Tax Time Tips 2026

Are you ready for this year’s personal tax return? Here are our 2026 Tax Time Tips!

Your Tax Time Tips for your 2026 Tax Return

When can I lodge my tax return? Is it too early?

Your employer has until 14 July to finalise their STP reporting which means if you book in your tax return before they have done this your Tax Agent may not have access to your final payroll information. As in previous years, the ATO have suggested you should not file your tax return until 31 July to ensure all your information has been collected from all the various agencies and early lodgement may result in a tax return adjustment and possible debt collection action.

Payment Summaries / Income Statements

Income Statements are available on MyGov: It’s unlikely you will receive a payment summary from your employer this year as all employers now should be on STP. Download an income statement via your MyGov account if you need it however your accountant can obtain a prefill report for your tax return.

Motor vehicle deduction claims

The cents per kilometre rate has held at 88 cents per kilometre for FY2025-26 (unchanged from last year), capped at 5,000 business kilometres — a maximum claim of $4,400 per car. Be sure to maintain adequate evidence to substantiate your claim including:

• A record of how you worked out your business kilometres per car, per income year.
• Copies of the purchase or lease documents for your car.
• Copies of the car registration certificate or papers.
• Details of the business travel you undertook during the income year, for example, you should advise the purpose of the travel undertaken, frequency of any work-related travel, number of kilometres travelled for work-related purposes.
• If your claim relates to the transport of bulky tools and equipment provide a list of all work items carried, the weight and size. If work items are carried in a bag provide the dimensions and weight of the bag.
• Details of the types of secure storage available.
• Any other evidence confirming that the travel claimed was undertaken in your car in the course of carrying out your employment duties this could include: a copy of your job description, employment contract, the relevant award or workplace or enterprise bargaining agreement.

Want to supercharge your motor vehicle deduction claim? We can help you prepare a motor vehicle claim using the direct cost method to maximise your deductions however you will need to maintain both purchasing information for your vehicle, documentation for all operating costs associated with the vehicle and an appropriately kept logbook for 12-weeks which will be valid for up to 5-years, so long as your use pattern has not changed by 11% or more.

Work from home deduction claims

You can use either the fixed rate method of 70 cents per hour for FY2025-26 (unchanged from last year) or the actual cost method in this year’s tax return. For the fixed rate method, be aware you can only claim for additional running expenses you incur for:

• Home and mobile internet or data expenses.
• Mobile and home phone usage expenses.
• Electricity and gas (energy expenses) for heating, cooling and lighting.
• Stationery and computer consumables, such as printer ink and paper.

The rate per work hour (70c) includes the total deductible expenses for the above additional running expenses. If you’re using this method, you can’t claim an additional separate deduction for these expenses. The ATO also requires a contemporaneous record of your actual hours for the whole year — an estimate reconstructed at tax time is no longer accepted.

Do you want to maximise your home office or work-related home expenses on your tax return or use part of your home for income generating purposes? We can help you choose which deduction method to use in your tax return, fixed rate or actual cost and be sure you understand the capital gains tax (CGT) implications using your home that you own for income producing purposes.

What happened to the $1,000 Instant Tax Deduction?

There are a few things to know. The $1,000 Instant Tax Deduction does not affect your tax return this year — it applies from the FY2026-27 tax year, meaning it first shows up on your 2027 tax return. This isn’t a promise of a $1,000 refund, all that will change is the maximum $300 deduction claim without receipts increases to $1,000 in that year. This may lead to a smaller tax refund than expected if you rely on this and don’t save your receipts and work with your Tax Agent to maximise your tax return in the meantime.

How to avoid an ATO Audit

The ATO has identified some key areas they will be focusing on this tax return season, including:

• Inflating claims for rental properties: The ATO has issued new guidance (Taxation Ruling TR 2026/1 and an associated Practical Compliance Guideline) spelling out exactly what you can and can’t claim on investment properties and holiday homes. Be sure to retain adequate evidence and documents to substantiate costs for your tax return and know where you stand if your property was only rented for part of the year, if you rent out as a short-term rental e.g., through Airbnb, or if you use the property as a holiday home, to avoid incorrect claims and possible audits and findings under audit.
• Incorrectly claiming work-related expenses: The ATO will be focusing on work from home claims so ensure you are maintaining adequate records and apply the correct rates when calculating WFH claims. Remember, there are 3 golden rules for claiming a deduction for any work-related expense: you must have spent the money yourself and weren’t reimbursed, the expense must directly relate to earning your income, and you must have a record (usually a receipt) to prove it.
• Failing to include all income when lodging: The ATO is also keen to find taxpayers who are gaining other sources of income which they are not recording on their tax returns such as additional employment, rental income, or partnership, trusts and units’ income, investment income from share or crypto trading (including simply swapping one crypto asset for another) or some kind of business income or “side hustle”. The federal government continues to invest in additional ATO officers and expanding data matching services across banks, employers and digital platforms to help with these areas of focus.

