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Many people lodge a tax return at tax time, which is from July to October every year. When you lodge a tax return, you report your income and claim deductions. You’ll find out how much tax was withheld last financial year and if you owe any more.
If you need to lodge a tax return, you may need some information about the payments and services you get from us.
Work out if you need to lodge a tax return
There are different reasons why you may need to lodge a tax return. This may be because you:
- had tax deducted or withheld from your income or Centrelink payments
- need to confirm your income so we can balance your Family Tax Benefit (FTB) or Child Care Subsidy (CCS)
- have a child support assessment.
The easiest way to work out if you need to lodge a tax return is by using the do you need to lodge a tax return tool on the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website.
If you got FTB or CCS, you can also use our checker tool to see what your family needs to do at tax time.
Get your information ready
If you need to lodge a tax return, there’s some information from us you may need to help you fill in your tax return.
We’ll share some of your payment details with the ATO so it pre-fills for you in your tax return.
A Centrelink payment summary shows most taxable and non-taxable payments you got from us within a financial year. The ATO needs to know about these. Most of these payment details will pre-fill in the ATO’s myTax by late-July.
You’ll need to know the details of any taxable payment you got from us that doesn’t show on your payment summary.
If you’re not eligible for Medicare but need to claim the Medicare levy exemption at tax time, you’ll need a Medicare Entitlement Statement.
You’ll also need the amount of child support you paid in the financial year, if you paid child support. Read more about what to do at tax time if you paid or received child support.
Read more about what to do before you prepare your tax return on the ATO website.
How to protect yourself online at tax time
Scams and identity threats often increase during tax time.
Scammers and online criminals may try to get your personal information, such as your myGov sign in details. They often contact people pretending to be from Services Australia or myGov.
They tell you to click on a link or give them information. They then use this to gain access to your account to conduct fraud, for example by claiming or redirecting payments. There are a number of ways to protect your personal information and stay safe online.
You can also learn how to protect against scams.