E-tax is a free and secure service that we provide so you can prepare and lodge your individual tax return online. It has built-in checks and calculators to make sure you complete your tax return correctly, and provides you with an on-the-spot estimate of your tax assessment.
E-tax enables you to pre-fill your tax return with information that we hold and that other organisations have given us. You may also be able to roll over details from last year's tax return that you lodged online using e-tax.
Most e-tax returns are processed within 12 business days of their successful lodgment.
If you are vision impaired, you should still be able to install and use e-tax, as it is compatible with readily available screen-reader software.
E-tax is available from 1 July 2012 until 31 May 2013. However, by law you are required to lodge your tax return no later than 31 October 2012. Failure to lodge your tax return by this time means you may be subject to a failure to lodge penalty.
To see how easy it is to use e-tax, watch the short E-tax in 5 easy steps video on our YouTube channel.
E-tax is reviewed every income year to capture changes and improve the service provided. For a summary of those changes, see What is new in e-tax 2012?
If you have lodged a tax return using e-tax before and know the requirements, then you may wish to proceed to download the 2012 tax return program now - see Download and use e-tax 2012. Otherwise, read on.
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If you are operating a business (company, trust or partnership) and need to lodge a non-individual tax return, e-tax is not for you. For more information, see Businesses.
Similarly, if you are a tax agent, you cannot use e-tax - see Tax agents
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E-tax 2012 will allow you to prepare, view and lodge only the 2012 tax return. To view a previous year's tax return, use the e-tax software you downloaded for that year. However, you cannot lodge online or amend any prior year's tax return using e-tax. We are unable to provide prior year e-tax software.
There are two requirements for using e-tax:
- The computer you use needs to be able to operate the e-tax software.
- You need to be able to provide information to verify your identity online.
To use e-tax, you simply download and install the software and then use it to complete your return.
More than one member of your household may then use e-tax to prepare and lodge their tax return. To lodge online, each person will need to successfully verify their identity and obtain a unique password.
If you are ready to use e-tax, download the 2012 tax return program now - see Download and use e-tax 2012.
For further information about e-tax, see E-tax essentials.
Tax agents
E-tax is designed to allow individual taxpayers to prepare and lodge their individual tax returns online and must not be used by registered tax agents to lodge their clients' tax returns because it does not:
- allow the agent's electronic signature to be attached
- include the tax agent's declaration
- identify the return as being lodged by a registered tax agent.
Registered tax agents should use the electronic lodgment service (ELS) to lodge their clients' returns electronically.
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For the legislative requirements for tax agents to include their:
- electronic signature, refer to section 388-75(3) of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953
- declaration, refer to section 388-70 of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953.
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Last Modified: Monday, 24 September 2012