More than 6.3 million Australians had lodged their 2025–26 tax returns by 27 August 2026, according to the ATO's latest published lodgment statistics. That is 0.4 per cent fewer than at the same point last year.

The figures offer a useful snapshot of how Tax Time 2026 is unfolding, with the self-lodger deadline approaching and the ATO sharpening its focus on overclaimed deductions, missing income and misinformation.

The headline numbers

The ATO's tally as at 27 August shows more than 6.3 million individual returns lodged. Of those, more than 3.5 million were self-prepared, and more than 2.6 million were lodged through tax agents.

A further 101,000-plus were recorded as push returns, a category the ATO reports separately in its statistics.

On those figures, self-preparers accounted for roughly 56 per cent of returns lodged by late August, with agents making up around 41 per cent. Put another way, almost three in every five returns lodged by late August were prepared by taxpayers themselves. That skew is not surprising, because many agent clients have later due dates under the tax agent lodgment program.

The ATO statistics page was last updated on 1 September, but the numbers themselves remain as at 27 August, so the running total is now likely to be higher.

What a 0.4 per cent dip may, and may not, mean

A small fall in lodgments compared with last year is not necessarily a sign that taxpayers are falling behind. The ATO has not published an explanation for the dip.

Timing can shift from year to year for many reasons, including when employers finalise income statements, when third-party data arrives and how many people wait for pre-filled information to be complete.

One likely factor this year is contractor data. The ATO has advised contractors to lodge after 28 August, the due date for the Taxable payments annual report. It says about $21 billion of contractor payments will be pre-filled for about 700,000 sole traders and individuals in business, drawn from industries such as building and construction, courier and road freight, cleaning, IT and security.

Anyone following that advice would have been deliberately absent from the late-August count, although the ATO has not linked the two.

Pre-fill, processing times and the ATO's watch list

At the start of the season, on 27 July, the ATO said more than 100 million pieces of pre-fill information were ready. It said most returns are processed within 12 business days.

Pre-fill does not make a return complete, however. Income that third parties do not report, such as cash jobs, still needs to be included by the taxpayer.

Assistant Commissioner Anita Challen also set out a list of don'ts. They include overclaiming deductions, leaving out side-hustle, cash or online income, copying last year's return, and relying on artificial intelligence, influencers or unverified advice.

In April, the ATO named its main focus areas as work-related deductions, omitted income such as side hustles, cash jobs, interest and rent, and tax-time misinformation. "If a tax claim sounds too good to be true, it's worth checking," Ms Challen said.

The fixed-rate method for working-from-home expenses remains 70 cents per hour for 2025–26, according to the ATO.

In a CPA Australia podcast, Ms Challen also pointed to record-keeping, noting bank statements alone are not enough, along with car and self-education claims, growth in fixed-rate working-from-home claims, and trust returns as the ATO begins pre-filling beneficiary distributions. Impersonation scams are on the list too, with the ATO warning in September about fake emails asking people to review their income statement.

The rules that apply to returns being lodged now

Much of the tax news this year concerns future income years, and the ATO has been keen to separate the two.

Returns now being lodged cover 2025–26, when the tax rate on income between $18,201 and $45,000 was still 16 per cent. The 15 per cent rate only began on 1 July 2026.

The new standard deduction of up to $1,000 for work-related expenses cannot be claimed this year. In its July messaging, the ATO said it applies from Tax Time 2027.

One change that does help some people lodging now is the Medicare levy low-income threshold. The May Budget raised it for 2025–26, with the singles threshold rising from $27,222 to $28,011, according to the ATO. More than one million people are expected to benefit.

Here is a hypothetical illustration. A single person with taxable income of $28,000 and no other relevant circumstances would now fall below the 2025–26 threshold, so no Medicare levy would be payable. Under the previous $27,222 threshold, they would have been in the phase-in range, paying a reduced levy of about $78, or 10 cents for each dollar above the old threshold.

Who is still to lodge

The 6.3 million figure is a snapshot, not a final count. Government estimates that about 6.2 million workers represent 42 per cent of taxpayers imply a base of roughly 15 million, so a large share of returns has yet to arrive.

Many of those will come through tax agents. The ATO has reminded agents that clients must be added to their client lists by 31 October 2026 for their 2026 return to be covered by the lodgment program. That cut-off is 31 October itself, "not the next business day", according to the ATO.

The ATO has also told agents that overdue prior-year returns need to be lodged by 31 October, or those clients may miss out on lodgment program due dates for their 2026 return.

Whether to self-lodge or use an agent depends on individual circumstances, including the complexity of someone's affairs. A registered tax agent may help those with rental property, business or investment income.

Key dates to watch

The self-lodger deadline for 2025–26 returns is 31 October 2026. Because that falls on a Saturday, the ATO's general weekend rule means self-lodgers can lodge on Monday 2 November without penalty.

For agent clients, the 31 October cut-off for being added to an agent's list does not move.

Anyone expecting a refund may find it worth checking pre-filled data carefully before lodging, particularly contractors whose payment details now appear from TPAR reports.

The ATO is also expected to update its lodgment statistics as the deadline nears, offering a clearer read on whether this year's pace catches up with 2025.