Welcome to FY2025-26, Goodbye FY2024-25
Income to Declare 2026
You must report all assessable income you earned between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026.
This page explains the common types of income that may need to be included in your 2026 tax return. ATO pre-fill information is useful, but it may not include everything. You remain responsible for making sure all income is correctly reported.
🌏 If you are an Australian resident for tax purposes, you generally need to declare income from both Australia and overseas.
🌍 If you are a foreign resident or became a resident/non-resident during the year, the rules can be different and should be reviewed carefully.
Salary and Wages
Include all payments received from employment during the 2025–26 income year.
Most employers report wages through Single Touch Payroll, so your income statement should usually be available through myGov or ATO Online. Before lodging, check that each employer has marked your income statement as “Tax ready”.
Your income statement may include:
salary and wages;
tax withheld;
allowances;
bonuses and commissions;
paid parental leave;
reportable fringe benefits;
reportable employer super contributions;
termination payments or lump sum amounts.
💡 Tip
If you changed jobs or worked for more than one employer during the year, we need details from each employer.
If an income statement is not marked Tax ready, the figures may still change, so it is safer to wait or cross-check with your employer.
Also tell us if you received an employment termination payment, redundancy payment, back pay, workers compensation, paid parental leave or Department of Veterans’ Affairs payment.
Allowances and Lump Sum Payments
Allowances and lump sum payments from your employer are often taxable and must be reviewed carefully.
Examples include:
car allowances;
travel allowances;
tool allowances;
laundry allowances;
meal allowances;
overtime meal allowances;
back payments of salary or wages;
employment termination payments;
unused annual leave or long service leave payments.
Some allowances are shown separately on your income statement. Some may be taxed differently or reported in different sections of the tax return.
Do not assume an allowance is tax-free because it was paid separately. Please provide the details so we can classify it correctly.
Government Payments
Some government payments are taxable and some are tax-free. We need to check the type of payment before lodging.
Taxable payments may include:
JobSeeker;
Youth Allowance;
Austudy;
Age Pension;
Carer Payment;
paid parental leave;
certain disaster payments;
some Department of Veterans’ Affairs payments.
Some government payments may be tax-free but still relevant for other calculations, such as Medicare levy, offsets, spouse income, family assistance or income tests.
💡 Tip
Many government payments are pre-filled by the ATO, but pre-fill is not always complete immediately. Bring your Centrelink, Services Australia or Department of Veterans’ Affairs payment summary if available.
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Investment Income
Investment income includes interest, dividends, managed fund distributions, ETF distributions, trust distributions, rental income and capital gains.
Do not rely only on bank deposits or cash received. Some investment income is taxable even if it was reinvested, credited to a loan account, distributed through a managed fund, or reported later in an annual tax statement.
Interest
Interest from bank accounts, term deposits, offset arrangements, children’s accounts, peer-to-peer lending and foreign bank accounts may need to be declared.
Please provide annual interest summaries or bank statements showing interest received during the year.
If a bank account is in joint names, the interest usually needs to be split between the account holders unless there is evidence of a different ownership arrangement.
Dividends
If you owned shares in companies, you may have received dividends.
Dividend statements usually show:
franked dividends;
unfranked dividends;
franking credits;
tax file number withholding, if any;
payment date.
Franking credits must be included in the tax return together with the dividend income. For example, a cash dividend plus franking credits may result in a higher grossed-up income figure, with the franking credit then claimed as a tax offset.
Please provide all dividend statements or your broker’s annual tax report.
Managed Funds & Trusts
Managed funds, ETFs, REITs and trusts may distribute several types of income, including:
interest;
franked dividends;
unfranked dividends;
capital gains;
foreign income;
foreign tax offsets;
tax-deferred amounts;
cost base adjustments.
These investments often issue an Annual Tax Statement or AMMA statement after 30 June. These statements may not be available immediately in July.
🚨 Important
Please do not lodge too early if you hold managed funds, ETFs or trusts. Missing or late annual tax statements can lead to incorrect income, incorrect franking credits, incorrect capital gains and later ATO amendments.
Bring the annual tax statement or AMMA statement for every managed fund, ETF or trust investment.
Crypto Investment Returns
Crypto can create both income tax and capital gains tax issues.
