Key takeaways
- Self-lodging: 31 October. Because 31 October 2026 is a Saturday, the ATO weekend rule puts the 2025-26 deadline at Monday 2 November 2026.
- With a registered tax agent the date can run to 15 May 2027, on the condition that you contact the agent before 31 October.
- Payment is due 21 November if you self-lodged between 1 July and 31 October and got a bill. Lodging late does not move that date.
- The failure to lodge on time penalty is one penalty unit per 28 days overdue, capped at 5 units. A penalty unit is $364 from 1 July 2026.
- If a late return produces a refund or a nil result, the ATO generally does not issue a failure to lodge penalty notice.
- Small companies and most SMSFs lodging their own return: 28 February, or 31 October if prior year returns are outstanding.
When is the tax return due date?
31 October if you lodge your own return. The date covers the income year that ended on the previous 30 June, so the 2025-26 return is due 31 October 2026. If a registered tax agent lodges for you, the due date can run as late as 15 May 2027, but only if you engage the agent before 31 October.
The ATO puts it as a single obligation with two ways to meet it: if you need to complete a tax return you must lodge it, or engage with a tax agent, by 31 October. Doing neither by that date is what starts the late lodgement clock, not the absence of a finished return.
The individual tax return due date is the same whatever the income is made of: salary, business profit, investment income or all three. The same 31 October date applies to sole traders, partnerships and trusts preparing their own returns, because a sole trader lodges business income through the individual return. If that is you, the tax on your profit is worked out on the individual rates covered in the ABN tax rate guide, and there is more on withholding timing across the rest of the PAYG and tax guides.
One qualifier worth stating early. 31 October 2026 falls on a Saturday, and the ATO publishes a rule for exactly that situation. The next section works through it.
Key tax return dates for 2026-27
These are the dates that matter for the return covering 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, plus the agent program dates that run into 2027. Self-lodger dates and tax agent dates sit on separate ladders, so the rows below name the group wherever the two could be confused.
| Date | What is due |
|---|---|
| 1 July 2026 | Lodgement opens for the 2025-26 income year |
| 14 July 2026 | Employers finalise Single Touch Payroll data, income statements move to Tax ready |
| 28 August 2026 | Most taxable payments annual report data becomes available for pre-fill |
| 30 September 2026 | Finalisation deadline for closely held payees where the employer has 20 or more employees |
| 31 October 2026 (Sat) | Self-lodgement due date. The ATO says to contact a registered tax agent before this date |
| Mon 2 November 2026 | Self-lodgement deadline once the weekend rule is applied to the calendar |
| 21 November 2026 | Payment due if you self-lodged and the assessment produced a bill |
| 1 December 2026 | Payment date for companies and super funds that had to lodge by 31 October |
| 31 January 2027 | Agent-lodged large and medium trusts that were taxable in the latest year lodged |
| 28 February 2027 | Self-preparing small companies, and most SMSFs lodging their own annual return |
| 31 March 2027 | Agent clients whose latest return produced a tax liability of $20,000 or more |
| 15 May 2027 | Most remaining agent-lodged individual and trust returns |
| 5 June 2027 | Concessional date for 15 May returns, penalty free only if payment is made by then too |
Every row above traces to an ATO page in the sources, with one exception. The 2 November 2026 row is the ATO's published weekend rule applied to this year's calendar. The ATO publishes the rule, not the resulting date.
What happens when 31 October falls on a weekend
The ATO rule, word for word: "If 31 October falls on a weekend, the due date to lodge your tax return is the next business day after 31 October." 31 October 2026 is a Saturday. Apply the rule to the calendar and the 2025-26 self-lodgement deadline lands on Monday 2 November 2026.
Two practical notes. The next business day depends on public holidays where you live, so if you are lodging on the last possible day, check your own state or territory calendar before you rely on it. And the shift repeats next year: 31 October 2027 is a Sunday.
The payment side is less tidy. The ATO's business due dates page says that "when a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, you can lodge or pay on the first business day after without incurring a penalty or general interest charge", and the SMSF page repeats it for super funds. The individuals page that sets the 21 November payment date does not restate it. 21 November 2026 is also a Saturday. Rather than testing which page governs, have the money with the ATO by Friday 20 November 2026 and the question never arises.
31 October is not the only date on this page that lands on a weekend. 31 January 2027 and 28 February 2027 are both Sundays, and 15 May 2027 and 5 June 2027 are both Saturdays. The ATO prints those dates flat on its agent lodgment program pages rather than shifting them, and the general first business day rule quoted above sits on a different page again. If one of those is your date, confirm the working date with your agent or the ATO rather than assuming a shift.
