Tax Return Checklist Australia 2025-26 — Step by Step

Who This Checklist Is For

TL;DR — A complete pre-lodgement, during-lodgement, and post-lodgement checklist for FY2025-26. Use it to verify every income item, claim every deduction you're entitled to, and avoid the mistakes that trigger ATO (ATO guidelines) queries or amendments.

This checklist is for Australian tax residents self-lodging through myTax. It's designed for three passes: before you open myTax (gather documents), during lodgement (tick off each myTax section), and after you lodge (confirm you're done and records are filed).

If you haven't lodged before or want a detailed click-through of every myTax screen, pair this with our step-by-step myTax guide.

Part 1: Before You Open myTax

Accounts and Numbers

• Tax File Number (TFN) confirmed — never share it by phone, email, or social media
• myGov account active and linked to the ATO
• Bank account details ready (BSB + account number) for your refund deposit

Timing

• It is after mid-August 2026 — most pre-fill data (employer income statements, bank interest, health insurance) isn't complete until then
• You have your Notice of Assessment (NoA) from FY2024-25 if you need to cross-reference last year's figures

Don't rush. Lodging before mid-August often means amending later when an employer's STP data or a bank's interest report arrives. Two weeks of waiting saves hours of fixing.

Part 2: Income Checklist

myTax pre-fills most income by mid-August via Single Touch Payroll and third-party data matching. Your job is to verify every item — and manually add anything missing.

Employment Income

• Each employer's income statement shows the correct gross wages — compare against your final payslip for each employer
• Each employer's PAYG withheld matches what your payslips show was deducted
• If you had multiple jobs, every employer appears on separate lines
• Allowances, overtime, bonuses are included in each income statement
• If you switched jobs during FY2025-26, all employers — including those from July 2025 — appear

Direct answer: If an employer's data is missing, contact them — they may have a delayed STP submission. Lodging without their data means the ATO will likely send an amendment notice after the STP arrives.

Investment and Passive Income

• Bank interest verified from every account that paid interest — term deposits, joint accounts, and high-interest savings accounts are sometimes missed by pre-fill; check your bank's annual tax summary
• Australian dividends declared, including franking credits (the tax credit attached to fully or partially franked dividends)
• Managed fund / ETF distributions — your fund's annual tax statement lists taxable income, capital gains, and any foreign income separately
• Rental income — gross rent received for the year, with all deductible expenses listed separately (see deductions section)

Government Payments

• JobSeeker, Austudy, Youth Allowance, ABSTUDY — all are taxable and pre-filled from Centrelink; verify amounts
• Government-funded paid parental leave — taxable; appears in your income statement
• Family Tax Benefit (Part A and B) — not taxable themselves, but must be declared for offset and threshold calculations
• If you received any COVID-era grants or state government business payments — check ATO rulings on each; some are assessable

Business and ABN Income

• Sole trader / freelance income — total revenue minus deductible business expenses
• Gig economy income (Uber, DoorDash, Airtasker, Airbnb) — declare gross amounts; deductible expenses (fuel, cleaning, platform fees) reduce the taxable total
• If turnover ≥ $75,000: GST registration required; GST collected is not income and is excluded from your return
• Invoices and payment summaries from all clients — if no formal summary, use bank statements

Foreign Income

• Any income earned overseas while you were an Australian tax resident — must be declared, converted to AUD at the average annual exchange rate
• Foreign interest, dividends, or pension — check each country's reporting format
• Foreign tax paid — you may be entitled to a Foreign Income Tax Offset (FITO) to avoid double taxation
• Check the ATO's list of Double Tax Agreements for your home country — applies to many common situations for Chinese-Australian, British-Australian, and US-Australian residents

Part 3: Deductions Checklist

The ATO requires every deduction to pass three tests: (1) you paid it yourself and were not reimbursed, (2) it directly relates to earning your assessable income, and (3) you have a record to prove it.

