PAYG withholding variation application for allowances or study and training support loans
Complete this application to vary or reduce the amount of pay as you go (PAYG) tax withheld in the application year from:
- allowances
- an overpayment or approved deferral for study and training support loans.
The main purpose of varying or reducing the amount of withholding is to make sure that the amount withheld during the income year best meets your end-of-year tax liability. For example, you may want to apply for a variation if the normal rate of withholding leads to a large credit at the end of the income year because your tax-deductible expenses are higher than normal.
You can lodge your application during the year. The last date for lodgment is 30 April of the application year.
This application is valid for one financial year. If you apply in May or June, the variation will apply to the financial year starting from 1 July.
Find out about:
Processing times
The processing time for an application depends on the method used to lodge your application. If you lodge:
- online – processing is within 28 days
- by paper – processing is within 56 days.
How to lodge
We have made changes to the way you lodge online.
To lodge online for individuals, sign in to
myGovExternal Link and select:
- ATO
- Tax
- Manage
- PAYG withholding variation.
To lodge online for tax agents, go to Online services for tax agents and select:
- Lodgments
- Client forms
- PAYG withholding variation.
If you cannot lodge online, you will need to order a paper application by either:
Important information
We will process your application only if you:
- have lodged all required tax returns and activity statements, or notified us in writing if you were not required to lodge tax returns in prior years
- did not receive a debit assessment on your last tax assessment if you also had an approved withholding variation for that year
- do not have any outstanding tax debt owing to the Australian Government
- do not have any outstanding debts under any other Acts administered by us.
We may seek more information from you before or after your application is processed. If you fail to provide this, your application may not be approved.
We process your application based on the information you provide. It is your responsibility to make sure this information is adequate to allow us to calculate a withholding rate to meet your end-of-year tax liability.
If you are granted a variation, this does not mean we have accepted the tax treatment of the income and deductions on your application. Your actual tax liability will be determined after you lodge your tax return.
Starting and finishing dates
If your application is approved, the varied or reduced amount of withholding will start from the next available pay day after your pay office receives the notice of withholding variation from us.
Your variation finishes on the date shown on the letter you receive from us. To continue to have varied or reduced tax withheld from payments after this date, you must lodge another variation application at least six weeks before the expiry date.
Multi-year variations
Variations for allowances may be issued for more than one year. The date on the letter we send after your application is processed will show if the variation has been issued for more than one year.
See also:
You can also phone us on 1300 360 221. If you are a tax agent, phone 13 72 86, Fast Key Code 1 2 3 between 8.00am and 6.00pm Monday to Friday.
Last modified: 20 Jan 2021QC 34406