Do New Migrants Need to Lodge an Australian Tax Return in 2026?
Yes — if you earn income while living in Australia. What the 31 October deadline and your employer's Group Certificate mean for a first-year PR.
Yes. If you earn income while living in Australia, you must lodge an income tax return with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) — there is no separate rule for people who hold a permanent visa and no first-year grace period. That obligation is set out on the Department of Home Affairs' Managing your finances page, which states plainly that living here means paying tax and that anyone who earns income must complete a return.
A tax return is a declaration of your income for the financial year. Its job is to work out whether the tax already taken out of your pay matches what you actually owed — which is why the document your employer gives you matters as much as the deadline does.
What actually creates the obligation to lodge?
The trigger is earning income while you are living in Australia, not your visa status, your length of residence or how long you have held permanent residency. Tax is levied on a range of things — income, the purchase of goods and services, and operating a business — and the ATO is the agency responsible for taxing individuals and organisations.
For a new permanent resident in their first working year, this usually means a single straightforward situation: you started a job, your employer withheld tax from each pay, and at the end of the financial year you reconcile that through a return. Assume a skilled migrant who is granted a permanent visa, arrives mid-year and starts work two months later — the obligation attaches to the income earned from the time they were living and working here, not to the full year.
Do you need a tax file number before you can lodge?
Yes, and it should be one of the first things you organise. The Home Affairs guidance says to register with the ATO for a tax file number (TFN) shortly after arriving. A TFN is a unique number issued for identification and record-keeping, and it is needed to claim government benefits, to receive income from an employer and to be eligible for a tertiary education loan, among other things. You cannot lodge a return without one.
The fastest route is online registration, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You will need your passport details and an Australian address, and the ATO should post your TFN to you within 28 days of receiving your application. You then give that number to your employer when you start a job — but be selective, because only certain organisations can legally request it.
What does the Group Certificate do?
Your employer gives you a summary of payments called a Group Certificate for income from employers. In practice it is the record of what you were paid and what was withheld, and it is what your return is measured against, so keep it safe until you have lodged.
This is also the piece that makes online lodging easier. The ATO's online service can fill in parts of your return using information supplied by your employer, banks, health funds and government agencies, which reduces the amount you have to enter by hand and the scope for transcribing figures incorrectly.
When is the deadline, and does a tax agent change it?
Returns must be completed and sent to the ATO by 31 October each year, unless you are using a registered tax agent. Using an agent changes the timing arrangement, and the trade-off is cost: agents charge a fee, and the guidance positions them as useful when you have more complicated deductions and offsets to claim.
| Lodgment channel | What the official guidance says |
|---|---|
| Online through myGov | Free, convenient and secure ATO service; pre-fills parts of the return from your employer, banks, health funds and government agencies; needs a myGov account, which can be set up at my.gov.au |
| Listed as one of the available options alongside online and using a tax agent | |
| Registered tax agent | Charges a fee; aimed at maximising deductions and offsets on more complicated claims; operates under a different timing arrangement than 31 October |
How do you lodge in practice?
You have three options: online, by mail, or through a tax agent. To lodge online you need a myGov account, which can be created at my.gov.au; the ATO describes its online service as free, convenient and secure. For a first-year resident with one employer and no complex deductions, that free online path is the one the guidance points to most directly.
Whichever path you take, the substance is the same: declare the income you earned while living here, rely on the Group Certificate for the employer figures, and lodge by 31 October unless a registered tax agent is handling it for you. Everything above is general information rather than personalised tax advice for your circumstances, and the officially published rules remain the final reference.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do new permanent residents get any exemption from lodging a tax return?
No. The requirement is tied to earning income while living in Australia, not to how recently you arrived or which visa you hold. There is no first-year exemption described in the official settling-in guidance.
What if I only worked for part of the financial year after arriving?
You still lodge. The return covers income you earned while living in Australia, so a partial year of work still produces a return — and if too much tax was withheld from a part-year income, lodging is how you get the difference back.
When should I apply for a tax file number?
Shortly after arriving, according to the Department of Home Affairs. Online registration runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, needs your passport details and an Australian address, and you should receive the number by mail within 28 days of the ATO receiving your application.
What is a Group Certificate and do I get one automatically?
It is the summary of payments your employer provides for income from employers. It records what you were paid and what was withheld, and it is the reference point for the figures in your return.
Is the 31 October deadline the same if I use a tax agent?
No — the 31 October date applies unless you are using a registered tax agent, whose arrangements differ. The cost side is that agents charge a fee, generally worthwhile where your deductions and offsets are complicated.
Does lodging online cost anything?
No. The ATO's online lodgment service is described as free, convenient and secure. You do need a myGov account, which can be set up at my.gov.au, before you can use it.