How to Lodge Your Australian Tax Return in 2026: Step-by-Step Guide

When can you lodge your 2025-26 tax return?

Lodgement for the 2025-26 year opens on 1 July 2026. The key dates to know are:

• Self-lodgement via myTax opens: 1 July 2026
• Self-lodgement deadline: 31 October 2026
• Tax agent deadline: typically as late as May 2027 — but you must be on a registered agent's client list before 31 October to access the extended deadline

A useful tip: waiting until late July means more of your data is pre-filled from employers, banks and Centrelink, which reduces errors and the chance of having to amend later.

One distinction worth being clear on: the financial year closes on 30 June 2026. After that date you can no longer change what happened during 2025-26 (your income, your contributions, your purchases). But you then have a full window — until 31 October 2026 — to calculate and lodge your return. The 30 June close and the 31 October lodgement deadline are two different things.

What you need before you start

Have these ready before you open myTax and the process is far smoother:

• A myGov account linked to the ATO
• Your Tax File Number (TFN)
• Your bank account details for the refund
• Income statements from employers (available via ATO pre-fill from 1 July, once payroll is finalised)
• Interest income from your banks
• Dividend statements if you hold shares
• Details of any government payments received (some are taxable)
• Records for every deduction you plan to claim

Step by step: lodging via myTax

Once your pre-fill is ready, lodging through myTax follows the same path every time:

1. Log in to myGov at my.gov.au and select the linked ATO service
2. Choose "Lodge" for the 2025-26 income year
3. Check your pre-filled income data and correct anything that is wrong
4. Declare any income that was not pre-filled (side income, some interest)
5. Enter your deductions — this is where most refunds are made or lost
6. Review the summary, including your estimated refund or amount owing
7. Confirm your bank details and submit

If your records are ready, most returns take 20–40 minutes. You can save and come back if you need to dig out a figure.

The deductions step — where most people lose money

myTax shows you a list of deduction labels, but it gives you no guidance on what you actually qualify for or how much to claim. That blank box is where most people leave money on the table.

The most commonly missed deductions include:

• Work-from-home hours
• Work-related car kilometres (not commuting)
• The work-use share of phone and internet
• Union and professional association fees
• Self-education directly related to your current job

A good habit is to work out your deductions before you open myTax — EOFYmate's refund builder gives you the exact figures and the plain-English ATO rule behind each one, so you can type them straight in with confidence.

Do you actually need to lodge?

If you earned any income during 2025-26, you almost certainly need to lodge a return. The main exception is if your only income was a government pension or payment below the tax-free threshold and no tax was withheld — but even then it is often worth lodging or submitting a non-lodgement advice.

Not lodging when you are required to is a penalty offence, so if in doubt, lodge anyway — even if you think you owe nothing.

Side income and the gig economy count too. If you earned money from ride-share or food delivery, freelancing, selling online, or any other side hustle, that income is assessable and must be declared — even if no tax was withheld from it. The ATO receives data from many platforms and matches it against returns, so leaving it off is a common trigger for a review. The upside is that you can usually claim the expenses that relate to that income, which reduces the tax on it.

How long does a refund take?

• myTax (online): typically about 2 weeks
• Paper returns: 10 weeks or more
• Returns flagged for review: can take longer — avoid triggers such as unusually large deductions you cannot clearly support

The refund is paid into the bank account you nominate, so double-check those details before you submit.

What if you make a mistake?

Mistakes are fixable. You can amend a lodged return through myTax, generally within 2 years of your notice of assessment. If you find a missed deduction or an error after lodging, amending is completely normal — the ATO expects amendments and treats them as a routine correction, not a red flag.

myTax, a tax agent, or paper: which method?

There are three ways to lodge. Most people use the first:

A registered tax agent's fee is itself tax deductible on next year's return, and a good agent can pay for themselves on a complex return. For a straightforward salary and a handful of deductions, myTax is free and fast.

After you lodge: your notice of assessment

Once the ATO processes your return, it issues a notice of assessment (NOA)— the official statement of your taxable income, tax, Medicare levy, and the refund or amount owing. It appears in your myGov inbox.

• If you are due a refund, it is paid into your nominated bank account, usually around the same time the NOA arrives.
• If you have an amount owing, the NOA shows the due date — generally 21 November 2026 for returns lodged by the 31 October deadline.
• Check the NOA against your own estimate. If something looks wrong, you have the 2-year amendment window to fix it.