Seniors: 'Where's our tax refund?'
Retirement News : Seniors : Seniors: 'Where's our tax refund?'
Date Added: 25-05-2005
FIVE months after a determined group of Redland seniors forced a Federal Government GST back-flip, the elderly battlers are still waiting for their share of a promised nationwide tax refund of $83 million.
Payment has stalled as there is now confusion about which retirees living in serviced apartments are eligible for the GST refund promised by the government, said Mike Hayes, manager of Cleveland Gardens Retirement Village.
However his comments have alarmed Assistant Commissioner for GST, Eileen Clancy, who said the "last thing" she wanted was for residents to be distressed.
Frail retirees living in serviced apartments at Cleveland Gardens launched a campaign prior to last year's federal election to stop the Australian Taxation Office from slugging them for GST for basic services that were delivered GST-free at government-funded hostels.
Ninety-two-year-old Walter Stubbings took the fight to the top, hand delivering a letter protesting the tax to Prime Minister John Howard during the Australian leader's whistlestop visit to the Redlands.
Now Mr Stubbings has threatened to start another campaign. He has written to the assistant treasurer, Mal Brough, asking him to help yet again before the issue gets caught up in more red tape.
Mr Brough was instrumental in having tax laws amended in December last year to "guarantee GST concessions" for serviced apartment residents requiring daily living or nursing assistance.
Shortly after the legislation was announced, the ATO assured the public it would work with the retirement village industry to ensure those who had paid additional GST would be refunded. The financial impact of the retrospective changes were estimated to cost $83 million in refunds.
The ATO issued a fact sheet explaining the changes, saying that retirement operators themselves had to initially refund residents the overpaid GST, and then claim for reimbursement.
Mr Hayes said Cleveland Gardens was trying to avoid a situation where refunds were given, only to find out later that individuals did not qualify, as residents had to have independent assessments of their care needs, by a GP, to show they were in need of daily living assistance or nursing services.
That assessment must be updated every six months, prepared and signed by a doctor certifying which care services are needed on a continuous basis.
Eileen Clancy said independent medical checks were necessary as the ATO obviously did not assess health. However, the ATO was not holding up refunds, she said.
The Tax Office was keen to discuss the situation further with Cleveland Gardens to resolve the issue which affects about 70 retirees at the village.
Mr Stubbings said while residents were no longer being charged GST on services he didn't "like being made a fool of" having to wait so long for his $300 GST refund.
"I don't like leaving the job unless we have finished it."
It was another Howard pre-election promise broken, he said.
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