To lodge a non-lodgment tax return in Australia, submit a non-lodgment advice to the ATO through myGov or on paper before 31 October following the end of the financial year. You generally qualify when your total income was below the $18,200 tax-free threshold and no tax was withheld from any payments to you.1Australian Taxation Office. Lodge a Non-Lodgment Advice The online route takes about five minutes and gives you immediate confirmation.
Who Qualifies to Lodge a Non-Lodgment Advice
The ATO expects a tax return from every Australian resident who earns above the tax-free threshold or has tax withheld from their income during the year. A non-lodgment advice covers people who fall outside both triggers. In practice, that means your total income from all sources stayed below $18,200 for the full financial year and no employer, bank, or other payer withheld any tax on your behalf.1Australian Taxation Office. Lodge a Non-Lodgment Advice The $18,200 figure is the resident tax-free threshold: no tax applies to that first band of income.2Australian Taxation Office. Tax Rates – Australian Resident
Foreign residents work under different rules. Australia taxes non-residents on every dollar of Australian-sourced income from the first dollar, with no tax-free threshold. A foreign resident with no Australian-sourced income for the year may be eligible for a non-lodgment advice; anyone with even a small amount of Australian income will generally need to file a return.
A few situations disqualify you even if your income was low:
- Tax was withheld. If an employer or bank withheld any amount, you need to lodge a return to get that money back. Skipping the return forfeits the refund.
- Franking credits. Shareholders who received franked dividends may be entitled to a refund of franking credits. That refund is claimed through a tax return or, if you meet certain conditions, through the separate Application for Refund of Franking Credits (form NAT 4105).3Australian Taxation Office. Refund of Franking Credits Application 2025 Instructions
- Minors with investment income. Children under 18 who earned more than $416 from investments face penalty tax rates on that unearned income, and a non-lodgment advice is not appropriate.
- Leaving Australia permanently. If you departed Australia during the year, or had a prior tax debt written off, check your status with the ATO before assuming you can skip a return.
The distinction the ATO cares about is between someone who genuinely had no filing obligation and someone ignoring one. The non-lodgment advice clears your record for that year, so the ATO stops sending reminders and doesn’t estimate a debt on your behalf.
Not Sure? Use the ATO’s “Do I Need to Lodge” Tool
If you can’t tell whether you qualify, the ATO has an online tool that runs you through the eligibility questions and gives you an answer. It takes five to ten minutes and covers income years from 2012–13 onward.4Australian Taxation Office. Do I Need to Lodge a Tax Return There’s a public version on the ATO website, plus a more tailored version through ATO online services after you sign in via myGov. If the result says no return is needed, the tool sends you straight to the non-lodgment advice form.
What to Have Ready Before You Start
Gather these details:
- Your Tax File Number, the nine-digit identifier that stays with you for life.5Australian Taxation Office. What Is a Tax File Number
- Your full legal name, exactly as it appears in ATO records. A mismatch can delay processing.
- Your current residential address.
- The financial year you’re reporting for. Australian financial years run 1 July to 30 June.
The form asks you to pick a reason a return isn’t required. Common reasons include total income below $18,200, being a foreign resident with no Australian income, or receiving only exempt government payments. Choose the reason that matches your actual situation. You’ll also be asked whether you expect to need to lodge in future years, which tells the ATO whether to keep your account active for the next cycle.
Before submitting, account for every income source during the year: bank interest, dividends, rental income, government payments. Even small amounts of interest can push you into return territory if tax was withheld. Getting this wrong can trigger follow-up from the ATO or, in serious cases, penalties for providing false or misleading information.6Australian Taxation Office. Penalties for Making False or Misleading Statements
Lodging Online Through myGov
The online route is the fastest. Sign in to myGov, select the ATO from your linked services, then go to Tax, then Lodgments, and choose Non-lodgment advice.1Australian Taxation Office. Lodge a Non-Lodgment Advice If you haven’t linked myGov to the ATO yet, do that first.7Australian Taxation Office. Non-Lodgment Advice The ATO app works too if you prefer it to the browser.
Once you confirm your details and submit, you get immediate confirmation that your obligation for that year is satisfied.7Australian Taxation Office. Non-Lodgment Advice Save or screenshot the confirmation. Your online account status will update to show no return is expected.
Lodging by Paper
If you’d rather use paper, download the Non-lodgment advice form from the ATO website, fill it in and sign it, then mail it to the Australian Taxation Office at GPO Box 9845 in your nearest capital city.7Australian Taxation Office. Non-Lodgment Advice Paper takes longer to process than online, so expect a wait before your account status updates.
Prior-Year Advices and Tax Agents
You can submit a non-lodgment advice online for income years going back to 1999–2000.1Australian Taxation Office. Lodge a Non-Lodgment Advice That’s useful if the ATO has been chasing you over old years where you had no filing obligation. Multiple outstanding years need a separate advice each.
A registered tax agent can lodge the advice on your behalf through their professional portal. Consider that route if you’re unsure whether you genuinely qualify, since agents handle the edge cases regularly. An agent may also have a later lodgment deadline than the standard 31 October, depending on their arrangement with the ATO.
Tell Services Australia Too
Lodging the non-lodgment advice satisfies the ATO. It doesn’t satisfy other agencies. If you receive family assistance payments such as Family Tax Benefit or Child Care Subsidy, or you’re part of a child support assessment, you also need to notify Services Australia separately with your income details for the financial year. Failing to provide this can reduce your entitlements.4Australian Taxation Office. Do I Need to Lodge a Tax Return
This is where people commonly trip up. They lodge with the ATO, assume everything is done, then get an unexpected bill or benefit reduction from Services Australia months later. Handle both notifications together.
If You Lodged One by Mistake
If you submitted a non-lodgment advice and later realise you actually needed to file, maybe because you forgot about bank interest that was taxed, or a payment summary arrived late, simply lodge a tax return for that year. The return overrides the advice. Don’t leave it hoping nobody notices. The ATO cross-checks income data reported by employers, banks, and other payers against your records, and a mismatch between “no income” on your advice and third-party data will eventually flag your account.
Penalties for Getting It Wrong
If you were actually required to lodge a return and didn’t, the ATO can apply a Failure to Lodge penalty. The base penalty is one penalty unit for each 28-day period (or part thereof) the return is overdue, up to a maximum of five penalty units.8Australian Taxation Office. Failure to Lodge on Time Penalty As of November 2024, one Commonwealth penalty unit is worth $330, putting the maximum penalty at $1,650 for individuals.9ASIC. Fines and Penalties The penalty unit value is indexed periodically, so check the current amount if you’re reading this after mid-2026.
Providing false or misleading information on a non-lodgment advice carries separate penalties under the Taxation Administration Act 1953. Where no tax shortfall results, the base penalty ranges from 20 to 60 penalty units depending on whether the ATO treats the error as careless, reckless, or intentional.6Australian Taxation Office. Penalties for Making False or Misleading Statements At $330 per unit, the intentional-disregard tier alone reaches $19,800. The ATO does have discretion to remit penalties when you voluntarily correct the mistake, but the numbers show why accuracy matters more than speed when filling out the form.