Final Tax Return — Do It Right
ALITAX · Bilal Jivraj — Registered Tax Agent 25287564. Original guidance from 10+ years of DASP and tax casework.
Your final tax return is one of the most important steps when you leave Australia — done right, it unlocks a bigger refund and tells the ATO you’re not coming back.
Lodging through myGov
You can lodge through your myGov account (linked to the ATO), or we lodge it for you as your registered tax agent. Forgotten your myGov password? You can reset it on the myGov sign-in page — but you don’t need myGov access for us to help; we can lodge on your behalf.
Tick “final tax return” — very important
When it’s your last return, you must indicate it is a final return so the ATO knows you are leaving and not returning. This is essential — it’s also what lets you correctly claim the part-year tax-free threshold.
Part-year tax-free threshold
If you were a resident for only part of the year, your tax-free threshold is pro-rated for your months in Australia — but you still need to claim it correctly. Marking the return as final and answering residency properly is how you access it. See the How Your Tax & DASP Are Taxed chapter for worked examples.
Claim your deductions to boost your refund
You can claim work-related deductions to increase your tax refund — as long as the expense was genuinely used for work. Uniforms, tools, work-related travel, and more may count. Lodge your deductions with us alongside your tax return so they’re done correctly.
🎥 Spoken version — video script (about 60 seconds)
Read straight to camera. Pause at each line break.
Before you leave Australia, or soon after, you need to lodge a final tax return. And there is a right way to do it.
Most people either forget entirely, or they lodge it like any other year — and both cost money.
When you lodge your final return, you tell the tax office it is your last one. There is a box for that. It matters, because it tells them you are going.
And here is the part people miss. If you only worked part of the year, you may be entitled to a part-year tax-free threshold. Claimed properly, that can mean a significantly larger refund.
You should also be claiming your work-related deductions, and the Medicare exemption if you qualify.
Now, what happens if you never lodged it? This is very common. People leave, years pass, and nothing was ever filed.
Two things to know. You can still lodge it — late returns are normal, and we do them regularly. But be aware the tax office may deactivate your tax file number after a few years of no activity. If that has happened, we can call them and get it reactivated.
It is fixable. But it does not fix itself.
[End — on-screen: alitax.com.au/dasp · WhatsApp +61 422 665 268 · Registered Tax Agent 25287564]