Centrelink SCAM!! who voted in this government

[Bird]

At the time, he also said that anyone who doesn't do everything legally possible to reduce the amount of tax they pay is a drongo.

in reality he is right...
I don't have jack Shit I can claim each year... Kills me to see mates getting $x000's back each year, and I get $90 and pay $130 to get me tax done. Yes I've tried doing it online, but it cost me a new screen.

[tryagain]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoD0efoHzeA

! No longer available	Small | Large

[DarWen]

I'am not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. But for all the people that are saying you don't have records for the time Centrelink overpaid you, couldn't you contact your employer at that time as they should have records of your wages and when you worked.

[Ozsnowman]

I'am not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. But for all the people that are saying you don't have records for the time Centrelink overpaid you, couldn't you contact your employer at that time as they should have records of your wages and when you worked.

As of July 2015, my former employer no longer exists - so i'd have no hope. I'm sure there would be a lot of others in this situation too

[Bird]

... couldn't you contact your employer at that time as they should have records of your wages and when you worked.

true... but why should you have to?
This whole thing has been like its been planned and implemented by some kid needing a project for a year 9 school assignment.

And when the minister admits
"On Tuesday, Social Services Minister Christian Porter admitted one in five people who received one of those letters did not owe a debt." THEN WHY THE **** DID THEY GET THE LETTERS???

what more can you say? Why should people need to take days off work to go to centerstink, chase up old employers  - maybe they left on bad terms and the bloke will tell you to GAGF, what then???

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

true... but why should you have to?
This whole thing has been like its been planned and implemented by some kid needing a project for a year 9 school assignment.

And when the minister admits
"On Tuesday, Social Services Minister Christian Porter admitted one in five people who received one of those letters did not owe a debt." THEN WHY THE **** DID THEY GET THE LETTERS???

what more can you say? Why should people need to take days off work to go to centerstink, chase up old employers  - maybe they left on bad terms and the bloke will tell you to GAGF, what then???

Exactly, only creates acrimony and makes the whole situation WORSE...........
Well said Bruce.

[Rumpig]

true... but why should you have to?
This whole thing has been like its been planned and implemented by some kid needing a project for a year 9 school assignment.

And when the minister admits
"On Tuesday, Social Services Minister Christian Porter admitted one in five people who received one of those letters did not owe a debt." THEN WHY THE **** DID THEY GET THE LETTERS???

what more can you say? Why should people need to take days off work to go to centerstink, chase up old employers  - maybe they left on bad terms and the bloke will tell you to GAGF, what then???

said it earlier...there is no point going to Centrelink offices, the staff at the offices have no option to help in any of this stuff, you need to ring the number on the paperwork you get, they are the only ones who can deal with this mess.

[tedota]

What a clusterf#*%!!

[xcvator]

tryagain you don't understand quintile statistics so you're blathering emotion against facts but it's a common malaise. High income earners also pay more GST and property rates, taxes and charges so there's no relief for them there unless they're non drinkers and smokers.

Anyway here's Robert Gottliebsen reporting in The Oz on the flip side of the coin and those of us in business who've always paid our bills on time would wholeheartedly support the ATO with measures to clean up the amateurs and crooks-

"The government plans to allow the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to disclose to credit reporting bureaus the names of those who owe the money unless they have “effectively engaged with the ATO to manage these debts”.
The reality is that the moment those names are published all bank and supplier credit will be withdrawn — that’s what happens in the small business community. And as soon as bank and supplier credit is withdrawn almost all the businesses will fold.
Accordingly, Turnbull and Morrison must know they are taking a step that will send broke tens of thousands of businesses. Taking such a draconian step requires a structure that is clear and fair to all.
To everyone’s credit the Australian Taxation Office says that anyone who enters into a payment arrangement will not be named. But much more that that is required to deliver fairness.
Before I detail how Turnbull and Morrison can deliver fairness I want to emphasise that, despite the draconian consequences, in principle, I support the action. I have met small business after small business that, when there is a snag, they stop paying the tax man (and superannuation). Before long they are in a deep mess. It seems that in 2015-16 some 28 per cent of small business tax liabilities were paid late. While this confirms the above pattern it also underlines the brittleness of large parts of the Australian entrepreneurial and small business community in the current economic environment.
If they knew they were going to be named to credit bureaus ---and therefore be bankrupted — small enterprises would think twice about going down the non-payment of tax route and instead change their business model and/or raise capital.
The time to take such action is when the problem arises and not when some huge back tax bill has arisen. Accordingly going forward this “naming measure” will save thousands of businesses and make the small business sector much more healthy."

