Can I amend my tax return after lodging? Yes. Here is how it works.

Lodging a return is not the end of the story. If a deduction was left off, a figure was entered incorrectly or an offset was missed, the return can be amended within the ATO's time limits and the ATO reassesses it. For a lot of people that is news, because nothing about the lodgement process suggests it.

An amendment is an ordinary, legislated process. A registered tax agent works through your lodged return and your ATO record, asks you about anything that looks incomplete and, if a claim was genuinely missed, prepares an amendment showing the corrected figures. You see it, you approve it in writing, it is lodged. The ATO then issues an amended notice of assessment and pays any additional refund to you directly.

The review that finds out is free. A fee applies only if an amendment is lodged and results in an additional refund and the tax agent quotes that fee in writing before you agree to anything. If the review finds nothing worth amending, you have paid nothing and you know the return was right.

What an amendment is not

It is not a re-lodgement. Your original return stands; the amendment changes specific items on it. It is not, on its own, a trigger for an audit. Requesting an amendment is routine and the ATO processes them in volume every year. What matters is that every changed figure can be substantiated, which is exactly why a registered agent asks you for evidence rather than simply lodging a bigger number.

It is also not a way to claim things you cannot support. If the records for a missed expense no longer exist and there is no other way to substantiate it, the agent will tell you so and the claim is not made.

What you will need

The date on your notice of assessment for each year you want looked at, which sets the amendment window. A rough sense of what changed in the year: a new job, time off, working from home, tools or study you paid for yourself. And whatever records you still have. Missing records do not automatically rule a claim out; the agent will tell you what can and cannot be supported.

When it is not worth it

Sometimes the honest answer is that the return was right, or that the amount involved is too small to bother with, or that the window has closed. A free review exists so you can find that out without paying for the privilege. If that is the finding, it comes to you in writing and that is the end of it.

General information only. It does not take account of your circumstances and is not tax advice. Untax is a marketing and referral service and is not a registered tax agent.