Monday, February 20, 2012

How much tax do you pay on two casual jobs?

I currently work at McDonalds and I just got a job at Coles. I really hate working at McDonalds but I like doing the stock delivery shifts which is two 3 hour shifts a week. So if I worked approximately 20 hours at Coles and then the 6 at McDonalds, would I get taxed alot? or would it just be better to work an extra shift at Coles and have the single job? Thanks.How much tax do you pay on two casual jobs?
The overall amount of tax you have to pay in a Financial Year is based on your overall income and it makes no difference whether you have 1 or 2 or 10 jobs. It's a complete fallacy that you pay more tax when you have a second job.



Where the fallacy arises is that you can only claim the tax free threshold for 1 of your jobs. When you look at your take home pay from each job each week, a higher % is deducted for tax from the second or subsequent job because you've claimed the TFT on the first job BUT, at the end of the year when you lodge your tax return, your income is all lumped together; the tax free threshold is applied to the total amount and you'll get a refund of all of the additional tax that was deducted from your second job.



So in other words, if you want the maximum total take home pay each week, work at only one job. If you're happy to get a bit less each week, having a second job won't cost you any more overall and you'll get a bigger lump sum when it comes to your tax refund - it's a bit like an enforced saving scheme.

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