Hear hear!

Bullsh1t, high income earners employ top line accountants, have family trusts etc to right off these expenses against income. I know this for a fact, I did it as a middle income business for 35 years, every step we did was legal

Have you actually run a small business, 1 that relies on prompt payment from clients. In the building and construction industry late payments, up to 100 days is common, and unless you have a good accountant you are going to get screwed, then of course there is that wonderful "provisional tax" on money the ATO think you might earn next year.
"Change their business model and/or raise capital " are you living under a rock ffs. 
90% of small businesses or hocked to their ears in their 1st few years and have absolutely NO way of raising more capital

These dumb arsed  proposals that you are writing about won't happen . the government knows that small business employs 90% of working Australians

Other figures that you quote a very misleading " 28% of business taxes were paid late"  I'd like to see an actual breakdown of that figure .I'd be betting that maybe  5% was deliberately late for various reasons, ie simply forgot, away on holidays etc, 18% got a provisional tax bill and didn't know how to pay it, the other 5% probably didn't have a separate GST account, just bunged it all into their  trading account and at the end of the month they said something like "holly sh1t we're in trouble.

With all due respect Prod, you talk like a book keeper or an academic that has never actually RUN a small business.

cheers Keith 

[prodigyrf]

Yes I have run a number of businesses and as a matter of fact I haven't received a pay cheque for 30 odd years and now I'm retired I wouldn't get the steam off a politician's manure to warm my coffee and that's the way I like it. About bloody time too they treated all assets for pensioners equally, including the family home as there's a heap of self entitled baby boomers my age who think the Gummint owes them a living and they're sitting in million dollar homes and expect the kids to pay the taxes.

As for Gottleibsen's 28% of SMEs paying their taxes late in a year, that wouldn't be over the top, as I've had a couple of reminders from the ATO over the years with a late BAS lodgement on the odd occasion, bearing in mind there's 4 returns a year. The ATO are pretty good if you ring them and explain the situation but I know full well there are plenty of business folks that don't pay their bills regularly, including their workers' super so get rid of them as far as I'm concerned.

Every business is capital hungry, particularly starting out, but you learn to go without and you only spend what's left after all the hungry mouths are fed. Most small biz fails because too many hopefuls are like so many consumers with maxed out credit cards. If there's one thing the lad in biz knows from me, you pay hard earned or you only borrow modestly to put a roof over your head or back yourself in biz. Anything else is for existential dopes who don't get borrowing for consumption is a one off sugar hit before the interest kicks in. I've never paid interest on a credit card in my life and neither will my son in biz or he'll answer to me.

Still you never know the Gummint might owe you after the bill shock-
http://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/perth-woman-claims-centrelink-hounded-her-for-dollar26000-debt-but-she-was-owed-dollar5k/ar-BBy8WEQ?
Dopey woman. Fancy not knowing what her entitlements were at the time and relying on the public circus to work it out for her?  Don't owe me money or you'll have me on your doorstep with a reminder and I've heard all the excuses.

 

[Fizzie]

& all this !@#$ going on, while it turns out that we are paying ex-pollies - half of whom were sacked! - $40 million a year! 

You want to save money? I've got a real good spot to start

[cruiser 91]

Many years ago, Kerry Packer openly & publicly admitted to a Parliamentary enquiry that he paid 1c in the dollar income tax. OK, on $4bill (or whatever he was worth) that still adds up to quite a bit, but it's certainly not the 46.5% that "rich people" supposedly pay.

At the time, he also said that anyone who doesn't do everything legally possible to reduce the amount of tax they pay is a drongo.

