If you are the authorised legal personal representative (LPR)
Once you have notified us that you are the authorised LPR, you can access the deceased person's full tax and super information.
- We can give you a data package of tax and super information for the past 3 income years.
- You can contact us for specific information, such as the deceased person's tax file number (TFN).
We can also provide the deceased's tax and super information to a representative you have appointed to help you with the deceased's tax affairs. The representative must be one of the following:
- tax agent
- business activity statement (BAS) agent
- legal practitioner.
The deceased person's information can only be accessed through us. It is not available through other government sources, such as myGov.
An executor who has not obtained a grant of probate is not an authorised LPR for the estate.
If you are not the authorised LPR
If you are trying to finalise the deceased's tax obligations, we want to help.
First, you should notify us that you are managing the estate.
There are legal restrictions on the information we can disclose to someone who is not the authorised LPR. This includes a family member without letters of administration and an executor without a grant of probate.
However, we may be able to provide enough information for you to finalise the deceased's tax obligations, depending on the circumstances.
Contact us to find out what tax information we can give you.
We will ask:
- what type of information you are seeking
- why you want the information
- about your relationship to the deceased – for example, whether you are the executor or next of kin (you may need to provide proof of your relationship to the deceased, such as a birth or marriage certificate).
As you are not the authorised LPR, we won't record you as an authorised contact for the deceased estate.
The deceased person's former tax agent or financial adviser may also be able to help with tax and super information from their own records. However, they no longer have authority to access the deceased's information on our systems.
Tax and BAS agents
When we receive information that a person has died, we remove access to their records by their former representatives, including tax and BAS agents. This is because the person's authorisations ceased when they died.
To gain access to the deceased person's tax records, the authorised LPR must:
- notify us of their appointment
- appoint the agent as a representative of the estate
- provide a declaration advising of the appointment.
You, as the agent can make the declaration and add the deceased person to your client list through Online services for agents.
An agent who has not been appointed by an authorised LPR does not have legal authority to access a deceased person's ATO records after the date of death. If the agent is assisting in managing the tax affairs of the estate, they will need to contact the ATO to request the deceased person's information.
Legal practitioners
For a legal practitioner to gain access to the deceased's tax records, either:
- the authorised LPR must advise us that the legal practitioner has been appointed to help them manage the estate
- the legal practitioner must notify us by mail of their appointment.
Requesting a deceased estate data package
The authorised LPR, or their nominated representative, can get a data package of the tax and super records we have for the deceased person. This will help you identify the deceased person's assets and income streams.
The data package contains:
- tax return information for the previous 3 income years
- an extract of income and investment data for the previous 3 income years
- an extract of notices of assessment issued for the previous 3 income years
- the most recent statement of account
- details of any outstanding debts with us
- details of any superannuation accounts
- any payroll data for the current year.
How to request a data package
If you are the authorised LPR, we will send you the deceased estate data package when you notify us that you are the representative of the deceased person.
Alternatively, an authorised LPR or their nominated representative can request a data package by contacting us.
Who can access the tax and super information we hold, and how to get it.