Tax season for FY26 (the financial year ended 30 June 2026) opens 1 July 2026 — but most of what makes a return clean and quick is gathered before you sit down with us. This checklist covers what an Australian individual needs to bring (or upload), what we pull directly from the ATO, the documents people most often forget, and the lodgement timeline that decides when your refund actually lands. Useful equally for clients booking through us and self-lodgers preparing on myGov.
When tax time actually starts
The financial year ends 30 June, but the documents you need don't all arrive on 1 July. The most important date is when your employer finalises your STP income statement — for employers with 20+ staff, that's legislated by 14 July; for small employers (under 20 staff), it's 31 July. After finalisation, your income statement appears in your myGov inbox marked "Tax Ready".
ATO pre-fill data — bank interest, dividends, managed-fund tax statements, private health insurance — flows in over a few more weeks as banks, super funds and insurers report their year-end data. By mid-August most pre-fill is in place. Lodging in late July saves you nothing if half the pre-fill is still missing; you end up amending or chasing.
What we pull from the ATO directly
For our clients, the registered-agent portal lets us pull most pre-filled data automatically. You don't need to bring or upload these — but it's helpful to know what's already there so you can spot anything missing:
Income documents you bring (or we ask for)
Items not in pre-fill, or where pre-fill is incomplete:
- Side-hustle / ABN income — sole trader takings, contractor income, rideshare driver earnings (per platform statement), Airbnb host income (per Airbnb summary)
- Rental income summary — annual rent received, broken down by property if more than one. If you use a property manager, their end-of-year statement covers this
- Foreign income — overseas employment, foreign pensions, foreign investment income (with exchange rates)
- Capital gains events — share trading reports (ASX shares, US shares), crypto exchange annual reports, sold rental properties or investment assets. The disposal date matters for the 12-month CGT-discount test
- Trust or partnership distributions — annual distribution statement from the trustee or partner
- One-off income — termination payments (ETP statements), redundancy payments, lump-sum payments, prizes that count as income
Deduction documents
Deductions are where the biggest variability is — and where missing documents cost real money. Bring receipts, logbooks, statements:
- Work-related receipts — tools, equipment, uniforms, protective clothing, professional memberships, union dues, work-related books / subscriptions
- Vehicle log — if you're using the logbook method, the 12-week diary plus odometer readings at start and end of FY26. Cents-per-km method (88¢/km, max 5,000 km) doesn't need a logbook but does need a reasonable estimate of work-related km
- WFH hours diary — if you're claiming the 70¢/hr fixed rate, the contemporaneous record of hours. Claiming actual costs needs the underlying utility bills + apportionment
- Self-education — course fees, textbooks, stationery, depreciation on a laptop you bought for the course
- Donations — receipts from DGR-endorsed charities (the receipt should confirm DGR status)
- Income protection insurance premiums — paid outside super (premiums paid through super are not deductible to the individual)
- Tax agent fees from last year — yes, fees you paid us last year for the FY25 return are deductible in FY26
- Investment-related deductions — interest on margin loans, financial-advice fees relating to existing investments, depreciation on rental property fittings (per QS report)
Family + spouse details
Several offsets and rebates depend on family circumstances. We'll need:
- Spouse income — total taxable income for the year if you have a spouse (married or de facto). Affects Medicare Levy Surcharge thresholds, private health rebate, low-income offsets
- Dependants — number of children and their dates of birth (relevant for Medicare Levy Surcharge thresholds and FTB reconciliation)
- Child support paid or received — actual amounts (not the legal commitment)
- Spouse super contributions — if you're claiming the spouse contribution offset (up to $540 if your spouse's assessable income is under the threshold)
Bank + payment details
- BSB and account number for any refund — has to be an Australian bank account in your name. Joint accounts are fine if you're named
- If you're changing the refund destination from last year, double-check it's correct — the ATO doesn't verify the recipient name against the BSB/account, so a typo means the refund goes to someone else's account
- If you owe tax (rather than receiving a refund), payment can be by BPAY, credit card, or scheduled through Online Services. We can negotiate a payment plan if the amount is large enough — the ATO defaults to fairly tight terms but flexibility is available on application
Items people most often forget
- Crypto disposals — every sale, swap, or use of crypto to buy something is a CGT event. The ATO data-matches against major exchanges; missed disclosures get noticed
- Buy Now Pay Later income — if you're a side-hustle seller using Afterpay / Zip / similar, the platform reports income to the ATO
- OnlyFans / content creator income — platform earnings are assessable; the ATO has specific guidance and data-matches against platforms
- Gig-economy income — Uber Eats, DoorDash, Menulog, Airtasker, all reported under the sharing-economy reporting regime
- NOI for personal super contributions — if you made a deductible super contribution but didn't lodge a Notice of Intent with the fund, you can't claim the deduction. Check before tax time
- HELP / HECS balance — visible in your ATO portal. Affects compulsory repayments calculated against the year's repayment thresholds
- Foreign-currency sales — if you sold an asset denominated in USD/EUR/etc., the gain or loss has a forex component too
- Last year's capital losses carried forward — if you had unused losses, they reduce this year's gains. We pull this from the ATO record but it's worth confirming
Lodgement deadlines and refund timing
For FY26 returns:
- Self-lodgers (myGov, paper, third-party software without a registered agent attached): due 31 October 2026. Late lodgement attracts a Failure-to-Lodge (FTL) penalty.
- Through a registered tax agent: deadlines stagger from 31 March 2027 through 15 May 2027 depending on the agent's lodgement-program tier and the client's history. Most of our clients sit in the May 2027 group.
- If you have a debt from last year: the through-agent deadline is earlier — typically 31 October 2026 — and missing it disqualifies you from the agent extension for FY26.
- Refund processing: ATO targets ~12 business days for electronic returns. First-time-this-year lodgements, or returns flagged for review, can take longer. Refund holds happen automatically when there's a debt to another agency (Centrelink, Child Support).
Once you're on our lodgement program, you inherit the agent extension automatically — no separate request needed. We schedule appointments through the year so people aren't all crammed into the final week.
Book a 30-minute return appointment
For most individuals an FY26 tax return is a 30-minute conversation: we walk through pre-fill, ask the questions that catch the deductions you'd miss, and confirm the lodgement before you leave. Free for new clients on the first conversation; fixed quote in writing if you proceed. Australia-wide via Zoom or phone, plus in-person at our Melton office by appointment.
Pair this checklist with our EOFY 2026 actions guide if you want to see the full pre- and post-30-June picture, and the FY27 cheat sheet for what changes 1 July 2026.
Sources
STP finalisation deadlines: ATO — Finalising your STP data.
Lodgement program for tax agents: ATO — Lodgment program.
Self-lodger return deadlines: ATO — Lodge online.
Notice of Intent (NOI) for personal super contributions: ATO — Claiming deductions for personal super contributions.
