Jess -
the tax system works on a sliding scale.
Lets say you earnt $270 for 52 weeks of the year = 14040.00 gross.
and $70 tax is witheld for those 52 weeks = $3640.00
Your first 6 k is tax free, bringing your taxable income down to $8040.00. This income will put you in the second tax bracket ($6,001 – $21,600) which means you are obliged to pay 15c tax for each $1 you earn over $6,000. (This rate is for the 2005-06 financial year)
According to this rate, you shouldve paid $1366.80 in tax out of your taxable income. But, in reality you have paid $3640.00
So $3640.00 Tax you paid
minus $1366.80 Tax you shouldve paid
Equals $2273.20 Return Due to You.
You would probably recieve another $235.00 on top of this amount as the low income earners offset, but to calculate it accuratley youd also have to take into account the part year tax free threshold if you started work recently.
Hope this helps.