Lodging and paying are separate obligations with separate dates. You can lodge on 15 July and still not have to pay until 21 November. You can also lodge on 2 November, owe nothing, and have no payment date at all. If you want to know which side of the line you are on before you lodge, the tax refund calculator compares tax withheld against tax owed.
The tax agent extension, and the one condition attached
Most registered tax agents have a special lodgment program and can lodge returns for their clients after the usual 31 October deadline. The condition is the part that catches people: if you are using a tax agent for the first time, or using a different tax agent, you should contact them before 31 October to be part of their lodgment program.
The ATO is also clear that the extension is not a flat date. Your due date depends on your personal situation as well as when you engage your tax agent. Someone with a prior year return still outstanding is due 31 October regardless of who lodges. Someone whose last return produced a large liability is pulled forward to 31 March. Everyone else lands on 15 May.
| Lodge by | Which individuals and trusts |
|---|---|
| 31 October 2026 | One or more prior year returns outstanding as at 30 June 2026, or clients prosecuted for non-lodgement and advised of that date |
| 31 January 2027 | Large and medium trusts, meaning annual total income over $10 million in the latest year lodged, that were taxable in that year |
| 28 February 2027 | Large and medium trusts that were non-taxable in the latest year lodged, and new registrant large and medium trusts |
| 31 March 2027 | Individuals and trusts whose latest return resulted in a tax liability of $20,000 or more, excluding large and medium trusts |
| 15 May 2027 | All remaining individuals and trusts not required to lodge earlier, including new registrations |
The $20,000 row surprises people every year. It is not about how much you earn, it is about the tax liability on your latest lodged return. A one-off capital gain or a year of undertaxed contract income can put you in that band and take six weeks off your lodgement window without anything changing about your current circumstances.
The 5 June date is a concession, not a due date. Returns due on 15 May 2027 can be lodged by 5 June 2027 without penalty for individuals, partnerships and trusts, provided any payment required is also made by that date. No deferral application is needed for the 5 June date itself. Miss the payment side and the concession is gone.
Only a registered tax agent can charge a fee to prepare and lodge your return. Registration is with the Tax Practitioners Board and the public register at tpb.gov.au lets you confirm anyone claiming to be one before you hand over your income statements.
Individual tax return payment due date: 21 November
21 November. If you lodge your own tax return between 1 July and 31 October and it results in a tax bill, payment is due by 21 November. If the assessment issues after 31 October, payment is due 21 days after the assessment is issued. Those are the only two rules for a self-lodger.
Then the part almost every competing page leaves out. The ATO states that the due date for payment when you lodge your own tax return is 21 November if you lodge late. Lodging in January rather than October does not push your payment date into February. It stays at 21 November and interest can apply to any amount you owe after that date. Late lodgement buys you nothing on the payment side and costs you interest.
Agent-lodged returns work on a formula instead of a fixed date. Where the return is not due on 15 May and it is lodged on or before its due date, payment falls on the later of 21 days after the lodgement due date, or 21 days after the notice of assessment is deemed received, which is 7 business days after issue. Lodge late through an agent and tax is simply payable 21 days after the lodgement due date. Do not lodge at all, and a default assessment carries the same 21 day rule.
For agent clients whose lodgement due date is 15 May 2027, the ATO publishes staggered payment dates:
| Return lodged | Payment due |
|---|---|
| On or before 12 February 2027 | 21 March 2027 |
| 13 February to 12 March 2027 | 21 April 2027 |
| From 13 March 2027 | 5 June 2027 |
Those are the latest possible payment dates and they build in at least two weeks for processing, so an assessment can land earlier and still be payable on the date in the table.
Anything unpaid after its due date attracts general interest charge, which the ATO sets quarterly and compounds daily. For the July to September 2026 quarter the GIC rate is 11.43% annual, or 0.03131507% daily. The October to December 2026 rate, the quarter the 21 November payment date sits in, had not been published when this page went up, so treat 11.43% as the current reading rather than the rate that will apply to a late 2025-26 bill. The same interest mechanic applies to unpaid instalments, covered in what happens if you do not pay PAYG instalments.
If the bill is more than you can pay at once, ask before the due date rather than after it. The ATO says that if you are finding it hard to pay on time you may be eligible to set up your own payment plan. And if a bill at assessment keeps happening year after year, the cause is usually withholding rather than the deadline; why your tax refund is so low works through the six reasons.
