Only a small portion said they’d use it for discretionary spending like holidays (7 per cent) or shopping sprees (5 per cent), while 6 per cent plan to put it towards their mortgage.

Want to file your tax return now? Not so fast

“Secondly, the pre-filled information which the ATO relies upon to pre-fill your tax return — provided by employers, banks, health funds — is often not available for the first couple of weeks of July.”

“Your employer has until 14 July each year to finalise your payroll data and submit it with the ATO, and without this information, it’s really hard to complete your return.”

So, when’s the best time to file your tax return?

“Your tax liability isn’t crystallised until your tax return is processed. So the later it’s processed, the later your payment is due,” he said.

Tips for a smooth tax return

“Returns routinely get held up at the ATO because there’s some kind of data mismatch between what you’ve reported and what information the ATO has. I’m not talking about tax information — I mean your name or your address.”