Tax Time

Last Updated: 02 June 2026, Hits: 16317

You may have new questions about your taxes this year. Job Seeker and early release of superannuation are for consideration. Perhaps you are new to the NDIS and wondering what your obligations are. We bring together tax information from the Australian Taxation Office.

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Easy Read Tax Information

Get ready to do your tax

Government pensions and payments for people with a disability

If you have a disability or you care for someone with a disability, you may receive a tax-free government pension or benefit.

Income tax is not paid on certain tax-free government pensions or benefits. If you are required to lodge a tax return, you need to include those pensions or benefits as they are used to work out your adjusted taxable income (ATI). Your ATI is an income test we use to work out:

your eligibility for certain tax offsets
the amount of those offsets.

For a list of the relevant tax-free government pensions or benefits, see Special circumstances and glossary.

See also:

Income you must declare – Government payments and allowances
Amounts that you do not pay tax on 2025
Special circumstances and glossary

The ATO has a program for low-income earners to lodge their tax returns online.

Tax Help Program

You are eligible for Tax Help if your income is around $60,000 or less for the income year and you didn’t:

work as a contractor – for example, a contract cleaner, taxi or Uber driver
run a business, including as a sole trader
have partnership or trust matters
sell shares or an investment property
own a rental property
have capital gains tax (CGT)
receive royalties
receive distributions from a trust, other than a managed fund
receive foreign income that is not a foreign pension or annuity.

For more information, see the Tax Help Program.

JobSeeker payment

From 20 March 2020, the new JobSeeker payment replaced certain Centrelink payments you might have received from Services Australia.

From 20 March 2020, there were no new grants of Sickness Allowance.

On 20 September 2020, JobSeeker welfare payment replaced Sickness Allowance.

JobSeeker payment is not an eligible payment for claiming a Medicare levy exemption.

See also:

Working from home

To claim working from home expenses, you must:

Be working from home to fulfil your employment duties, not just carrying out minimal tasks, such as occasionally checking emails or taking calls
incur additional running expenses as a result of working from home
have records that show you incur these expenses.

You can use the method to give the best outcome, so long as you meet the criteria and record-keeping requirements. The other available methods are the:

Fixed-rate method – 70 cents per work hour (instead of calculating your actual expenses for heating, cooling, lighting, cleaning, and the depreciation of home office furniture).
You will need to separately calculate your phone and internet usage, computer consumables, stationery, and computer depreciation expenses (apportioning for private use).
You need a dedicated work area and a diary for a four-week period that represents your pattern of home office use over the income year.
Actual expenses method – claim the actual work-related part of all your running expenses, which need to be calculated on a reasonable basis.

Once you have calculated your deduction, enter the amount at ‘Other work-related expenses’ in your tax return.

See also:

Home office expenses

Early release of superannuation

There are limited circumstances in which you can access your superannuation before retirement.

Amounts released under other compassionate grounds must be included in your tax return.

See also:

When you can access your super early

Tax offsets for people with a disability

If you have a disability or you care for a person with a disability, you may be eligible for certain tax offsets.

Tax offsets, sometimes referred to as rebates, directly reduce the amount of tax payable on your taxable income.

In general, offsets can reduce your tax payable to zero, but on their own, they can’t get you a refund.

Depending on your circumstances, you may be entitled to a tax offset if you:

are a Senior Australian or pensioner
receive certain government allowances or payments
maintain certain dependents or a carer
are a low-income earner.

See also:

Eligibility for tax concessions on cars for people with a disability

If you have a disability, you may be able to claim tax concessions when you buy or lease a car or buy car parts. You must meet the eligibility criteria.

For more information, see eligibility for tax concessions on cars for people with a disability.