Two small wins worth knowing about

• Donations: the old $2 minimum for deductible gifts has been removed — every eligible donation is now deductible, regardless of size.
• ATO debt: if you’re carrying a tax debt attracting the General Interest Charge or Shortfall Interest Charge, that interest is no longer tax-deductible for charges incurred from 1 July 2025 onward. If this applies to you, it’s worth talking to us about a payment plan sooner rather than later.

Looking ahead: what’s changing from 1 July 2026 and into 2027

A few bigger reforms are now locked in and worth planning around, even though they won’t show up on the return you’re lodging right now:

• Negative gearing and capital gains tax reform (now law): Parliament has passed changes to how investment properties and capital gains are taxed. From 1 July 2027, losses on established residential properties bought after 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 will be quarantined — they can only be offset against residential rental income or future residential capital gains, not your salary or wages. Properties held before that date are unaffected. Separately, the 50% CGT discount is being replaced with cost-base indexation plus a 30% minimum tax rate, but only for gains that accrue after 1 July 2027 — gains up to that date still get the current discount. If you’re actively investing in property or planning to, this is worth a conversation with us now, well before the 1 July 2027 start date. Some of the detail (including how gains will be apportioned across the transition) is still to be finalised, so we’re watching this closely.
• Personal tax cuts: from 1 July 2026 the 16% tax bracket drops to 15%, with a further cut to 14% from 1 July 2027. This is already in effect for the financial year you’re now in.
• Division 296 — the new $3 million super tax: from 1 July 2026, individuals with a Total Super Balance above $3 million face an additional 15% tax on earnings attributable to the excess (30% above $10 million). The first balance test is 30 June 2027. If you or your SMSF are approaching this threshold, this is genuinely worth planning for now.

If any of these touch your situation, this is exactly the kind of thing we build into a proper tax strategy conversation — not just a compliance lodgement. We can help you plan for these changes and implement the right structures at our meeting this tax season, so you’re ahead of it well before it lands on a return.

Why should you engage OnVenture as your Tax Agent to prepare your tax return?

OnVenture specialise in tax returns for entrepreneurs, those who work from home, home based businesses, property owners and investors and Tradies and are always developing new ways to improve the experience and outcomes for clients. Some key reasons to select us to do your tax return this year are:

• Our comprehensive tax return survey is a quick and easy way to ensure we have all the information we need to complete your tax return before your appointment.
• Not able to join us on a tax return call during 9-5? No problem! We have increased our operating hours through July & August to include appointment times:
  • Prior to business hours from 7:30am to 9am on Tuesdays through to Fridays; and
  • After business hours from 5pm to 6.30pm on Tuesdays through to Thursdays.

We’ve built more into every appointment this year, with the option to combine your annual return with tax planning and strategic advice on your wealth creation activities. This is particularly handy given all the recent tax changes passed affecting negative gearing and capital gains tax. So this is not just about compliance, but a real look at where you’re headed next.

Maximise your return. With our broad industry knowledge, we are able to identify opportunities through our online survey and in-meeting consultation to ethically increase your deductions and maximise your return! Not just this year, we will give you advice to improve your outcomes next year as well.

Ready to Go?

Choose the option that suits your situation:

Note:

1. Other services and fees may be required for non-standard events and activities such as property rentals, capital gains events from asset sales and small business schedules, etc.
2. Your employer should be now reporting with STP and has until 14 July to finalise the STP reporting for the year. You will not receive a payment summary from your employer, however you can obtain an Income Statement if needed by logging into your MyGov account. If your employer has finalised their STP reporting for the year we will have access to your finalised wages income and tax withheld details via the ATO portal and do not need a payment summary (group certificate, as they were once known) or your income statement.

This article is general in nature and does not take into account your personal financial situation, needs, or objectives. It should not be relied upon as personal tax advice. Please contact OnVenture Accounting & Advisory for advice tailored to your circumstances before acting on any of the above.

References: ATO cents-per-kilometre method and fixed-rate working from home guidance (2025–26); ATO “What’s new for individuals” 2025–26; Taxation Ruling TR 2026/1 and associated Practical Compliance Guidelines on rental and holiday home deductions; Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 (negative gearing and CGT reform); Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Act 2026 (Division 296); ATO guidance on personal income tax cuts from 1 July 2026 and 1 July 2027.