Just a few business expenses and running costs.
Employee Work Cover  anywhere from 1%- 6% of wages/sal depending on industry
Employee Super 9.5% of wages/sal
Employee wages/sal
Long service leave
Christmas Parties
Employee gifts, birthdays etc.
Sales Commissions 
Bonuses
Overtime
Holiday pay
Sick leave etc
Commercial Rent/lease far higher than residential and cpi increases every year.
Shop fitouts.
Advertising & Marketing
Stock, Samples, Displays
Insurances, business, contents, 3rd party, vehicles
Computers, faxes, electricity, water, cleaning, etc
Repairs/replacements
postage costs
Couriers
Interstate Transport cost.
Vehicles
Mistakes
Theft
Security system
Security monitoring system
Bank fees
Merchant fees. 2-4% of takings.
Accountant
Lawyer
GST 10% of takings
Company tax.
Personal tax.
Interstate EXPO's
Training
Upgrading
Bank Loans
I can keep going 
"Profit" most has to go back into the business if you want to grow and try to make more money............so all the above grows as well.

These are just a few 

Yes they do pay the correct tax margins but they also have a hell of a lot of overheads and carry all the risks to supply you with what you want 
And trying to compete against "cheap copies" from overseas which most consumers complain about the poor quality and they don't last the test of time but still buy them 

Yes these are tax deductible, if they weren't, a very high % would not be in business and you would be living in a cave wearing a grass skirt, rubbing 2 sticks together, eating weeds.
Just saying

But to stay on topic..................CL does suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great employee tax funded pay and retirement packages for very little quality workmenship. I know someone 

 


 

[banksy69]

Many years ago, Kerry Packer openly & publicly admitted to a Parliamentary enquiry that he paid 1c in the dollar income tax. OK, on $4bill (or whatever he was worth) that still adds up to quite a bit, but it's certainly not the 46.5% that "rich people" supposedly pay.

At the time, he also said that anyone who doesn't do everything legally possible to reduce the amount of tax they pay is a drongo.

Classic KP in full flight.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WTfoT_y-BQ

[prodigyrf]

The Channel 10 News crew must have been trying desperately not to ROFL at Doctor Hyphenated- O'Connell outraged at having to 'trawl through his records' in order to disprove an overpayment of $300 when he took a couple of years off to get his Phd (check the video)-
 http://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/vinnies-urges-government-to-stop-intimidating-poor-centrelink-customers-to-pay-off-its-own-deficit/ar-BBy8Ovm?
Welcome to every businessman's daily grind doc and we don't get subsidised by the Gummint singing for our supper with the punters. Wouldn't you think, given the largesse this country's given him and being a busy doc earning top dollar, he'd happily throw in the $300 as a donation. Wonder if he only charges the scheduled Medicare fee for the poor folks? Cry me a river doc and welcome to the good old Aussie sense of entitlement.

[Bird]

I can beat you all. I received a "request" for documentation for financial year 2010/2011 with regards to payment I supposedly received for NewStart for the sum of $21,975.
I have never been on New Start or unemployment, the dole or any other government payment. EVER.

so how are you going with this?

[aussie9]

Chapter 2
Wife and spent 4 hrs in a meeting with our legal representative and our local Federal Member
Rep from Centrelink was invited but no answer
The upshot of it all is until CL provide documentation that I was unemployed and on benefits, the can get stuffed
We have also billed them for our legal team and harassment an this has been  signed off by our Member who also reckons "unofficially" we aren't the only ones in this situation
More to follow??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Latest posting Bird..........
Haven't heard anything in the last day or so


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[prodigyrf]

You know the older I get the smarter I realize my parents were. Anyone still believe in Big Gummint?

[glenm64]

You know the older I get the smarter I realize my parents were. Anyone still believe in Big Gummint?

Cheers Glen

[Pete79]

Things are pretty tight these days, we've all got to do our bit you know.
So looks like we'd better send out another couple of dozen letters to raise some extra cash to cover this one too.....
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/finance-minister-mathias-cormann-bills-taxpayers-23000-for-weekend-trips-to-broome-20170114-gtrg3o.html

[Rumpig]

and then there's this below... drag out paying it back on a payment plan and all

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has to repay $15,186 to taxpayers — almost twice the debt she was originally thought to have — after blowing her electorate staff travel budget.

The Australian revealed in December that Senator Hanson-Young had the largest debt of any MP or senator, at that point $8686.34 owed to the Department of Finance, and had negotiated a rare payment plan.

But documents released late yesterday under Freedom of Information laws show the total debt was actually $15,186.34. It relates to staff travel in 2013-14 — which for Senator Hanson-Young was also an election year — when her office had a $49,549.80 budget but exceeded it by about 30 per cent.

