The ATO’s Anita Challen has laid out exactly what to avoid this tax time, from overclaiming deductions to copying last year’s return.
Tax time is officially underway, with the Australian Taxation Office confirming it now has more than 100 million pieces of information ready to pre-fill into individual tax returns.
That data comes from employers, banks, private health insurers, share registries and government agencies, and it’s meant to make lodging faster and more accurate, whether you do it yourself or go through a tax agent.
ATO Assistant Commissioner Anita Challen said people with straightforward tax affairs can now go ahead and lodge, either through myTax or a registered tax professional. “For those who have been patiently waiting to lodge, most income statements and pre-fill information is now available,” she said. Her advice for anyone about to submit is simple.
“If you’re self-lodging, before you hit submit, take a few extra minutes to check your details to avoid delays and mistakes,” she said. “Be sure to check your pre-fill data is correct, declare all your income and claim deductions you are entitled to. Remember you are making a legal declaration that the information in your tax return is true and correct.”
What’s changing this year
There’s a specific change worth flagging for contractors this year. The ATO is expanding its pre-fill service to include income reported through the Taxable Payments Annual Report, designed to help contractors get their returns right the first time. This affects people working in:
- Building and construction
- Cleaning services
- Courier services
- Information technology
- Road freight
- Security services
Anyone in these industries may see this income appear automatically in their return from late August, rather than needing to enter it manually.
The don’ts
The ATO’s warnings this year are direct and specific:
- Don’t overclaim or inflate deductions. The ATO’s data-matching and analytics can flag claims that don’t add up, and a suspicious-looking return can have its refund held for further checking.
- Don’t leave out income. This includes side hustles, cash jobs, rental properties and online content creation. Excluded income can lead to an amended return plus interest and penalties.
- Don’t copy and paste last year’s return. If your job or circumstances have changed, your claims and figures need to reflect that.
- Don’t act on unverified advice. The ATO specifically calls out AI platforms, “finfluencers”, and tips from family or friends, saying anything from these sources should be checked against a registered tax professional or the ATO itself before acting on it.
- Don’t claim the new $1,000 standard work-related deduction. It’s been announced, but it doesn’t apply until Tax Time 2027, so it can’t be claimed this year.
The dos
On the other side, the ATO’s guidance is fairly practical:
- Check your details are current, including personal information, bank details and super fund details.
- Review industry-specific guides on the ATO website to understand exactly what you can claim and what records you’ll need to prove it.
- Engage a tax agent before 31 October if you’re planning to use one, and confirm they’re registered with the Tax Practitioners Board.
- Use the ATO app to manage your tax and super and track your return’s progress.
- Use myDeductions in the ATO app to keep organised records of expenses and deductions as they happen, rather than reconstructing them later.
- Stay alert to scams. Challen noted the ATO will never demand a figure over the phone or send an unsolicited message with a link asking for personal details or login information.
- Rely on verified sources only, such as the ATO website, the ATO app, or a registered tax professional.
- Lodge an amendment if you’ve already made a mistake, for example if you lodged early and forgot to include some income.
Deadlines and processing
The ATO is also reminding people that calling won’t speed up processing. “Most returns are processed within 12 business days, and the fastest way to check the progress of a return is through the ATO app or ATO online services,” Challen said.
The lodgment deadline is 31 October for anyone preparing their own return. Those using a tax agent may get more time, but need to be on that agent’s books before the same date.
This article is general information based on an ATO media release and is not tax advice. Individual circumstances vary, so speak with a registered tax agent or the ATO directly before making decisions about your own return.
Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
