• Online services for agents
• Practitioner lodgment service (PLS) – the PLS pre-filling report will return the same data as the Online services for agents pre-filling report in 2022, with some exceptions. MyDeductions is included in PLS.

For prior year pre-filling reports and more information, refer to:

The following data will be available in the pre-filling report if there is information for your client.

We will provide the following information from our records:

• name
• Australian residency (at the report creation date)
• postal and residential address
• date of birth.

We will provide information within a couple of days of receiving it from:

• Centrelink – Services Australia
• Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)
• Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE).

This information consists of:

• taxable payments, including pensions and allowances
• tax-free government pensions.

The information provided includes details for:

• item 1 – salary or wages
• item 5 – Australian Government allowances and payments
• item 6 – Australian Government pensions and allowances
• item 24 – other income
• item IT3 – tax-free government pensions
• remote area allowance paid (information for zone tax offset calculations).

Informative messaging will display where payments have been reported for the following payment types:

• Parental leave pay (PPL)
• Dad and partner pay (DAP).

The JobSeeker Payment (JSP) commenced from 20 March 2020. Newstart Allowance recipients and some Wife Pension recipients were transitioned onto it. Sickness Allowance recipients were transitioned onto JSP from 20 September 2020.

Changes for 2024

High-certainty government payments data

Our pre-fill service now provides greater certainty for your government payment data. When you access your client’s pre-fill information, you’ll see an indicator when the payment record is high-certainty data. This indicator will appear in both the Online services for agents pre-filling report and the PLS pre-fill service.

From 1 July 2024, a certainty indicator will be pre-filled for government allowance and pension payment types that are to be reported at Items 5 or 6 in their tax return.

In PLS, if you want to change the government allowance or pension data, or the tax withheld being reported at items 5 or 6, where a high-certainty indicator is present, you’ll need to provide a reason for the change. If the reasons we provide don’t apply to your client’s situation, select ‘Other’ and provide details.

Valid reasons you can choose from are:

• Unknown amount = This amount doesn’t belong to me
• Repaid amount = Incorrect amount reported – part or full amount repaid
• Payment summary = Incorrect amount reported – payment summary has different amounts
• Other = Other (Specify why).

We will provide interest amounts from all client accounts held by individual taxpayers in our integrated core processing system including income tax, fringe benefits tax and integrated client account (ICA).

Assessable interest amounts we pay will display at item 10L – Gross interest, and will include:

• interest on early payments (IEP)
• interest on overpayments (IOO)
• delayed refund interest (DRI).

The total net ATO interest amount at either item 24X or D10N as follows:

• A total net assessable interest income amount will display at item 24X Other income – Category 2 (ATO interest), and will include remitted or reimbursed
  • general interest charge (GIC)
  • shortfall interest charge (SIC)
  • late payment interest (LPI).
• A total net deductible interest expense amount will display at item D10N Cost of managing tax affairs – Interest charged by the ATO, and will include imposed
  • GIC
  • SIC
  • LPI.

Information reported to us by financial institutions and private companies is available for pre-filling at item 10 – Gross interest.

Information is generally available within a couple of days of being reported and consists of:

• interest-bearing accounts, including savings accounts, term deposits and fixed interest securities
• interest distributed by private companies
• individual sole and joint accounts – for example
  • husband and wife joint accounts will be displayed
  • business partnership, trust, and superannuation accounts will not be displayed
• a message displayed where all interest income may not have been reported in the previous year.

Apportioned amounts are calculated according to the number of investment owners reported by the financial institution.

There may be instances where the interest from children’s bank accounts is pre-filled for the parent.

You may also notice an amount of investment income that belongs to a linked non-individual, such as a superannuation or trust fund.

High-certainty interest data

Our pre-fill service now provides greater certainty for your client’s bank interest. When you access your client’s pre-fill information, you’ll see an indicator when the interest record is high-certainty data. This indicator will appear in both the Online services for agents pre-filling report and the PLS pre-fill service.

In PLS, if you want to change any bank interest pre-fill information where there is a high-certainty indicator, you’ll need to provide a reason for the change. If the reasons we provide don’t apply to your client’s situation, select ‘Other’ and provide details.

Valid reasons you can choose from are:

• Child account = Child or minor’s account
• Joint account partner = Joint account with my spouse/partner
• Joint account individual = Joint account with another person
• Joint account non-individual = Joint account with a non-individual entity, for example a company
• Unknown amount = This amount doesn’t belong to me
• Duplicate amount = This amount is duplicated
• Previously declared = Interest was declared in another income year
• Incorrect amount = Incorrect amount reported by bank/financial institution
• Family law agreement = Family law agreement
• Other = Other (Specify why).

