Still
waiting for tax supplements
I WISH to draw attention to a financial issue that impacts on
a large number of ADF personnel.
Substantial tax exemptions may soon be applied to personnel
who have served, or are serving, in the following regions:
Afghanistan, Albania, Bougainville, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia,
Cook Islands, Ethiopia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia,
Mozambique, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu.
The Defence Tax Management Office (DTMO) released a Defgram
98/2003 dated February 27 that stated that publication of Tax
Supplements was imminent.
The supplements are to be based on advice from the Australian
Tax Office (ATO) and the Defence Personnel Executive, and were
to be progressively released from March 2003.
Since then, I have been in frequent contact with DTMO seeking
release dates for the supplements. To their credit DTMO personnel
have been polite and timely in their responses. They have not
yet been able to specify when supplements will finally be published.
I appreciate the complexity of the issue and the need for liaison
between Defence and the ATO. I am concerned that DTMO promulgation
of information on the supplement has not been sufficiently extensive.
Defgrams do not necessarily reach the wider Defence community
and further promulgation via Defence media seems appropriate,
hence this letter. Direct contact with ex-serving members would
also seem fair.
For many personnel this issue involves a significant amount
of money. It has been at least 10 years since some of the listed
deployments occurred. The financial implications for some members
might be very significant and affect important life decisions.
The service is always quick to recover overpayments. It would
be nice to have that brisk approach applied to payments to personnel
that are long overdue.
Finally, I request that DTMO reply to this letter and advise
a release date, detail how they are going to keep all members
(including ex-serving members) advised and undertake to announce
in the Defence newspapers when supplements are available.
MAJ
John Roberts
ADF Language School
RAAF Williams, Laverton
Official
Response...
THANK
you for your letter to the Service newspapers concerning the
pending publication of tax supplements listed in Defgram 98/2003.
As you referred to in your letter, DTMO is faced with the often
difficult task of compiling a user-friendly and sound document
that explains, in simple terms, the application of tax exemptions
for various ADF personnel on specific operations.
The task is further complicated by the fact that extensive consultations
must occur between DTMO, the ATO and other stakeholders. Reductions
in Defence civilian staff resources and turnover of responsible
ATO officers complicate an already difficult task.
The intention of Defgram 98/2003 was predicated on target dates
that were set between the DTMO and the ATO. Unfortunately, due
to unexpected liaison difficulties with the ATO, DTMO has not
been able to publish the relevant tax supplements.
To address these difficulties, the DTMO has now forged stronger
ties with the new ATO officers. Our revised work plan foresees
release of the Defgram-stipulated tax supplements in the next
three months, subject to ATO workloads and resource constraints,
over which we have no control.
Although Defence provides such additional services to members,
it should be noted that individual taxpayers are responsible
for their own tax affairs. If ADF members are concerned, and
not able to wait for the supplements, they may wish to write
to the ATO directly.
With respect to your concerns about dissemination of tax supplement
information, DTMO has ensured that all tax-related information
reaches all members of the Australian Defence Organisation,
the Armed Forces Federation of Australia, Returned Service League,
Defence Families Australia and other stakeholders.
Communication methods used by the DTMO to disseminate tax information
include e-mail, the Defence Internet, the Defweb, Defgrams,
signals, Service newspapers, ADF discharge line areas, road-shows,
special request presentations etc. Indeed, DTMO has already
demonstrated the effectiveness of its communication strategy
with respect to:
