The 2026 tax return covers the year to 30 June 2026. Most of your income is already at the ATO — what we need from you are the things it can't see: your deductions, your private health statement, your bank details and anything unusual that happened during the year.
Start with what we don't need
You no longer need to bring a payment summary from your employer. Employers report through Single Touch Payroll, so your income statement lands in your ATO account directly. Bank interest, dividends, private health details and government payments usually pre-fill too.
Pre-fill isn't instant, though. Data arrives from employers, banks and funds through July and into August. Lodging in the first week of July often means lodging against incomplete information, then amending later. Unless you have a straightforward return and a reason to hurry, waiting until pre-fill settles is usually the calmer path.
The checklist
Identity and admin
- Your TFN, and your bank BSB and account number for the refund
- Your spouse's taxable income, if you have a spouse — several offsets and the Medicare levy surcharge depend on combined income
- Details of any dependants
Income the ATO may not have
- Sole trader or side business income and expenses
- Rental property income, plus the agent's annual statement
- Capital gains: shares, crypto, or a property sold during the year, with purchase and sale dates and amounts
- Foreign income, including foreign pensions
- Cash income
Deductions — the part that's on you
- Work-related car use. A logbook, or your total work kilometres if you're using the cents-per-kilometre method
- Tools and equipment. Receipts, and the date of purchase for anything that needs depreciating
- Working from home. Hours worked from home across the year, and records to support them
- Phone and internet. The work-use percentage and how you worked it out
- Uniforms and protective gear. Compulsory or protective clothing and its laundry, not conventional clothes
- Self-education connected to your current work
- Union fees, professional memberships, licences and subscriptions
- Donations of $2 or more to deductible gift recipients
- Income protection insurance premiums paid outside super
- Last year's accounting fee — managing your tax affairs is deductible
Health, super and offsets
- Private health insurance statement (usually pre-fills, but bring it if you changed funds)
- Personal super contributions you intend to claim, plus the notice of intent acknowledged by your fund — this one is regularly missed and the deduction fails without it
- HECS/HELP balance
- Any ATO letters received during the year
The three-part rule for any deduction
Before you add something to the pile, check it against the ATO's three conditions. You must have spent the money yourself and not been reimbursed. The expense must directly relate to earning your income. And you must have a record to prove it.
If an expense is part work and part private — your phone, your car, your internet — you can only claim the work portion, and you need a reasonable basis for the split. "About half" isn't a basis. A four-week representative record is.
Key dates
If you lodge your own return, it's due by 31 October 2026.
If you use a registered tax agent, you generally get longer — but you need to be on that agent's client list before 31 October. This catches people every year: the extension isn't automatic just because you intend to use an agent, and it doesn't apply if you have prior year returns outstanding. If you have returns overdue as at 30 June 2026, your 2026 return is due by 31 October 2026 regardless.
If you're behind on prior years, tell us early. Getting old returns lodged is what restores access to the agent lodgement program, and the ATO is markedly easier to deal with when you come to them.
How to make the appointment quick
The clients who are in and out fastest do three things. They keep a single folder through the year and drop receipts into it as they happen rather than reconstructing in July. They photograph receipts immediately, because thermal paper fades and a faded receipt is not a record. And they write down anything unusual as it occurs — a property sold, a redundancy, a crypto trade, a new side business — so it isn't remembered halfway through the appointment.
If you're not sure whether something counts, bring it anyway. It's faster for us to set aside something that doesn't qualify than to discover halfway through that a deduction exists and the paperwork is at home.
Frequently asked questions
When can I lodge my 2026 tax return?
From 1 July 2026, but pre-fill data from employers, banks and health funds arrives through July. Lodging too early often means amending later.
Do I still need receipts if it pre-fills?
Pre-fill covers income, not your deductions. Every deduction you claim needs its own record, and that record is your responsibility to keep.
How long do I need to keep records?
Generally five years from the date you lodge. Longer for assets subject to capital gains tax — keep purchase records for the whole time you own the asset and five years after you sell.
What if I've lost a receipt?
Bank or credit card statements can support a claim in some circumstances, but they show the amount, not what was bought. Tell us what's missing rather than estimating.
Can I claim working from home if I also have an office?
You can claim genuine hours worked from home where you incurred additional running costs, with records to support them. Working from home occasionally without additional cost generally isn't claimable.
This article is general information only and doesn't take your particular circumstances into account. Rates, thresholds and dates are current at the time of writing and can change — check the ATO or ask us before you act on anything here.
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