These high-certainty indicators won’t be included on bank interest records for clients or situations where we know there’s a likely reason for exclusion, such as a client who has a record of bankruptcy. In these situations, you can still alter the interest income without providing a reason.

This enhanced pre-fill solution benefits you by:

• allowing you to alter incorrect information in channel to minimise the impact of incorrect data, resulting in a more timely and simplified process
• enhancing the client experience by avoiding processing delays and improving the simplification of tax return process
• allowing for quicker processing once the return is lodged
• creating more certainty for you and your clients.

These new indicators also help by reducing the likely amount of pre-issue and post-issue compliance work.

Changes for 2023

High-certainty interest data

In PLS, if you want to change any bank interest pre-fill information where there is a high-certainty indicator, you’ll need to provide a reason for the change.

The additional valid reason you can choose from for 2023 is:

• Foreign Resident = Foreign Resident.

Changes for 2024

High-certainty interest data

From 1 July 2024, bank interest data for joint account holders will now appear with a ‘certainty indicator’. This is because the ATO has high confidence in the data that has been supplied by your client’s financial institution.

For more information, see:

Dividend and interest information reported by companies through the company tax return is available for pre-filling at item 10 – Gross interest and item 11 – Dividends.

Information is generally available within a couple of days of being reported.

Apportioned amounts are calculated according to the number of investment owners reported by the financial institution.

Information reported to us by share registries, private companies and most listed public corporations is available for pre-filling at item 11 – Dividends.

Apportioned amounts are calculated according to the number of investment owners reported by the financial institution.

Information is generally available within a couple of days of being reported, and consists of:

• investment accounts that are issuer or Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS) sponsored
• dividends paid by private companies
• individual sole and joint accounts – for example
  • husband and wife joint accounts will be displayed
  • business partnership, trust, and superannuation accounts will not be displayed
• listed investment company capital gain deduction (shown at item D8)
• a message displayed where all dividend income may not have been reported in the previous year.

We will provide details of your client’s employee share scheme (ESS) interests as reported by employers and other payers on the ESS annual report.

From 2018, new and amended ESS data reported for 2015 and prior years will not be updated in pre-fill. New and amended ESS data reported for 2016 and later years will continue to be updated in pre-fill.

Information is generally available within a couple of days of being reported and consists of:

• employer’s name and Australian business number (ABN)
• shareholder registration number (SRN) or holder identification number (HIN)
• plan reference number
• discount from taxed upfront schemes – eligible for reduction (12D)
• discount from taxed upfront schemes – not eligible for reduction (12E)
• discount from deferral schemes (12F)
• TFN amounts withheld from discounts (12C).

A message will display when amounts either:

• have been adjusted to exclude foreign service period
• have not been adjusted to exclude foreign service period.

Changes for 2023

From 1 July 2022 cessation of employment is no longer a deferred taxing point.

Managed investment funds and attribution managed investment trusts (AMIT) will provide income details as reported in the Annual investment income report (AIIR).

Information is generally available within a couple of days of being reported and consists of:

• item 13 – partnerships and trusts
• item 18 – capital gains
• item 19 – foreign entities
• item 20 – foreign source income and foreign assets or property.

You will be able to view details of:

• a list of managed fund accounts
• sole and joint investments (as an individual) – for example husband and wife joint investments will be displayed.

Apportioned amounts are calculated according to the number of investment owners reported by the financial institution.

If the pre-filled information doesn’t match your client’s distribution statement, use the information the fund manager provided to your client. Contact the managed fund if you have any questions.

Statement of distribution information reported by partnerships through the partnership tax return will be available for pre-filling in the partner’s individual tax return.

Information will generally be available within a couple of days of it being reported and consists of:

• item 13 – partnerships and trusts
• item 20 – foreign source income and foreign assets or property
• item T9 – other refundable tax offsets (share of exploration credits)
• item IT5 – net financial investment loss
• item IT6 – net rental property loss.

You will be able to view details of partnerships.

If the pre-filled information doesn’t match your client’s statement of distributions, use the information the partnership provided to your client – contact the partner who notices are sent to if you have any questions.

Foreign source investment income reported to us by financial institutions and private companies will be available for pre-filling at item 20 – Foreign source income and foreign assets or property.

Information will generally be available within a couple of days of it being reported.

