The Tax Office isy reminding people who received an income tax bill for 2007-08 that payments begin to fall due from Friday 21 November.

Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo advised people to check their notice of assessment and pay any amount owing by the due date to avoid penalties for late payment.

“Due dates vary, so check your notice of assessment to ensure you don’t miss your payment deadline” Mr D’Ascenzo said.

“If you think you may not be able to pay your income tax bill by the due date, contact the Tax Office on 13 11 42 as soon as possible to discuss your situation.”

Payments can be made by BPAY, either over the phone or internet, direct credit or debit, cheque, cash (for amounts less than $3,000) or EFTPOS at any Australia Post Office, or cheque or money order sent to the address printed on the payment advice slip, which should also be sent with your payment.

Mr D’Ascenzo also reminded those who haven’t lodged a return yet to do so as soon as possible.

“If you still need to lodge a 2007-08 tax return the fastest way to lodge is using e-tax, which is available for download from our website www.ato.gov.au and can be used to lodge your return until 28 February 2009,” he said.

“It can save you time by downloading information like bank interest, payment summaries and government payments directly into your return.

“There has been a twenty per cent increase in people using the e-tax pre-filling option this year, with approximately 1.75 million e-tax users choosing to try pre-fill and 70 per cent of returns submitted containing pre-fill data. A record 2.1 million taxpayers have lodged using e-tax this year - the first time we have received over two million lodgments and an increase of over 150,000 from last year.”

For further information, visit the Tax Office website www.ato.gov.au or phone 13 28 61.