Crypto income may include:
staking rewards;
airdrops;
DeFi/yield farming rewards;
mining income;
referral rewards;
payments received in crypto.
These amounts may need to be reported based on the Australian dollar value at the time they were received.
As a first step, please download a full-year crypto tax report and CSV from a platform such as https://koinly.io/crypto-tax-calculator/au/ or https://www.cryptotaxcalculatoraustralia.com.au/, as these tools help manage the complexity of calculations and currency conversions. The report should include all acquisitions, disposals, transfers, fees and balances.
Crypto disposals are covered below under capital gains. If you held, sold, swapped, transferred, staked, mined or received crypto during the year, please provide a full transaction report or CSV from each exchange and wallet.
DISCLAIMER - Crypto tax software such as Koinly or Crypto Tax Calculator Australia may help prepare transaction reports, but the software output still needs to be reviewed. We do not guarantee the accuracy of any third-party software report.
Rental Income
If you owned a rental property during 2025–26, all rental and rental-related income must be declared.
This includes:
regular rent from tenants;
rent paid in advance;
short-term rental income, including Airbnb or similar platforms;
letting fees received;
lease surrender payments;
bond money retained;
insurance payouts for lost rent;
reimbursement of expenses by tenants;
income from renting part of your own home.
If you rented only part of a property, only the relevant portion of income and expenses should be reported.
💡 Tip
Please provide the annual rental statement from your property manager.
☝🏽 If self-managed, provide a summary of rent received by month, copies of lease records, and details of any vacant periods.
☝🏽 If the property was vacant, we may need evidence that it was genuinely available for rent, such as advertising records, agent listings or tenant application records.
Capital Gains & Losses
A capital gains tax event may happen when you sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of an asset.
Common CGT assets include:
shares;
ETFs;
managed fund units;
cryptocurrency;
rental properties;
vacant land;
business assets;
collectables;
some foreign assets.
A capital gain or loss may also arise even if you did not physically receive cash, such as where an asset was exchanged, gifted, transferred, or used to pay for something.
Capital losses cannot usually be offset against salary or business income. They are generally used against capital gains and may be carried forward if not fully used.
Shares
If you sold shares or other listed investments during 2025–26, please provide:
purchase date;
purchase price;
sale date;
sale proceeds;
brokerage;
dividend reinvestment plan records;
details of any corporate actions.
If you held the asset for at least 12 months, you may be eligible for the 50% CGT discount, subject to the rules. We still need the full cost base and sale details to calculate the correct gain or loss.
Cryptocurrency
Crypto is treated as an asset for tax purposes. A CGT event can happen when you:
sell crypto for Australian dollars or foreign currency;
swap one crypto asset for another;
use crypto to buy goods or services;
gift crypto;
transfer beneficial ownership of crypto;
dispose of NFTs or other digital assets.
Each transaction must be reported in Australian dollars.
The ATO receives information from crypto exchanges and other sources, so incomplete reporting can lead to review activity or later amendments.
As a first step, please download a full-year crypto tax report and CSV from a platform such as https://koinly.io/crypto-tax-calculator/au/ or https://www.cryptotaxcalculatoraustralia.com.au/. These tools help manage the complexity of calculations and currency conversions. The report should include all acquisitions, disposals, transfers, fees and balances.
DISCLAIMER - Crypto tax software such as Koinly or Crypto Tax Calculator Australia may help prepare transaction reports, but the software output still needs to be reviewed. We do not guarantee the accuracy of any third-party software report.
Real Estate
If you sold real estate during 2025–26, there may be CGT consequences unless the full main residence exemption applies.
Please provide:
purchase settlement statement;
sale settlement statement;
legal fees;
agent commission;
advertising costs;
stamp duty on purchase;
building and pest inspection costs;
renovation and improvement records;
depreciation schedule, if the property was rented;
details of when the property was your main residence, if applicable.
If the property was your home for only part of the ownership period, rented out at any time, used for business, or owned jointly, the CGT calculation may need to be apportioned.
Other Assets
CGT can also apply to other assets, including:
business assets;
collectables;
foreign assets;
some personal-use assets;
NFTs or digital assets;
rights, options or contracts.
Not every sale is taxable, but it is safer to provide details if you sold anything significant during the year.