Apportioned amounts are calculated according to the number of investment owners reported by the financial institution.

Informative messaging will display where foreign income from foreign sources have been reported.

Informative messaging will display where individual taxpayers who may have disposed of cryptocurrency asset during the financial year.

Informative messaging will display where an individual taxpayer has a novated lease during the financial year.

Details of share disposals are provided to remind taxpayers about possible capital gains tax events and will contain the:

• issuer name or name of investment
• investment code
• HIN or SRN
• date of disposal
• number of shares or units sold
• number of investors
• capital proceeds (where available)
• original (O) or amended (A) data indicator.

The following types of transactions will be included:

• PRF – preference shares
• ORD – ordinary shares
• CDI – CHESS – depository interest transactions
• share buybacks – messaging where your client participated in a share buyback that may have resulted in a capital gains tax event.

Details of property transfers are provided to remind taxpayers about possible capital gains tax events and will contain:

• messaging where your client may have transferred a property resulting in a capital gains tax event
• property address
• contract date
• settlement date
• sale price.

We are able to display a maximum of 5 property transfers only.

Changes for 2023

New informative messaging for disposal of property used to provide affordable housing.

Data about payments received through an electronic payment system will be pre-filled from 2019 as information only. Electronic payment systems can include BPAY®, PayPal, credit card facilities and others.

Data displayed will include:

• provider name
• net annual payments
• transaction currency
• more data exists indicator (maximum of 25 records can be displayed).

We will pre-fill payment and grant information reported to us in the Taxable payments annual report by:

• businesses in the building and construction industry
• government entities
• cleaners and courier services from 2019
• road freight services, security, investigation, surveillance or IT services from 2020.

Contractor payments

Contractor payment information reported to us in the Taxable payments annual report (TPAR) will be pre-filled.

Where a contractor has received payments for services from multiple businesses or government entities (or both), the information will be available as reports are received and processed. It may take some time for all this information to be reported.

Only high-quality data will be pre-filled, but all data may be used for compliance purposes at a later time. Amounts invoiced but not actually paid to the contractor in the financial year are not included in this year’s information. Contractors should check their own records to ensure all income is included in their tax returns.

The contractor payment information will not be mapped to a specific label – it will be provided in a summary.

As with other pre-filled items, information will only be available for individual contractors – it will not be available for contractors that operate as companies, trusts or partnerships.

The contractor payment information will include:

• payer name
• payer ABN
• date available for pre-filling
• type – (original or amended)
• gross amount paid
• GST
• tax withheld.

Note:

• the gross amount includes GST, if it has been charged
• amounts invoiced but not actually paid in the financial year, are not included.

Government grants

Government grant information reported to us in the Taxable payments annual report (TPAR) will be pre-filled.

Government grant information will not be mapped to a specific label – it will be provided in a summary. Consider the nature of the grant to determine if it should be included as income in your client’s tax return.

Information is reported by financial institutions and will include:

• company name
• investment reference number
• account name
• details of deposits, repayments, transfers in and transfers out
• interest offset account
• date available for pre-filling
• amount of closing balance.

If the pre-fill data provided do not match your client’s records, you should use the information provided by the client.

A reminder message will be displayed when your client may be eligible for item T1 –seniors and pensioners tax offset (SAPTO) because they either:

• were in receipt of a qualifying Australian Government pension or allowance (declared at label 6 in the tax return)
• were not in receipt of an Australian Government pension or allowance (declared at label 6 in the income tax return) however they both
  • satisfy the age requirement for the Centrelink age pension, as at 30 June of the current financial year
  • were eligible for an Australian Government age pension.

The following items will be displayed:

• Australian superannuation income stream – item T2
• remote area allowance (used in zone offset calculations at T4)
• early stage venture capital limited partnership – current year tax offset for managed funds at item T7K
• early stage venture capital limited partnership (ESVCLP) – tax offset amount carried forward from previous year at item T7M
• early stage investor – current year tax offset for managed funds at item T8L
• early stage investor – tax offset amount carried forward from previous year at item T8O
• the total exploration credits reported by private companies and managed funds will be displayed at item T9.

We will provide details reported to us by health funds to help you confirm that your client held an adequate level of private patient health insurance.

Information will be processed using our enterprise systems and will be updated throughout the week, for the current financial year and the previous financial year only. No updates will occur on weekends.

Information will include:

• health insurer ID and name
• membership number
• start and end date of the policy.

The following data will be displayed:

• company name
• share issue date
• amount paid.

