A tax file number (TFN) declaration is a form you use to ‘declare’ your tax file number, usually for a payer such as an employer or Centrelink. Financial institutions, such as banks, also ask you for your tax file number.
You must complete a TFN declaration form when you:
start work for the first time
change jobs, or
apply for certain benefits or allowances from Centrelink.
Your payer should provide you with a form. If they don't you can get a form by going to a Tax Office shopfront, or phoning us on 13 28 61 (Mondays-Fridays, 8.00am-6.00pm).
You do not have to have a tax file number but if you don’t - or you don’t give it on the form - your payer must withhold tax at the highest rate plus Medicare levy from your pay, unless you qualify for an exemption.
When you start a new job, you have 28 days to give your tax file number to your employer before they must start deducting tax from your pay at the highest rate plus Medicare levy.
If you have applied for a tax file number but have not received it, print X in the relevant box in question 1.
The remaining questions cover your personal details and information that may affect how much tax you pay (for example, if you are claiming a zone or dependent spouse tax offset, or have a Higher Education Loan Programme [HELP] debt).
Your payer uses the information you provide on the form to determine how much tax to take out of your payment.
The tax file number declaration is not an application for a tax file number.
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The tax file number declaration is not an application for a tax file number.