If you dealt with digital assets such as NFTs, futures, margin trading or other crypto-related transactions, please provide a complete transaction report from tools like Koinly or Crypto Tax Calculator Australia to ensure accurate reporting.
Business and Self-Employment Income
If you earned income as a sole trader, contractor, freelancer, consultant, ride-share driver, delivery driver, online seller, content creator, influencer, Airbnb host, or through another side activity, it may need to be declared.
Business or self-employment income can include:
cash sales;
card sales;
bank transfers;
online platform income;
marketplace sales;
tips;
commissions;
referral fees;
deposits received;
government business grants;
insurance payouts for business interruption;
barter or non-cash payments.
You must report gross income and expenses separately. Do not reduce your income by your expenses before giving us the figures.
Contract & Freelance Work
This includes consulting, IT contracting, design work, bookkeeping, cleaning, labouring, tutoring, professional services, and other freelance work.
Please provide invoices issued, platform summaries, bank records or accounting software reports showing your income.
If tax was withheld under voluntary withholding or no-ABN withholding arrangements, provide those payment summaries as well.
Platform & Gig Economy
Income from digital platforms and apps may be reported to the ATO.
Examples include:
Uber, DiDi, Ola and other ride-sourcing platforms;
food delivery platforms;
Airtasker and similar task platforms;
Airbnb and short-stay accommodation platforms;
Etsy, eBay, Amazon or online marketplaces;
Upwork, Fiverr and freelance platforms.
If using Uber Eats only, provide the annual report for FY 2026.
If using Uber Taxi and Uber Eats, download quarterly or monthly reports and provide them for revenue recording and GST calculations.
Provide similar reports for Ola, DiDi, Airtasker, Airbnb, and other platforms.
🚨 IMPORTANT
If you provide ride-sourcing services, GST registration and BAS obligations may apply even if your income is below the usual GST threshold. Please tell us early if you drive for Uber, DiDi, Ola or similar platforms.
Business Income
If you carried on a business with an ABN, please provide:
Profit and Loss report;
sales summary;
bank statements if required;
accounting software access or export;
cash takings records;
invoices;
merchant statements;
platform statements;
BAS records if registered for GST.
For cash businesses, all cash takings must be included. The ATO uses benchmarks, third-party data and industry comparisons to identify underreported income.
Hobby or Business?
Not every activity is automatically a business. However, if an activity is commercial, repeated, organised, advertised or intended to make a profit, it may be treated as business income.
Please tell us about side activities even if you believe they are only a hobby. We can help determine the correct treatment.
Foreign Income
If you are an Australian resident for tax purposes, you generally need to declare your worldwide income.
Foreign income may include:
overseas salary or wages;
foreign pensions;
foreign interest;
foreign dividends;
foreign rental income;
foreign capital gains;
income from overseas businesses;
income from foreign trusts or companies.
Foreign income must generally be converted to Australian dollars. If foreign tax was paid, you may be entitled to a foreign income tax offset, depending on the circumstances.
If you became an Australian tax resident or ceased Australian tax residency during the year, please tell us the exact dates and provide details of income earned before and after the change.
Other Income
Please tell us about any unusual or one-off payments. Some payments are taxable and some are not, but we need the details to classify them correctly.
Examples include:
director’s fees;
honoraria;
private consulting income;
royalties;
partnership or trust distributions;
crowdfunding receipts;
compensation payments;
insurance payouts;
prizes or awards connected with work or business;
income protection insurance payments;
payments from overseas;
deceased estate income;
refunds, reimbursements or settlement payments.
Note
The tax treatment depends on the reason the payment was made. A payment that looks like a gift, reimbursement, compensation or prize may still be taxable depending on the facts.
🕵🏾♂️ Remember: ATO Data Matching Is Extensive
The ATO receives information from many sources, including employers, banks, share registries, managed funds, government agencies, property records, digital platforms and crypto exchanges.
Pre-fill information helps, but it is not perfect. Some income may appear late, some may be missing, and some may need to be manually added.
The safest approach is full disclosure of all income and unusual payments before lodging. It is better to raise an item and confirm it is not taxable than to omit income and deal with an ATO amendment or review later.
Final Reminder
If you are unsure whether something is income, please bring the details to your appointment. We will review the facts, check how it should be reported, and ensure your 2026 tax return is prepared correctly and defensibly.