What happens if you miss the tax return deadline
Lodge as soon as you can, because the penalty is time-based. The base failure to lodge on time penalty is one penalty unit for every 28 days, or part of 28 days, that the document is overdue, up to a maximum of 5 penalty units. A penalty unit is $364 for infringements on or after 1 July 2026, up from $330.
Multiplying those two figures gives the escalation below. The ATO publishes the unit rule and the unit amount on separate pages and does not print a dollar table, so this is arithmetic on two ATO numbers rather than a table you will find on ato.gov.au.
| Days overdue | Penalty units | Base penalty |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 28 | 1 | $364 |
| 29 to 56 | 2 | $728 |
| 57 to 84 | 3 | $1,092 |
| 85 to 112 | 4 | $1,456 |
| 113 or more | 5 (capped) | $1,820 |
That base rate is what applies to individuals and small withholders. The ATO multiplies it by 2 for a medium withholder, by 5 for a large withholder, and by 500 for a significant global entity. The penalty covers more than income tax returns: activity statements, FBT returns, PAYG withholding annual reports, Single Touch Payroll reports, annual GST returns and taxable payment annual reports all sit under the same rule.
The penalty is not automatic in practice. The ATO says it generally does not apply penalties in isolated cases of late lodgment, and that if you fail to lodge on time it will warn you by phone or in writing before applying a failure to lodge penalty and issuing a notice to lodge. When a penalty notice does come, it is in writing, states the reason and the amount, and gives a due date for payment at least 14 days after the notice. You cannot claim a deduction for it.
Interest is the other half of the cost. General interest charge runs on unpaid tax from the date it should have been paid, including where a return is lodged late, and it is separate from the failure to lodge penalty. The two stack.
When the ATO will not charge the late lodgement penalty
Three situations, and the first one is the one to check before you panic about a penalty. The ATO says it generally will not issue a failure to lodge penalty notice for a late-lodged tax return, FBT return, annual GST return or activity statement if the lodgment results in either a refund or a nil result. A late return that ends in a refund sits inside that exception.
The exceptions to that exception: it does not help if the penalty was applied before you lodged, if the document is a third-party data report, or if you are a large withholder.
The second is safe harbour. You are not liable for the penalty if you engaged a registered tax or BAS agent, you can show you gave the agent all the relevant tax information needed to lodge by the due date, and the agent's failure to lodge was not reckless or an intentional disregard of the tax law. Keep the email trail that proves when you sent your documents across.
The third is remission, where the ATO reduces or cancels a penalty it has already applied. Its published lists are unusually concrete:
| Likely to be accepted | Likely to be declined |
|---|---|
| Severe illness, yours or someone you were caring for | You were on holiday |
| Severe illness of your registered agent | You were busy with work |
| You could not get an income statement from an employer despite genuine attempts | A short-term illness that was not severe, such as a cold |
| Fire, flood or a declared state of emergency | You received no reminders from the ATO |
| Financial abuse, coercive control or family violence | You still have not lodged the document |
That last declined row is the operative one. You have to lodge the outstanding documents before you request remission. Asking to have a penalty waived while the return is still sitting on your kitchen table is not a request the ATO entertains.
Company, trust and SMSF tax return due dates
Small companies lodging their own return are generally due 28 February, or 31 October if any prior year return is outstanding. SMSFs lodging their own annual return are also due 28 February, or 31 October if the fund is newly registered or carrying overdue returns. Partnerships and trusts self-lodging are due 31 October, the same as individuals.
| Self-preparing entity | Lodge by | Pay by |
|---|---|---|
| Individuals, sole traders, partnerships and trusts | 31 October | 21 November (individuals) |
| June-balancing companies with a prior year return not lodged on time or overdue at 30 June | 31 October | As advised by the ATO |
| Small companies with nothing outstanding | 28 February | 28 February |
| SMSFs newly registered, or with overdue annual returns for prior years | 31 October | 1 December |
| All other SMSFs lodging their own annual return | 28 February | 28 February |
| Non full assessment company entities (lodgement date) | 1 December | Per the notice of assessment |
| Taxable not-for-profit organisations | 15 May | As advised by the ATO |
Entities on a registered agent's lodgment program run on a separate ladder again. Merging the two sets of dates is the mistake most date pages make, so here they are kept apart. These are the current-cycle agent program dates for companies and super funds with a 30 June balance date.
