Most Australian employees can lodge their own tax return in under an hour, free, and get their refund within a fortnight — the ATO pre-fills the hard parts. Here's the full walkthrough for 2026, including the deductions people miss and the claims that invite awkward letters.
The basics: who, when, where
- The tax year runs 1 July – 30 June. Lodge from 1 July; the self-lodgement deadline is 31 October. Using a registered tax agent extends your deadline well into the next year — but you must be on their books before 31 October.
- Where: myGov → ATO → myTax. No paper, no cost.
- Wait for pre-fill: by late July, employers, banks, health funds and share registries have reported your data and myTax auto-fills it. Lodging in the first week of July with incomplete pre-fill is the classic self-inflicted amendment.
- Who must lodge: almost everyone who had tax withheld or earned over the tax-free threshold — including working holiday makers and temporary residents. Leaving the country permanently? You can lodge early as a departing resident.
Step-by-step in myTax
- Confirm your details — bank account (refunds are paid electronically) and residency status for tax purposes.
- Check pre-filled income: salary income statements (finalised by employers by mid-July), bank interest, dividends, private health cover. Add anything missing — gig work, crypto disposals, rental income, foreign income if you're a resident.
- Enter deductions (the section that changes your refund — details below).
- Answer the Medicare and offsets questions — private hospital cover details determine any levy surcharge; spouse income affects several calculations.
- Review the estimate, lodge, done. Most refunds land in about two weeks. Keep your records five years.
What you can actually claim
The golden rules: you spent the money yourself and weren't reimbursed, it directly relates to earning your income, and you can prove it. Under $300 of total work expenses, receipts aren't mandatory (records of purchases still are); above it, they are.
- Working from home: the fixed-rate method gives 70c per hour (2024–25 rate — confirm the current figure at lodgement) covering electricity, internet and phone — but you need a genuine record of hours (timesheet, diary or roster), not an estimate. The actual-cost method claims real portions instead; you can't double-dip.
- Work expenses: tools and equipment (instant deduction under $300, depreciated above), protective clothing and mandatory uniforms with logos (not plain black pants), union and professional membership fees, licences and registrations renewals (not the original), work-related self-education tied to your current job.
- Vehicle: work trips between job sites or to alternate workplaces at 88c/km (up to 5,000 km with a reasonable-basis record) — not ordinary home-to-work commuting.
- Personal super contributions: contribute after-tax to super, file a notice of intent with your fund before lodging, and deduct the contribution — often the single biggest legitimate deduction available to employees (mind the concessional cap).
- Donations of $2+ to registered deductible gift recipients — the receipt pile you forgot about.
- Income protection insurance premiums (outside super), and the cost of managing your tax affairs (last year's agent fee).
What triggers ATO attention
- Claims wildly above your occupation's norms — the ATO publishes occupation guides and benchmarks you against your peers automatically.
- Round numbers ("$1,500 laundry"), 100% work-use claims for phones and internet, WFH hours that exceed the hours you were paid for.
- Rental property interest apportionment and crypto disposals "forgotten" — both are heavily data-matched now.
- Copy-pasting last year's deductions when your job changed. myTax literally shows the ATO your prior claims; consistency without substance isn't camouflage.
New to Australia? Two extra notes
- Your first return covers only the part-year from when you became a resident — the tax-free threshold pro-rates, and myTax handles it once you enter your arrival date.
- Check your income statement is "tax ready" before lodging, and that your employer actually paid the super shown — your fund's app is the truth, not the payslip. New arrival? Wire this into week one with the migrant checklist, and estimate your refund's impact on the year with the pay calculator.
Agent or DIY?
Straightforward salary + a few deductions: DIY, comfortably. Rental properties, capital gains, business/ABN income, foreign assets, or a return to Australia mid-year: a registered agent's fee ($150–$400, itself deductible next year) buys expertise and a later deadline. Check any agent on the Tax Practitioners Board register.