Work-from-Home (WFH)

• Hours worked from home tracked for the full year (1 July 2025 – 30 June 2026) — a diary, calendar log, or time-tracking app is sufficient
• You have chosen one method only — you cannot mix and match mid-year:

- Actual cost method: requires detailed receipts and invoices for every expense, plus a floor area ratio calculation for home office vs total home size

• If using fixed rate: hours × $0.70 calculated and ready to enter
• Commuting from home to a fixed office does not count as WFH — only hours genuinely worked from home

Vehicle Expenses

• You have chosen one method only:

- Logbook method: 12-week continuous logbook required, plus all vehicle receipts (fuel, oil, servicing, registration, insurance, loan interest) for the year — potentially higher claim if work-use percentage is high

• Regular commuting (home ↔ regular workplace) does not count as work-related travel
• Work-related travel includes: client visits, carrying heavy equipment, travelling between two different worksites

Tools, Equipment, and Technology

• Items costing $300 or less: immediately deductible in full — need receipt
• Items costing more than $300: must be depreciated over effective life (computers: typically 3 years; general equipment: 4 years; office furniture: 10 years) — need receipt and depreciation calculation
• For devices used for both work and personal purposes: work-use percentage calculated based on a representative 4-week diary (e.g. 70% work use on a laptop = 70% of cost claimable)

Self-Education

• Course directly relates to your current income-earning role — a nurse doing a specialist course can claim; an accountant doing a pilot licence cannot
• Deductible self-education expenses: tuition fees, textbooks, stationery, student union fees, work-related internet
• The $250 first-dollar exclusion was removed from FY2022-23 — claim from the first dollar
• Travel to and from educational institution for a work-related course is deductible

Uniforms and Laundry

• Compulsory uniform with employer name or logo — deductible with receipt
• Occupation-specific clothing (nurse scrubs, chef whites, hi-vis PPE, firefighter gear) — deductible
• Laundry without receipts: up to $150/year (50¢ per work-only item machine wash, $1.00 per hand wash)
• Conventional clothing (suits, plain business shirts, ordinary shoes) — not deductible, even if only worn to work

Phone and Internet

• Work-use percentage established from a representative 4-week period of actual usage logs
• If using WFH fixed rate: do not separately claim phone or internet (already included in 70¢/hr)
• If using WFH actual cost method: include the work-use proportion of your home internet and phone bills

Professional Fees and Memberships

• Union fees — fully deductible
• Professional registration fees (AHPRA, ACS, CPA Australia, Chartered Accountants ANZ, Law Society, Engineers Australia, Nursing Council, etc.) — fully deductible
• Industry association memberships — deductible if directly related to your income-earning work
• Professional journals, databases, and software subscriptions — deductible if work-related

Other Common Deductions

• Tax agent fees from last year's return — fully deductible this year
• Income protection insurance premiums — deductible only if you paid them personally (not through super)
• Donations to DGR-registered charities — receipts required; note that school building funds, most church donations, and crowdfunding campaigns are generally not DGR-registered
• Investment loan interest — interest on loans used to earn assessable investment income (shares, rental property)
• Cost of managing tax affairs — accounting software, ATO interest charges, bank fees on tax-related accounts

Rental Property Deductions

If you have an investment property, claim separately:

• Mortgage interest (investment loan only — not principal repayments)
• Council rates and land tax
• Water rates
• Landlord and building insurance
• Property management fees and letting agent commissions
• Advertising for tenants
• Repairs and maintenance (note: improvements must be depreciated, not immediately claimed)
• Depreciation on fittings and fixtures (requires a depreciation schedule from a quantity surveyor)
• Capital works deductions at 2.5% per year (building construction costs)
• Travel to the property for inspections — check current ATO rules (restrictions apply)

Part 4: Levies, Offsets, and Adjustments

Medicare Levy

• Do you qualify for a Medicare Levy exemption?

