Individual Tax Return (self-lodge)
Australian individual income tax return for 2025/26 financial year (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026). Self-lodgers file by October 31; tax agents have extended deadlines.
Filing deadline
October 31, 2026
- Country
- Australia
- Tax year
- 2025
- Official
- Tax authority
What is this deadline?
Australia's tax year runs July 1 – June 30. For the 2025/26 financial year (ending June 30, 2026), individual self-lodgers must file by October 31, 2026. Registered tax agents can lodge on your behalf with extended deadlines into May 2027.
Who needs to file?
- Every Australian resident earning above the tax-free threshold (~$18,200)
- Sole traders (Schedule of Business Income)
- Anyone with non-salary income
How to file
- myTax via myGov
- Through a registered tax agent (lets you use extended deadlines)
What people miss
- Tax year is July-June, not calendar — easy trip-up for expats and international clients
- Medicare Levy (2% of taxable income) and Medicare Levy Surcharge (extra 1-1.5% if high earner without hospital cover)
- Super — up to $30,000 concessional contribution cap for 2025/26
- Division 293 — extra 15% tax on concessional super contributions for high earners
- PAYG instalments for sole traders — ATO sets these based on prior-year income
Prepare this return with open-source skills
These skills are in the OpenAccountants repo. Clone them into Claude, Cursor, or any AI agent and they handle the computation.
Use this skill whenever asked about Australian individual income tax for sole traders. Trigger on phrases like "how much tax do I pay in Australia", "Australian tax return", "sole trader tax", "ABN tax", "Medicare levy", "LITO", "PAYG", "tax brackets Australia", "BAS", "instant asset write-off", "home office deduction", "HELP repayment", "HECS debt", "small business income tax offset", "motor vehicle deduction", or any question about filing or computing income tax for an Australian sole trader. Covers 2024-25 Stage 3 tax rates, Medicare levy and surcharge, LITO, business income computation, allowable deductions, depreciation, instant asset write-off, small business income tax offset, HELP/HECS repayments, and final tax computation. ALWAYS read this skill before touching any Australian income tax work.
Use this skill whenever asked about the Australian Medicare Levy, Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS), low-income reduction thresholds, family thresholds, surcharge tiers, private health insurance (PHI) rebate interaction, or Medicare levy exemptions. Trigger on phrases like "Medicare levy", "Medicare surcharge", "MLS", "do I pay Medicare levy", "low income Medicare", "Medicare levy reduction", "Medicare levy exemption", "private health insurance rebate", "PHI rebate", "M1", "M2", or any question about Medicare-related levies on an Australian tax return. ALWAYS read this skill before touching any Medicare levy work.
Use this skill whenever asked about Australian Superannuation Guarantee (SG) obligations, voluntary super contributions, concessional and non-concessional caps, Division 293 tax, government co-contribution, spouse contribution tax offset, carry-forward rules, or any question about super for sole traders or employers. Trigger on phrases like "how much super do I pay", "SG rate", "super guarantee", "concessional cap", "Division 293", "salary sacrifice super", "personal super contribution deduction", "co-contribution", "BPAY super", "ATO super clearing house", "super fund contribution", or any question about Australian superannuation. Also trigger when classifying bank statement transactions showing super fund payments, BPAY super debits, or ATO Small Business Super Clearing House (SBSCH) payments. ALWAYS read this skill before touching any SG-related work.
This page is informational only and not tax advice. Verify dates and requirements against the official tax authority before filing.