| Lodge by | Pay by | Which entities |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Oct 2026 | 1 Dec 2026 | One or more prior year returns outstanding as at 30 June 2026, entities prosecuted for non-lodgement, and entities that may be required to lodge early |
| 1 Dec 2026 | Per notice of assessment | Companies that are not full self-assessment taxpayers |
| 31 Jan 2027 | 1 Dec 2026 | Large and medium taxpayers whose 2025 return was taxable, unless required earlier |
| 28 Feb 2027 | 28 Feb 2027 | Large and medium taxpayers whose 2025 return was non-taxable, new registrant large and medium taxpayers, new registrant head companies of consolidated groups, and new registrant SMSFs unless required earlier |
| 31 Mar 2027 | 31 Mar 2027 | Entities with total income in 2024-25 of more than $2 million, unless required earlier |
| 15 May 2027 | 15 May 2027 | All remaining entities that are tax agent clients |
A 5 June 2027 concessional date exists for companies and super funds otherwise due 15 May, but it is narrower than the individual version: penalties are waived only where both the prior year and the current year are non-taxable or result in a refund, and it excludes large and medium taxpayers and head companies of consolidated groups.
Two SMSF quirks. If the fund is in its first year, or lodging for the first time after a return not necessary, the due date is 28 February, but where the ATO reviewed the SMSF at registration the first-year return is due 31 October even if a tax agent lodges it, and the ATO notifies the fund. And an overdue annual return has a consequence beyond penalties: the fund's status on Super Fund Lookup can change to regulation details removed, which can stop it receiving rollovers and employer contributions.
Neither an SMSF nor a company gets the notice of assessment an individual gets. The fund lodges its annual return and pays what it is required to pay, with an amended assessment only if changes are made later. A company tax return is itself deemed to be a notice of the assessment. If you are running a business through a company or as a sole trader, the quarterly obligations sitting alongside the annual return are set out in the PAYG instalments guide.
When lodgement opens, and why late July beats early July
Lodgement opens on 1 July for the year that just ended, which is not the same as 1 July being a good day to lodge. On 1 July your income statement flips to "not tax ready" and stays there until your employer submits its finalisation declaration, and employers have until 14 July to finalise their data through Single Touch Payroll.
The ATO's instruction is to wait for "Tax ready" before you prepare and lodge, because lodging earlier can mean amending later. If your income statement is still not tax ready after 31 July, speak to your employer. Contractors in the taxable payments reporting system have a second reason to wait: most taxable payments annual report data only reaches pre-fill after 28 August.
Waiting also does not cost you much. Returns lodged online through myTax mostly process within two weeks, and the full timing picture is in how long a tax refund takes.
Frequently asked questions
When is my tax return due in Australia?
What is the tax return deadline if I use a tax agent?
When is the individual tax return payment due date?
What is the penalty for lodging a tax return late?
Can I still get the tax agent extension if I sign up in November?
Does the tax return due date move if 31 October is a Saturday?
When is a company tax return due?
When is the SMSF annual return due?
Does lodging late change my payment due date?
Sources
All ATO pages below checked 30 July 2026.
- ATO: Preparing your tax return (31 October due date, the weekend rule, the 21 November payment date and the "21 November if you lodge late" wording)
- ATO: Lodge your tax return with a registered tax agent (the special lodgment program and the contact-before-31-October condition)
- ATO: Registered agent lodgment program: individuals and trusts (the agent date ladder, the $20,000 rule, the 5 June concession and the payment formulas)
- ATO: Registered agent lodgment program: companies and super funds
- ATO: Failure to lodge on time penalty (one unit per 28 days capped at 5, the refund exception, safe harbour and remission)
- ATO: Penalty units ($364 for infringements on or after 1 July 2026)
- ATO: Income tax return (business) (small companies 28 February, sole traders, partnerships and trusts 31 October, TPAR pre-fill after 28 August)
- ATO: Due dates for lodging and paying (the Saturday, Sunday or public holiday rule for lodging and paying)
- ATO: Lodge SMSF annual returns (28 February and 31 October, the 1 December payment date, Super Fund Lookup consequences)
- ATO: Access your income statement (employers finalise by 14 July, wait for Tax ready, speak to your employer after 31 July)
- ATO: General interest charge rates (11.43% annual, 0.03131507% daily for the July to September 2026 quarter)
Related resources
How Long Does a Tax Refund Take?
ATO processing timeframes and how to track your refund
Open →Tax Refund Calculator
Tax withheld against tax owed, before you lodge
Open →When Is PAYG Due?
Instalment and withholding due dates for 2026-27
Open →
Narelle Hartigan is a CPA-qualified tax accountant with over a decade of experience in Australian personal taxation and payroll. She founded PAYG Calculator Australia to make tax withholding easy for every Australian worker to understand.