Prepare for tax time
Tax overview
Your income may come from:
- an employer
- profit from a business
- having an investment or bank interest
- government payments and allowances.
Find out how tax works and how much tax to pay. You can also learn about the income you must declare on the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website.
Your tax return is used for a number of reasons, including to:
- check if enough tax was withheld from your income
- work out how much Medicare levy you need to pay, and if you need to pay the Medicare levy surcharge
- check if the rebate on your private health insurance is right
- calculate your compulsory repayment amount for a study and training support loan
- balance your Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and Child Care Subsidy (CCS) to make sure you were paid correctly
- work out and confirm your child support assessment.
The Medicare levy is an extra amount you pay in your tax that helps fund Medicare. The Medicare levy is calculated by the ATO when you lodge your tax return.
If you or your family don’t have the appropriate level of private health insurance, you may also need to pay the Medicare levy surcharge. Find out more about the Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge on the ATO website.
If you and your dependants aren’t eligible for Medicare, you may not need to pay the Medicare levy. You can claim an exemption when you lodge your tax return. You’ll need a Medicare Entitlement Statement (MES) from Services Australia before you lodge. You can apply from 1 July and It may take up to 8 weeks for you to get your MES.
Find out more about who can get a MES and how to get a MES on the Services Australia website.
If you have private health insurance, you may get the private health insurance rebate. It can reduce your health insurance premiums or be claimed in your tax return. Any rebate amount is based on your and your family’s income. Find out about claiming the private health insurance rebate on the ATO website.
If you have a study or training support loan, you’ll make compulsory repayments when you lodge your tax return. You make repayments when your income is more than the minimum payment threshold. This can happen while you’re still studying or doing your apprenticeship.
The ATO will work out any compulsory repayment amount, pay it to your loan and include it on your notice of assessment. Find out how study and training support loans work.
Centrelink family assistance payments and child support
You'll need to confirm your income each financial year if you get a family assistance payment. You will have until 30 June to confirm your family income for the last financial year. You can find more about what families need to do at tax time on the Services Australia website.
You’ll need to confirm your income each year if you pay or receive child support. You must do this even if you don’t need to lodge a tax return. You can find out more about child support at tax time on the Services Australia website.
Tax return
You’ll need to work out if you should lodge a tax return or non-lodgment advice with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). You may not need to lodge a tax return depending on your income. You can work out if you need to lodge a tax return on the ATO website.
Tax records
To prepare for tax time you can gather information you’ll need when you lodge your tax return.
You must keep records to claim a deduction in your tax return. Deductions can reduce your taxable income.
Find out more on the ATO website about:
Online security
Scammers can attempt to get your personal information online. They can use your personal information to sign in to your online accounts such as myGov, use your bank accounts or access your finances.
When you’re getting ready to do your tax, make sure you’re only dealing with genuine websites. To safely access your myGov account and linked services use the official myGov app, or type my.gov.au into your browser to sign in. Find out more about:
- how you can protect your myGov account
- how to stay scam safe on the ATO website.