If you lodge your own tax return, it is due 31 October. For the 2025-26 income year, the year that ended 30 June 2026, that means your return is due 31 October 2026. The date is the same every year for people who lodge themselves. Use a registered tax agent and you can usually lodge later, but only if you are on the agent's books before 31 October. This guide covers the deadline, how the income year sets it, the extensions a tax agent can give you, and when a refund actually lands.
Key takeaways
- Self-lodgers are due 31 October. The 2025-26 return is due 31 October 2026.
- The income year ends 30 June, and each year's return opens for lodgment from July.
- A registered tax agent can usually lodge later than 31 October, but you must be on their books before that date.
- Most refunds from an online return issue within about two weeks of lodging.
- There is no rush in late July: lodge once your income statement is Tax ready and the ATO pre-fill is complete.
When is your tax return due?
The self-lodge due date is 31 October. If you prepare and lodge your own return, for example through myTax in your linked myGov account, the 2025-26 return is due 31 October 2026. The ATO puts it simply: the due date to lodge your tax return is 31 October, and most refunds issue within 2 weeks. That date does not move from year to year for anyone who lodges themselves.
The picture changes once a registered tax agent is involved, because agents work to a separate lodgment program with later dates that depend on your circumstances. The table sets out the due dates that apply to the 2025-26 return.
| How you lodge | Due date for 2025-26 |
|---|---|
| Lodge your own return (myTax or paper) | 31 October 2026 |
| Tax agent client with a prior year return outstanding | 31 October 2026 |
| Tax agent client whose last return had tax of $20,000 or more | 31 March 2027 |
| All other tax agent clients (individuals and trusts) | 15 May 2027 |
Those later agent dates are program dates, not something a self-lodger can rely on. To use them you have to actually be a client of the agent, and the tax agent extensions section below explains the timing that goes with them.
How the income year works
The Australian income year runs from 1 July to 30 June. Your return covers that finished year, and it opens for lodgment from July of the following year, once employers and other payers have reported their figures to the ATO. So the 2025-26 year ended 30 June 2026, and returns for it have been able to be lodged from July 2026, with a self-lodge deadline of 31 October 2026.
The current year works the same way one step forward. The 2026-27 income year, the one you are in now, ends 30 June 2027. That return will open for lodgment from July 2027, and if you lodge it yourself it will be due 31 October 2027. Every year repeats the pattern: the year ends 30 June, lodgment opens in July, and the self-lodge deadline is the following 31 October.
Should you lodge right now?
It is late July, so you can start preparing, but there is usually a good reason to wait a little. Employers have until 14 July to finalise their Single Touch Payroll data and mark your income statement as Tax ready, and the ATO finishes pre-filling information from employers, banks, government agencies and health funds by late July. Lodging before that data is in place is the main cause of having to amend later.
The ATO says the best time to lodge is from late July once everything is ready, and it has good reason to. In a recent year, 142,000 people who lodged in the first two weeks of July had to amend their return or had it adjusted by the ATO. There is no rush: with the deadline on 31 October 2026, waiting until your income statement shows Tax ready and pre-fill is complete costs you nothing and avoids the rework.
Lodging through a registered tax agent
Most registered tax agents have a special lodgment program that lets them lodge their clients' returns after the usual 31 October deadline. The exact due date depends on your circumstances and on when you engage the agent, which is why the agent rows in the table above run to different dates.
There is one condition that catches people out. If you are using a tax agent for the first time, or switching agents, you must be on their books before 31 October to access the extended program. Leave it until November and the later dates are gone; you are treated as a self-lodger who has already missed the deadline.
Under the registered agent lodgment program for individuals and trusts, the concessional due dates for the 2025-26 return run as late as 15 May 2027. Clients with a prior year return still outstanding at 30 June 2026 are due 31 October 2026; clients whose latest return produced a tax liability of $20,000 or more are due 31 March 2027; and the remaining individuals and trusts are due 15 May 2027. A further concession lets returns otherwise due 15 May be lodged by 5 June 2027 without penalty, provided any payment owing is also made by then. All of these dates apply only if you are genuinely a client of the agent.
When does your refund arrive?
Most returns lodged online through myTax process within about two weeks, and the ATO aims for the same two-week window for returns lodged through a tax agent. Paper returns are much slower, up to 50 business days, roughly ten weeks. If a return needs manual review, an online return can take up to 30 calendar days. The timings sit side by side below.
| How you lodge | Typical processing time |
|---|---|
| Online, through myTax | Most within 2 weeks |
| Through a registered tax agent | Aim within 2 weeks |
| Paper return | Within 50 business days (about 10 weeks) |
| Online return that needs manual review | Up to 30 calendar days |
After processing, the ATO issues your Notice of Assessment. If your myGov account is linked to the ATO, the assessment and tax receipt go to your myGov Inbox and you get an email or SMS letting you know. The refund is paid to the bank account the ATO has on file, so it is worth checking your bank details are correct before you lodge. Whether you end up with a refund or a bill comes down to how your total withholding compared with your final tax, which is covered in the guide to PAYG withholding. You can put a figure on it first with the tax refund calculator.
What happens if you lodge late?
The self-lodge deadline is 31 October, and the practical move if you cannot meet it is to lodge as soon as you can. If you want more time properly, the route is to engage a registered tax agent before 31 October so you sit inside their lodgment program and pick up its later dates instead of missing the deadline outright.
The one late-lodgment allowance in the program is the concession noted above: returns otherwise due 15 May 2027 can be lodged by 5 June 2027 without penalty, provided any tax owing is also paid by then. It applies to agent clients, not to self-lodgers. If your affairs are complicated, or you are already behind, a registered tax agent is the sensible next step.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
All dates and figures verified against the named documents. Last verified 24 July 2026.
- ATO, Lodge your tax return online with myTax (31 October self-lodge due date; most refunds within 2 weeks).
- ATO, Lodge your tax return with a registered tax agent (agent lodgment program; on the agent's books before 31 October).
- ATO, Registered agent lodgment program: Individuals and trusts (concessional due dates of 31 October 2026, 31 March 2027 and 15 May 2027, and the 5 June 2027 concession).
- ATO, Access your income statement (14 July Single Touch Payroll finalisation and the Tax ready status).
- ATO media release, ATO warns taxpayers: Don't lodge yet (best time to lodge is from late July once pre-fill is complete).
- ATO, Your notice of assessment (online, tax agent and paper processing times; how the assessment and refund are delivered).
- ATO, How to track the progress of your tax return (up to 30 calendar days for an online return under manual review).
