Australian Tax Return Procedure

After the end of financial year, lodging a tax return is quite important if working in Australia. If we are eligible, starting in July, we can lodge the request. Here is a step-by-step guide for submitting a tax reimbursement on the MyGov website. 

1. Open a MyGov account

MyGov: https://my.gov.au/

2. Connect to your ATO (Australian Taxation Office) account

·        After creating a MyGov account, scroll down to the Linked Services section and select "View and link services".

·        Choose Australian Taxation Office, then click "Link".

·        You’ll be asked to provide two pieces of information related to the ATO, such as your bank account details, superannuation account, or ABN (Australian Business Number).

·        Alternatively, you can call the ATO to get a special code that you can use to link your account.

·        Once your account is linked, the screen will look like this:

3. Prepare your payslip
Download the payslip that shows your tax deductions.
For those who work at the university, you can access it via Workday and go to the Payslip section.

 

4. Manage your Tax Return
Once your account is linked, go to the MyGov homepage and click “Go to Service” under Australian Taxation Office.
Scroll down and click “Manage Tax Return”.

5. Lodge Tax Return
Under the 2024–2025 financial year section, click “Start” or “Resume” if you’ve already started but haven’t finished yet.

6. myTax 1 – Contact Details
Check your contact information and make sure everything is correct.
Update it if there are any changes to your email, phone number, address, or other details.

If everything is correct, click “Next”

 

7. myTax 2 – Financial Institution Details
Check your bank account number and bank details where your tax refund will be deposited.

If everything is correct, click “Next”

 

8. myTax 3 – Personalise Return
Answer the questions in this section according to your personal circumstances.

If you see the question “Did you use the ATO app's myDeductions tool during the year?”, click the link provided if applicable.
If not, just continue filling in the form below.
In the checklist section, most items are usually pre-filled by default. If not, you can simply add the relevant checklist items yourself.

I only had the bank interest checklist item, from Commbank.
If you have additional income, such as dividends from shares, you can check that as well (you’ll need to enter the amount on the next page).

At the bottom, there’s a section for “Cash income” – ideally, you should also report any money received directly in cash.
Once done, click “Next”.

9. myTax 4 – Prepare Return
Some of the data in this section is automatically pre-filled.

In the “Medicare and private health insurance” section, I filled it out like this:
For the next two questions:

• Select “Prepared myself” (since I didn’t use a tax agent)
• Select “Yes (or I’m unsure)” (because I might lodge a tax return again in the future)

After that, in the Tax Estimate section, click “Calculate”.

If there are still errors, you’ll need to fix them first.
Usually, the sections “Income Statement and Payment Summaries” and “Medicare and Private Health Insurance” need to be completed.

In the “Occupation where you earned most income” field, choose the profession that best matches your job.
For example, if you worked as a marker at the university, you can select “ACADEMIC”.

After that, you'll see the tax summary, including how much you owe the ATO and how much you’ll receive as a tax refund.

Finally, tick the box at the bottom and click “Lodge”.

The tax return will be transferred to your Commbank account within 10 business days.
You will receive a lodgment receipt via email within 30 minutes.

Credit: Adrian Adiputro for the step-by-step instructions.