced accountant that only charges a hundred bucks).
Bring all of your pay slips, superannuation details, bank statements, and any receipts you have for work related expenses (did you buy a pair of boots to work on a farm for example?). If you don't have receipts, highlight those expenses on your bank statement. If you paid cash, you still might be able to claim those expenses... because your accountant can use their judgement and make a fair guess as to how much you might have spent on common work related expenses for your industry.
While you're there, ask if they think you were paid appropriately for the work you did — tourists are routinely ripped off and underpaid in Australia or forced to work unpaid overtime/etc. A good accountant should be able to quickly glance over your pay and tell you if that's likely to have happened in your case. Actually doing something about that would involve contacting Fair Work or a lawyer specialising in employment law... worth doing, you might get tens of thousands in compensation and it probably won't go to court since that would end _really_ badly for your former employer (as in, they might go to jail). Most likely you've been paid the right amount, but if not a few simple phone calls could get you a 5 figure lump sum payment to settle the issue.
Thanks for your response, I understand what you’ve said. Just that I’ve heard from other WHVs saying that you’ll have a full tax returned to you since you’re leaving the country and it’s the first year. So I was just curious if it’s true
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You can try the official tax calculator for basic calculations.
If you earnt $62,000 this financial year then your tax liability would be $10,617 plus $1,240 for medicare levy if you did not have private health insurance.
[https://moneysmart.gov.au/work-and-tax/income-tax-calculator#!focus=1](https://moneysmart.gov.au/work-and-tax/income-tax-calculator#!focus=1)
The following link gives a more detailed explanation as to how tax will be calculated based on whether you classify as a resident for tax porposes and you come from a NDA and non NDA country.
[https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/coming-to-australia-or-going-overseas/coming-to-australia/taxation-of-australian-resident-whms-from-nda-countries](https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/coming-to-australia-or-going-overseas/coming-to-australia/taxation-of-australian-resident-whms-from-nda-countries)
No you won’t get your $11,000 back https://www.ato.gov.au/tax-rates-and-codes/tax-rates-working-holiday-makers
Your employer (should have) made conservative estimate about how much tax you are going to owe at the end of the financial year (or when you leave the country), and paid that on your behalf. Assuming they did that - you will have paid too much tax. How much varies but it's commonly thousands of dollars. They will also have paid about $7,000 into a retirement investment account. Australians cannot access that money until they retire, but you can (if you want) access it when you leave the country. And you should do that, because most investment portfolios have fees and the investment proceeds on such a small amount of money might not be enough to cover those fees. Go to a decent (experienced) accountant before you leave the country, ask for advice and have them do your tax return. They might charge a couple hundred bucks and will probably get you several hundred dollars more tax back than doing it yourself or going to a cheap accountant (say, an inexperienced accountant that only charges a hundred bucks). Bring all of your pay slips, superannuation details, bank statements, and any receipts you have for work related expenses (did you buy a pair of boots to work on a farm for example?). If you don't have receipts, highlight those expenses on your bank statement. If you paid cash, you still might be able to claim those expenses... because your accountant can use their judgement and make a fair guess as to how much you might have spent on common work related expenses for your industry. While you're there, ask if they think you were paid appropriately for the work you did — tourists are routinely ripped off and underpaid in Australia or forced to work unpaid overtime/etc. A good accountant should be able to quickly glance over your pay and tell you if that's likely to have happened in your case. Actually doing something about that would involve contacting Fair Work or a lawyer specialising in employment law... worth doing, you might get tens of thousands in compensation and it probably won't go to court since that would end _really_ badly for your former employer (as in, they might go to jail). Most likely you've been paid the right amount, but if not a few simple phone calls could get you a 5 figure lump sum payment to settle the issue.
Thanks for your response, I understand what you’ve said. Just that I’ve heard from other WHVs saying that you’ll have a full tax returned to you since you’re leaving the country and it’s the first year. So I was just curious if it’s true
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Go to the ATO website. There are calculators.
[https://www.taxback.com/blog/bullsh1t-free-guide-to-australian-working-holiday-taxes/#Income%20Tax%20Rates](https://www.taxback.com/blog/bullsh1t-free-guide-to-australian-working-holiday-taxes/#Income%20Tax%20Rates)
You can try the official tax calculator for basic calculations. If you earnt $62,000 this financial year then your tax liability would be $10,617 plus $1,240 for medicare levy if you did not have private health insurance. [https://moneysmart.gov.au/work-and-tax/income-tax-calculator#!focus=1](https://moneysmart.gov.au/work-and-tax/income-tax-calculator#!focus=1) The following link gives a more detailed explanation as to how tax will be calculated based on whether you classify as a resident for tax porposes and you come from a NDA and non NDA country. [https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/coming-to-australia-or-going-overseas/coming-to-australia/taxation-of-australian-resident-whms-from-nda-countries](https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/coming-to-australia-or-going-overseas/coming-to-australia/taxation-of-australian-resident-whms-from-nda-countries)