Around two million Australians have been reminded that they have only two weeks left to lodge their 2025-26 tax returns.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) said this week it had so far received nine million income tax returns and was waiting for the remainder who prepared their own returns to lodge.
ATO Assistant Commissioner Anita Challen said taxpayers who lodged their own return had until 11.59pm local time on Monday November 2, 2026 to meet the deadline.
Taxpayers who engage a tax professional have until May 15 next year to lodge, but they must be formally registered on the tax agent’s client list by October 31, 2026.
The agent needs to be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB).
“When people rush to lodge, they’re more likely to make mistakes or overlook important information,” Ms Challen said.
“The ATO has done a lot of the heavy lifting by pre-filling most of the information that taxpayers need, and for taxpayers with straightforward affairs, it takes on average eight minutes to lodge a return using myTax.”
The ATO has warned of an increase in tax returns suspected of being prepared by unregistered preparers who charge fees for their services while encouraging false or inflated claims.
Ms Challen said taxpayers should be sceptical of anyone making promises that sound too good to be true.
“No reputable tax professional will encourage you to inflate your deductions, guarantee a refund amount, or claim they can fast-track ATO processing,” she said.
The ATO has stopped over 10,000 returns suspected to have been prepared by unregistered preparers. These contained more than $170 million in deduction claims.
“Remember you are making a legal declaration that the information in your tax return is true and correct,” Ms Challen said.
“Taxpayers who use an unregistered preparer do not have access to the safe harbour provisions available when using a registered tax professional.”
