Check the progress of your tax return – online in seconds!

The waiting game for your tax return can be a little frustrating – especially if you are expecting a refund! Due to the ATO’s new data matching efficiencies and strict documentation requirements, it’s likely that some taxpayers will experience unavoidable delays this year. The ATO has estimated that most tax returns will take approximately two weeks to process from the time of lodgment, and some tax returns may take up to 30 days if they require review or manual processing.

If you would like to check on the status of your return after it is lodged, the quickest and easiest way is to use the ATO phone app or online services through your myGov account.

When you login to these ATO services, the status shows how your tax return is progressing. Some of the updates you may see are:

🟢 Processing – The ATO have your return and have started processing it.

🟡 Under review – The ATO are checking to make sure all details are accurate.

🟠 Balancing account – The ATO are balancing the accounts with other government departments and third parties such as Centrelink.

These are the three steps that are taken prior to the ATO calculating your refund or the amount you need to pay.

The ATO may send you an email or a SMS to let you know if your tax return has been delayed and why, or when your refund is on its way. Their messages will never ask you to reply by SMS or email and will never request any personal information, such as your tax file number. Please remain vigilant as scams at tax time are common. If you’re ever in doubt about a communication you’ve received, do not respond, and contact the ATO directly or your local Highview office.

Our Accounting Team are working hard for our clients and are here to help – so please be patient with the ATO’s delays – and hopefully we are all pleasantly surprised with speedy results!