Tax return checklist: documents to gather

Self-lodger deadline

31 October (next business day if it falls on a weekend)

Keep records for

Generally 5 years from the date you lodge

HELP repayments start

Repayment income over $69,528 (2026–27); $67,000 (2025–26)

No-receipt exceptions

$300 and $150 limits removed from 1 July 2026 (2026–27 onwards)

The core documents for every return

An individual tax return covers the income year from 1 July to 30 June. It reports what you earned and what you are claiming, and the ATO uses it to work out whether too much or too little tax was paid, whether the Medicare levy or surcharge applies, and which offsets you can receive.

The ATO lists a short set of information to have ready before lodging. Depending on your circumstances, it covers:

• Bank account details: the BSB and account number where any refund will be paid.
• Income statements or payment summaries from every employer you worked for during the year, including short or casual jobs.
• Centrelink payment summaries from Services Australia, if you received a government payment.
• Receipts or statements for each expense you plan to claim as a deduction.
• Your spouse's income, if you had a spouse during the year.
• Private health insurance information, if you held a policy.

Last year's notice of assessment can also be handy, as it allows the previous return to be compared.

If you are unsure whether a document matters, bring it. It is quicker to set something aside than to amend a return later.

myGov and pre-filled information

The ATO pre-fills returns with data it receives from employers, banks, health funds, companies and government agencies. Pre-fill data starts arriving from 1 July and most of it is finalised by the end of July. Some items, such as trust and partnership distributions, come in later.

To lodge your own return online with myTax, you need a myGov account linked to the ATO. Pre-fill data also loads automatically when a registered tax agent prepares your return.

The ATO itself warns against relying on pre-fill alone. It can be incomplete if an organisation has not reported yet, if the data could not be matched to your record, or if it failed quality checks. Comparing pre-fill against your own statements is one of the most useful checks before lodging. If a pre-filled amount looks wrong, the organisation that supplied it needs to send the ATO a correction.

Investment income: interest, dividends and distributions

The records the ATO expects for investment income, and for investments you sell, depend on the type of investment.

• Bank interest: interest statements for every account and term deposit held in your name.
• Dividends: the dividend statements issued by each company you hold shares in.
• Managed funds and ETFs: the annual tax statement, known as a Standard Distribution Statement or an AMMA statement. It shows your distribution, any capital gains, foreign income and your share of credits such as franking credits.
• Trust distributions: the distribution statement from the trustee. From 1 July 2026 these statements carry 3 new labels to help complete the net financial investment loss question, and the ATO says it is enabling pre-fill of trust distributions for individuals from 2026.
• Shares or units you sold: the purchase and sale dates and amounts, broker commissions, and details of any share splits, consolidations, returns of capital, takeovers or demergers. Each parcel bought at a different time is a separate asset.
• Crypto: exchange and wallet records for each transaction, with the date, what it was for and its value in Australian dollars at the time.

Sales of shares, units, crypto or property can trigger capital gains tax. Our capital gains tax basics guide explains how a gain or loss is worked out.

Rental property records

Landlords need records for each property separately, covering both what came in and what went out during the year. The ATO's list for residential rentals includes:

• Income: the annual statement from the property manager, or bank statements or a rent book showing rent received, plus any bond kept in place of rent.
• Loan costs: bank statements showing interest charged on the rental loan, and loan documents, including any refinance.
• Running costs: council rates, land tax assessments, property agent fees, advertising, bank charges, gardening, and repairs and maintenance.
• Depreciation and capital works: details of depreciating assets and structural improvements, with before and after photos of capital works.
• Use of the property: records of any periods you or your friends used it privately or it was your main residence, and the tenant leases.
• Buying or selling: the contract, conveyancing documents and purchase or sale costs.

Rental records are generally kept for 5 years, and some for longer, for example where a rental loss is carried forward. The ATO released new rental guidance in 2026 (TR 2026/1, PCG 2026/2 and PCG 2026/3), covering short-term rentals, apportionment and holiday homes. Our rental property tax basics guide has more detail.