We are able to display a maximum of 20 share disposals only.

We will display the following data as reported on payment summaries:

• total reportable fringe benefits amounts – item IT1
• reportable employer superannuation contributions – item IT2
• tax-free government pensions – item IT3.

Ensure compulsory super amounts are not included.

This section includes amounts to help you estimate your client’s refund or debt.

Help and other income-contingent loans debts

Information will be displayed for repayable amounts of income- contingent loans for:

• Higher Education Loan Program (HELP)
• Vocational Education and Training student loan (VSL) – separated from HELP from 2020
• Student Financial Supplement Scheme (SFSS)
• Trade Support Loan (TSL)
• Student Start-up Loan (SSL)
• ABSTUDY Student Start-up Loan (ABSTUDY SSL).

The repayable balance provided by pre-filling may be different to your client’s account balance. The repayable balance does not include new debts until they become repayable. There is a lead time between when the debt is incurred and when it becomes repayable.

Indexation is applied to repayable amounts each year on 1 June.

For 2022, the pre-fill amount displayed includes the repayable balance at 1 June 2022, less any repayments made after that date.

Where the pre-fill request is made between:

• 1 January and 31 May of the current year – the repayable balance will only include debts incurred up to (but not including) 1 January of the previous calendar year
• 1 June and 31 December of the current year – the repayable balance will only include debts incurred up to (but not including) 1 January of the current calendar year.

Changes for 2024

Trade Support Loan was renamed as the Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan (AASL) on 1 January 2024. The change was fully implemented on 1 January 2025.

Prior year amounts

If the pre-fill request is for an outstanding prior year return, the repayable amount is shown as at the date the pre-fill request is made. This means if a pre-fill request is made for a prior year return, the current repayable loan balance is shown and will be the repayable amount regardless of the income year of the return.

PAYG instalments

The total amount displayed represents the calculated liability regardless of payment.

Accumulative low-rate cap

Information will include:

• accumulative low-rate cap amount
• year
• low-rate cap used
• messaging where client has exceeded the low-rate cap.

Income averaging for primary producers and special professionals

We will display the following amounts for:

• primary producers – basic taxable income amounts by year
• special professionals – taxable professional income amounts by year
• new message to manually calculate average taxable professional income for foreign residents.

Overdue income tax returns

An overdue income tax returns advisory message will display the year-specific outstanding tax returns in the 3 years immediately prior.

Personal superannuation contribution deductions

Information will include:

• total superannuation contributions claimed on notice of intent (NOI)
• provider name
• provider ABN
• member account number
• indication of fund NOI receipt and acknowledgment.

Changes for 2023

New informative messaging on work test requirements for taxpayers claiming the PSCD who are between 67 and 75 years old.

First home super saver scheme (FHSS)

Information will include:

• total assessable FHSS released amounts – item 24R
• total tax withheld – assessable FHSS released amounts – item 24S.

This data is provided by our systems from the previous year’s tax return:

• occupation description and code (not available in PLS)
• sources of supplementary income reported (not available in PLS)
• rental property address and date first earned income
• net capital losses carried forward to later income years
• business income and expenses – closing stock
  • total closing stock amount
  • subtotals for primary and non-primary production amounts (not available in PLS)
  • valuation method type – C cost, M market selling value or R replacement value (not available in PLS)
• deductions reported (not available in PLS)
  • includes a message where work-related expenses were high compared to clients in the same occupation with similar income (now also available in PLS)
  • cost of managing tax affairs amount will display as split components D10N, D10L and D10M for 2020
• dependents
  • number of dependent children and students for Medicare (M1)
  • number of dependent children for Income test IT8 – (available in PLS)
• spouse details – name and date of birth (not available in PLS).

Check for current data issue with pre-filing data.

Resolving discrepancies

Discrepancies between the information sent to your clients and the information reported to us for pre-filling need to be resolved with the data provider before you lodge your client’s return.

If you are unable to resolve the discrepancy or have notification that an income or account does not belong to your client, we prefer you to contact us in Online services for agents. To send a new message:

• from the Agent home page, select Communication, then Practice mail, or from Client summary, select Profile, then New messages
• select New message
• select the topic Income tax
• select the subject Pre-filled tax return data incorrect
• complete the required fields and attach the relevant form if required
• select the Declaration, then select Send
• select Print friendly version to print or save a copy.

You’ll receive an ATO receipt ID when the message has successfully been sent. You’ll need to quote this number to us when enquiring about the request.