- Some temporary visa holders with no access to Medicare

- Very low-income earners (below ~$28,011) — partial exemption

• If you had Medicare for only part of the year: partial exemption for the OSHC-only period; MES reflects this
• Standard levy: 2% of taxable income

Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS)

• Taxable income above $101,000 and no private hospital cover → MLS applies at 1%–1.5%
• OSHC (Overseas Student Health Cover) does not count as private hospital cover for MLS purposes
• Hold private hospital cover? → enter insurer name, policy number, and period held in myTax

HECS/HELP Repayment

• Do you have a HECS/HELP or VSL/SSL study debt?
• Repayment income (total income before deductions — not taxable income) above $67,000 in FY2025-26 → compulsory repayment at 15c per $1 over the threshold
• HECS repayments appear on your NoA and are separate from any income tax owing or refund
• Check your current HECS/HELP balance at my.gov.au or the ATO online services portal

Low Income Tax Offset (LITO)

• Applied automatically by myTax — no action required; just verify taxable income is entered correctly
• Full $700 LITO: taxable income ≤ $37,500
• Phases out completely at $66,667
• Low-income earners paying zero tax after LITO will not have it refunded in cash — it reduces your tax to $0, not below

Spouse and Family Information

• Spouse's details entered: name, TFN, and taxable income for FY2025-26 (needed for FTB reconciliation, Spouse Tax Offset, and offset threshold calculations)
• If you had dependants, check whether Child Care Subsidy and Family Tax Benefit need reconciliation

Part 5: Final Review Before Clicking Lodge

Run through this checklist on the myTax Summary page before submitting:

• Total income is the sum of all verified income sources — not just employer pre-fill
• Total deductions match your own records — none are estimated without supporting evidence
• Taxable income = income minus deductions (check the myTax summary page shows what you expect)
• Estimated refund or amount owing — cross-check against the free FY2025-26 calculator; within $50–100 of myTax confirms accuracy
• Bank account for refund deposit is current and correct (BSB and account number)
• HECS/HELP indicator is ticked if you have a study debt
• Private health insurance section completed (hospital cover only — not extras/ancillary)
• Medicare Levy section reflects your correct situation (standard 2%, partial exemption, or full exemption with MES)
• Foreign income section completed if applicable
• No duplicate entries — especially for WFH (fixed rate + separate phone/internet is a common double-claim error)

Part 6: After You Lodge

• Lodgement confirmation email received — save it as proof of date lodged
• Notice of Assessment (NoA) received — usually within 2 weeks; file it alongside your records
• If a refund is due: deposited to your nominated bank account on the date stated on the NoA
• If tax is owing: pay before the date on the NoA — usually 21 November or the date stated; late payment attracts GIC interest
• If you discover an error after lodging: you can amend through myTax within 2 years of the NoA date

Records to Keep — 5-Year Rule

The ATO requires you to keep records for 5 years from your lodgement date. FY2025-26 records should be kept until 31 October 2031.

AusTax AI archives and timestamps your receipts year-round — so by tax time, everything is already in one place and searchable.

Situation Quick-Reference

Master Checklist — Print or Save Version

Before opening myTax:

• TFN confirmed and secured
• myGov linked to ATO
• Wait until at least mid-August 2026 for complete pre-fill
• Bank account details (BSB + account number) ready

Income verified:

• All employer income statements confirmed
• Bank interest from every account
• Dividends and franking credits
• Government payments
• ABN / sole trader / gig income
• Foreign income (if applicable)
• Rental income (if applicable)

Deductions claimed:

• WFH hours recorded — one method only
• Vehicle km or logbook
• Tools and equipment receipts
• Self-education (current role only)
• Uniform and laundry
• Phone and internet work-use percentage
• Professional fees and union dues
• Last year's tax agent fees
• DGR charity donation receipts
• Income protection insurance (personal premiums)

Levies and offsets:

• Medicare Levy exemption applied if eligible (MES attached)
• Private hospital cover entered if held
• HECS/HELP ticked if applicable
• Spouse income and TFN entered

Final check:

• Numbers cross-checked with the free calculator
• Bank account current and correct
• Lodged — confirmation email saved
• NoA received and filed with records

Need Help With Your Tax Return?

Complex situation? a registered tax agent (see the directory) Our partner agents review every detail for accuracy and compliance.

*Disclaimer: This checklist provides general guidance for lodging an Australian tax return for FY2025-26. It is not personal tax advice. For complex situations — rental property, capital gains, foreign income, business income, or Objections — consult a registered tax agent. AusTax AI is not a registered tax agent — our complete service connects you with TPB Registered Tax Agents.*