Tax Time ATO Scams & The 31 October Deadline

If you’re doing your own 2026 tax return, the deadline is 31 October, which is now only a few weeks away. And while you’re hunting down that receipt for your work laptop, scammers are busy pretending to be the tax office. CPA Australia has warned that tax time is one of the busiest periods of the year for ATO scams.

A little know-how goes a long way, so, here’s how to get your return in on time, keep your details out of the wrong hands, and dodge the mistakes that send the ATO knocking.

The 31 October Deadline

If you lodge your own return through myGov, your 2026 tax return is due by 31 October 2026. This year that falls on a Saturday, so the ATO will accept it on Monday 2 November. Miss it, and you could be hit with a failure-to-lodge penalty, plus interest on any tax you owe.

Now for a cheat code: If you’re on a registered tax agent’s client list before 31 October, you’re generally covered by the ATO’s registered agent lodgement program. For most people, that pushes the deadline out to 15 May 2027. There’s a catch: your previous years’ returns need to be up to date.

If this year has been a busy one (new job, new baby, new side hustle), getting in touch with our tax return team before 31 October buys you breathing room.

How to Spot a Fake ATO Message

ATO scams are getting good. Their emails use official logos, their texts can land in the same thread as real ATO messages, and some even set up fake ATO accounts on social media. But they almost always trip over the same rules. Here’s what the real ATO will never do:

• Send you a text with a link in it. The ATO has stopped putting hyperlinks in unsolicited SMS altogether. See a tappable link? It’s a scam.
• Send you to a log-in page. Genuine messages tell you to sign in to myGov yourself. They won’t hand you a link to click.
• Ask for your TFN, bank details or myGov password by email or text. Not ever. Not even “just to confirm”.
• Ask for personal details or payments through social media. Their Facebook and Instagram accounts are for updates, not for collecting your details.
• Rush you. Threats of arrest, “final notices” and countdown timers are a scammer’s favourite tricks. The real tax office is many things, but in a hurry isn’t one of them.

The golden rule is simple: if in doubt, type my.gov.au into your browser yourself and check your inbox there. If the message is real, it’ll be waiting for you. You can also call the ATO directly on 1800 008 540 to check whether contact is genuine. The ATO keeps a list of current scam alerts worth a quick look too.

One more thing: never share your myGov sign-in details with anyone. That includes us. A good tax agent will never ask for your password.

Mistakes That Get Returns Sent Back

ATO scams aren’t the only tax-time hazard. Last financial year, the ATO’s data matching program adjusted more than 595,000 individual tax returns. The usual suspects were:

• Missing income. Forgotten bank interest, dividends, a side gig or a government payment. The ATO already knows about most of it, so it will notice.
• Overstated deductions. Claiming more than you can back up with receipts (or guessing the numbers).
• Incorrect tax offsets and credits. Private health insurance and Medicare levy details are common trip-ups.

Rushing makes all of this worse. According to the ATO, people who lodged before their pre-fill information was ready were more than twice as likely to have their returns amended.

The fix is not glamorous, but it works. Keep your receipts together throughout the year, check your pre-fill against your own records, and don’t guess. If you run a business or have investments, a bit of tax planning and good bookkeeping make tax time far less painful.

Clicked The Link? Here’s What to do Next

First, don’t beat yourself up. These ATO scams are designed by professionals to catch smart, busy people on a bad day. What matters now is acting quickly.

1. Call your bank straight away if you’ve shared card or account details, so they can block anything suspicious.
2. Change your myGov password, going to my.gov.au directly, and turn on two-step verification if you haven’t already.
3. Call the ATO’s Client Identity Support Centre on 1800 467 033 if you think someone has your TFN or has accessed your ATO account. They have more help for identity theft on their website.
4. Contact IDCARE on 1800 595 160. They’re Australia’s free national identity and cyber support service, and they’ll help you build a recovery plan. Bonus local points: they’re based right here in Queensland, on the Sunshine Coast.
5. Report it, even if you didn’t lose anything. Reports help the ATO and Scamwatch warn others and shut scammers down faster.

And if you’re an HPartners client, give us a call too. We can keep an eye on your ATO account and help you sort out any mess.

Let HPartners Take Your 2026 Tax Return Off Your Plate

Our accounting team in Brisbane and Toowoomba can prepare and lodge your return, make sure you’re claiming everything you’re entitled to (and nothing you’re not), and flag anything that looks off.

And remember the cheat code: get in touch before 31 October and you could have until May next year to lodge.

Book a chat with our team, call us on 1300 656 260, or send us a message. We’re real humans, we’ll never ask for your myGov password, and we promise not to send you any dodgy links.