Tax time is here, expert reveals what Aussies need to know

Tax season has arrived, and every year, Australian taxpayers rush to complete their tax returns in anticipation of a tax refund. Dr Connie Vitale, from Western Sydney University’s Business School and Co-Founder and Director of the University’s Tax Clinic, shares her tips on navigating the tax return process.

“Australia’s tax system operates on a self-assessment model. That means that you, as the taxpayer, are responsible for keeping your own records and reporting your income and deductions correctly every year,” said Dr Vitale.

“The Australian tax year is not the calendar year, it is the financial year 1 July to 30 June, and you must lodge your tax return by 31 October if you are self-preparing.”

Dr Vitale recommends making the process easier by linking the Australian Tax Office (ATO) app to a MyGov account, when completing an individual tax return.

For those unsure if they need to complete a tax return at all, she recommends using the below checklist as a guide.

• Have you had tax deducted from payments made to you during the financial year, for example wages from your employer?
• Are you an Australian resident whose taxable income exceeds the tax-free threshold? The tax-free threshold for 2025-2026 is $18,200.
• Are you a foreign resident who earned more than $1 in Australia during the financial year?
• Are you leaving Australia permanently or leaving Australia for more than one financial year? and
• Do you have an Australian business number (ABN)?

“If you do not need to complete a tax return you are still required to advise the ATO that you are not required to lodge, you can do this by completing a non-lodgement advice form,” said Dr Vitale.

“You need to do a tax return to declare your income and ensure that the correct amount of tax has been paid, in the case where you have been overtaxed you will receive a refund.

“If you do not do a tax return on time you may receive a ‘failure to lodge on time penalty’ and you will also be charged general interest charges on the amounts that you owe when you eventually lodge.”

When completing a tax return, she encourages everyone to follow these steps.

1. Make sure that your income statements are tax-ready, and other prefill items including interest and dividends received, and cryptocurrency trading have been prefilled before you complete your tax return, otherwise you may have to amend your return if the figures you enter are not the same.
2. When claiming deductions, you should have spent the money yourself, and deductions you claim must be directly related to your work income or your business.
3. Don’t accidentally double dip, for example if you are claiming working from home (WFH) deductions using the ATO fixed rate of 70 cents per hour, this already includes your work-related telephone expenses.
4. For any deductions you claim, you must have a record to prove it, whether it be a receipt, an ATO calculation or a logbook.
5. Although this will not be relevant for a lot of taxpayers the biggest change for the 2025-2026 tax year is that interest (general interest and shortfall interest) charged from the ATO to taxpayers’ accounts from 1 July 2025 is no longer tax deductible.

“Remember, if you have not paid tax, you cannot receive a tax refund, even if you have lots of tax deductions.”

ENDS.

1 July 2026
Photo credit: Jakub Zerdzicki via Unsplash
Lauren Coskerie, Senior Media and PR Advisor