2026 Tax Return Deadline: What 31 October Means for You (and How to Get Until May 2027)

If you lodge your own tax return, the deadline for your 2025–26 return is 31 October 2026. This year that date falls on a Saturday, so don't leave it to the weekend — aim to have it lodged by Friday 30 October. If you use a registered tax agent like Counting Beans A.F. and you're on our client list before 31 October, most individuals can lodge as late as 15 May 2027 under the ATO's tax agent lodgment program.

This guide explains who the deadline applies to, what happens if you miss it, how the tax agent extension works, and what's different about this year's return for people in Frankston, Ringwood East and the surrounding suburbs.

Who has to lodge by 31 October 2026?

The 31 October deadline applies to anyone who prepares and lodges their own return, whether through myTax, on paper, or with an unregistered helper. It covers:

• •Employees lodging their own return through myGov and myTax
• •Sole traders and contractors who self-lodge
• •Investors with rental properties, shares or crypto who self-lodge
• •Anyone who used a tax agent last year but hasn't re-engaged one this year

If you're not sure whether you're on a tax agent's lodgment program, call us. We can check your ATO lodgment status in a few minutes.

What happens if you miss the deadline?

The ATO can apply a failure-to-lodge penalty for every 28 days (or part of one) that a return is late, up to a maximum of five penalty units. On top of that, general interest charge accrues on any tax owing from the date it was due. The ATO often doesn't apply a penalty where a refund is due or where you have a good lodgment history, but that's a discretion, not a right — and late lodgment makes it harder to get concessions later.

The bigger cost is usually the one nobody counts: people who lodge late are far more likely to rush, miss deductions and lodge with errors that trigger amendments or reviews.

How do I get until 15 May 2027?

Registered tax agents have a separate lodgment program with the ATO. When you become our client and we add you to our client list before 31 October, your return moves onto our program. For most individuals that means a due date of 15 May 2027. Three conditions matter:

• •You need to be on our client list before 31 October 2026 — the extension can't be applied retrospectively
• •If your last return produced a tax bill of $20,000 or more, your due date under the program is 31 March 2027, not 15 May
• •If you have overdue prior-year returns, the extension doesn't apply until those are brought up to date

Payment dates also shift under the agent program, so if you're expecting a tax bill, engaging an agent before 31 October usually buys you more time to pay as well as more time to lodge.

Should I lodge now or wait until May?

If you're expecting a refund, lodge as soon as your information is complete — there's no benefit in waiting, and the refund is money sitting with the ATO instead of in your account. The ATO's pre-fill data (employer income statements, bank interest, dividends, private health cover) is generally complete from late July, so by September there's rarely a reason to hold off.

If you're expecting to owe tax, the agent extension gives you time to plan: for example, to make a deductible personal super contribution before 30 June next year, or to spread a tax bill across a payment arrangement. Waiting is a strategy only when it's a deliberate one.

What's different about the 2025–26 return?

A few things to have in mind before you lodge this year's return:

• •Working from home: the fixed-rate method is 70 cents per hour for 2025–26, and the ATO requires a record of the actual hours worked from home (a diary, timesheet or roster) — an estimate is no longer accepted
• •Tax rates for 2025–26 are unchanged from last year: 16% on income from $18,201 to $45,000, 30% to $135,000, 37% to $190,000 and 45% above that
• •The 1 July 2026 rate cut (the 16% bracket dropping to 15%) applies to the 2026–27 year, so it will show up in next year's return, not this one
• •Small businesses could continue to claim the $20,000 instant asset write-off for eligible assets first used or installed ready for use in 2025–26
• •If you sold shares, an investment property or cryptocurrency during the year, the ATO's data-matching now covers most exchanges and registries — every disposal needs to be reported, including losses

What should I bring to my tax appointment?

Most of the income side is pre-filled by the ATO. What we can't see is your deductions, so bring:

• •Photo ID (new clients) and your bank details for the refund
• •Records for work-related expenses: uniforms, tools, self-education, union fees, professional subscriptions
• •Working-from-home hours record and any receipts for a home office
• •Car logbook or a record of work kilometres if you use the cents-per-kilometre method
• •Rental property statements, loan interest, rates, insurance, repairs and depreciation schedule
• •Share, managed fund and crypto statements, including purchase records for anything sold
• •Income protection insurance premiums, donations and tax agent fees paid last year
• •Private health insurance statement and spouse income details, if applicable

Download our tax return checklist from the Resources page if you'd like a printable version.

How Counting Beans A.F. can help before 31 October

We're registered tax agents with offices in Ringwood East (8 Railway Ave, three minutes from the station) and Frankston (4/30-34 Skye Rd, the practice formerly known as Paganoni Accounting). Appointments are available in person, by phone or by video, and we can add you to our lodgment program the same day you get in touch.

Because our accountants sit alongside our financial advisers and mortgage brokers, a tax appointment is also a chance to look at super contributions, an investment property's structure, or whether your home loan is still doing its job — all under one roof and one licence (AFSL 491754).

Get in touch before 31 October 2026

Call our Ringwood East office on 03 9870 1477 or our Frankston office on 03 9769 6431, or book online through the contact page. If you'd rather read more first, see our tax returns Ringwood East and tax accountant Frankston pages.

This article is general information only and doesn't take into account your personal circumstances. Lodgment and payment due dates under the tax agent lodgment program depend on your ATO lodgment history and the type of return; we'll confirm your specific dates when you become a client.