Records for deductions

A work-related deduction needs written evidence, usually a receipt or invoice from the supplier. It must show the supplier's name, the cost, what was bought, the date it was paid and the date the document was prepared. A bank or credit card statement on its own is generally not enough, because it does not come from the supplier and leaves out most of these details.

Where an item is used partly for private purposes, a note showing how the work-related share was calculated is also needed. Common records include:

• Car: a valid logbook plus expense records for the logbook method, or a record of how work kilometres were calculated for the cents per kilometre method. See our car expenses guide.
• Working from home: a record of the hours worked at home and of the expenses incurred, with the exact records depending on the method used. See our working from home guide.
• Work items: receipts for tools and equipment, computers and phones, work clothing and laundry, and self-education.
• Other claims: union and professional association fees, income protection premiums, donations to deductible gift recipients, and the cost of managing your tax affairs.

For 2025–26 returns, the $2 minimum for gifts to deductible gift recipients has been removed, so gifts of any amount to eligible deductible gift recipients can be claimed, with records still needed. Interest charges from the ATO (general interest charge and shortfall interest charge) incurred on or after 1 July 2025 can no longer be claimed in 2025–26 or later returns. Our work-related deductions guide covers each category.

Private health insurance and HELP debts

Private health insurance: the return needs the details from your private health insurance statement. These confirm whether you held an appropriate level of private patient hospital cover, which affects the Medicare levy surcharge, and how much of the private health insurance rebate you already received as a reduced premium. The rebate can be taken as a premium reduction or claimed in the return as a refundable tax offset, and if too much was taken through the insurer, the excess is recovered on your notice of assessment. Our Medicare levy guide explains the surcharge.

HELP and other study loans: compulsory repayments are worked out in your return from your repayment income, which adds taxable income, reportable fringe benefits, net investment losses (including net rental losses), reportable super contributions and exempt foreign employment income.

Higher bands apply above those amounts. See our HELP repayments guide for the full scale.

What changes for your 2026–27 records

The 2026–27 income year started on 1 July 2026, and the records you keep now will be used in the return lodged from July 2027. Two changes affect record keeping.

No-receipt exceptions removed. Up to 2025–26, the ATO allowed work expenses totalling $300 or less, and laundry of $150 or less, to be claimed without full written evidence. From 1 July 2026 those exceptions, and the award transport exception, no longer apply to anyone. Anyone who claims 2026–27 work expenses instead of relying on the standard deduction needs written evidence, such as a receipt, for every work expense claimed.

Standard deduction of up to $1,000. The Treasurer announced on 25 June 2026 that the bill containing this deduction had passed Parliament. The ATO says it first applies in 2026–27 returns and is not available for 2025–26. Eligible Australian residents with labour income such as wages receive it automatically, reduced dollar for dollar by the covered work expenses they claim. Union fees, donations, investment and rental deductions and the cost of managing tax affairs are claimed separately and still need records. Our standard deduction guide explains how it works.

Whether to rely on the standard deduction or claim actual 2026–27 work expenses is easiest to decide if receipts have been kept all year.

Getting your documents to us

For 2025–26 returns, self-lodgers have until 31 October 2026 to lodge, and because that date falls on a weekend, the due date moves to the next business day. People who use a registered tax agent generally need to engage the agent before 31 October to be part of the agent's lodgement program. Our tax return deadlines guide sets out the dates.

Ross Accounting Pty Ltd is a registered tax agent (TPB registration 21430015). Clients can bring documents to an appointment at our Brookvale office or Redland Bay branch, or send receipts and documents through the free MyAccountants app using the accountant code "Ross". The ATO app's myDeductions tool can also store receipts during the year and email them to your tax agent.

Written evidence generally has to be kept for 5 years from the date you lodge, longer for depreciating assets and capital gains tax assets. Clear photos and electronic copies are accepted if they are true copies of the originals. Our record keeping guide covers the details, and new clients can start at new clients or contact us.

Frequently asked questions

General information only, not personal advice. Tax rules change and your circumstances matter, so talk to us before acting. See our disclaimer.