How to get $1,080 just by being an early bird

Taxpayers have rushed to file their returns in the early days of July, in a hurry to get their rebates – including the low and middle-income tax offset – into their bank accounts.

The low and middle-income tax offset, also known as the LMITO or Lamington, was doubled in 2019, taking the maximum from $530 per person to $1,080. In the 2018-2019 financial year, the average payment was around $420.

New government data has revealed that 4.3 million people are on track to receive the full $1,080 offset this year, while another 10 million will receive at least a part of it.

Workers earning less than $37,000 will receive a $255 offset. Those earning between $37,000 and $48,000 will receive the $225 plus 7.5 cents for every dollar they earn above $37,000. For example, a worker earning $45,000 per year will get $855 of the rebate.

Those earning between $48,000 and $90,000 are eligible for the full $1080, while those earning between $90,000 and $126,000 will receive the full $1080 minus three cents for every dollar they earn over $90,000.

In addition, this week will see the second $750 economic support payment rolled out to recipients of certain welfare payments, including the age pension, the disability support pension and the carer payment.

Around 108,000 taxpayers lodged their return in the first 24 hours of the new financial year – 10,000 more than the same time period last year. By close of business on July 9, 991,000 individual tax returns had been lodged (an 11 per cent increase on that day last year), and more than 1.19 million total returns have been lodged (10 per cent more than last year). These numbers mark a record number of lodgements.

The first tax refunds are expected to start landing in bank accounts this week.