The South Australian senator, who holds three portfolios for the Greens, has previously come under scrutiny for the use of charter flights and overseas trips to environmental meetings and refugee camps.

Senator Hanson-Young has declined to explain why her electorate staff travel budget blew out by almost a third.

While the department sent Senator Hanson-Young an invoice for the total amount outstanding on April 8 last year, requiring her to pay within 30 days, within three weeks she had convinced the department to agree to a $1300-a-month payment plan. It was initially due to begin on April 30 last year but the difference between the total amount originally owing and the $8686.34 still owed at December 15 equates to five repayments of $1300. A department spokeswoman declined to comment on the case.

Senators have a base salary of $195,130 and at least four staff who are allowed to accompany them anywhere in Australia on official business. They also have electorate resources, which for Senator Hanson-Young relates to her principal office in Adelaide.

The documents suggest the bulk of the overspend related to taxi fares, through Cabcharge payments, but there were also payments through the government travel provider FCm Travel Solutions.

In August, after a furore over then Speaker Bronwyn Bishop’s use of taxpayer-funded helicopter charters for Liberal fundraisers, the government announced a review of the entitlements system.

The review committee, headed by former department secretary David Tune, is due to report to the government within months.

[Pete79]

http://abc.net.au/news/2017-01-16/government-to-change-centrelink-debt-recovery-program/8185366

[edz]

Well I'm dam sure if  I was a CEO [ Prime minister ] and one of my managers [ Minister ] didnt run his department properly and over paid 3 Billion dollars in payments .. He wouldnt be a manager [ Minister ] for very long .. and to go along with that the next in line right up the chain to the top should expect get the Heave Ho by the investors [ tax payers ] for allowing it to happen too .

[Bird]

Its going to get easier to deal with this Shithole...

Public servants could find themselves replaced with robots sooner than anyone expected with Centrelink soon to step up experiments with "virtual" welfare officers manning the agency's shopfronts around Australia.

Centrelink will soon have two robo-assistants answering questions from the public, one of them about the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the other helping young people with the complexities of claiming student benefits.

If the trials are successful, the virtual assistants look set to be rolled out across other areas of Human Service's vast responsibilities, replacing the traditional public servant behind a desk or at the end of a phone line.

The giant department is already using a virtual assistant called 'Roxy', which answers internal questions from DHS's processing officials.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/public-service/introducing-centrelinks-robopublic-servant-20170117-gtt2na.html

[rotare]

Its going to get easier to deal with this Shithole...

Probably a win win for all involved.

I know a bloke that worked at Centrelink for about 18 months a few years ago.  Reckons it's the only time in his life he felt seriously depressed and verging on suicidal, no exaggeration.

For obvious reasons there are lots of unhappy and stressed out people that enter through the Centrelink doors and more often than not their anger and frustrations are taken out on the people behind the counters.  Verbal and physical assaults were common place.  He said the Centrelink IT systems were / are very antiquated, and were slow which made their job difficult.  Often they couldn't provide answers to even simple questions because they simply couldn't get the info from the system, or there was some access issue that needed authorisation from someone more senior.   

It was just a Shit, demoralising place to work where the majority of 'customers' more often than not left unhappier, than when they walked in.  Consequently staff absenteeism is high as is staff turn over, from junior staff through to senior managers and every day felt like they were under staffed to deal with the volume of people.  Dealing with agro and irate customers daily, staff very quickly become de-sensitised and had minimal empathy for others.  He often wondered whether it would be one of the staff or customers first that would snap one day, and walk through the door firing bullets....

Absolutely soul destroying environment to work in apparently.         

[Bird]

It was just a Shit, demoralising place to work where the majority of 'customers' more often than not left unhappier, than when they walked in. 

I actually thought that was why they were there...
Remember going there decades ago, and they ask for 3 bits of ID from a list, I took 4 bits from their list with me..
Apparently that wasn't good enough for the brain dead zombie.
There is no way.. NO WAY they are there to assist first time you walk in. Its just not possible to be that ****ed up.
You wonder why people wanna beat the **** out of them? I've seen blokes dragged out of the old Caringbah branch by the cops before.. quite funny when you hear the cops say '... we understand'