RSG Accountants

What is the Time Limit for Tax Return Amendments to the ATO?

Individuals, trusts, partnerships, and corporations may make errors when filing their income tax returns for various reasons. Therefore, all taxpayers are allowed to correct their returns within the designated timeframes.

When do you need to amend your tax return?

You might need to amend your tax return if you:

Made an error when answering a question
Forgot to include income or capital gains
Missed claiming an offset or deduction
Experienced a change after submitting your return, such as:
- Receiving a revised or additional payment summary
- Your employer is finalising or updating your income statement
- Repaying an amount of income you were overpaid

The amendment process allows you to correct any mistakes or omissions in your tax return. If you need a tax accountant for your small business to handle your tax matters and keep you updated with potential time limits for tax return amendments, you can consider searching for ‘Accountant in Craigieburn’

What is the time limit on tax return amendments?

Check out the time limit to amend the assessment if you are a sole trader or an individual:

Assessments: The ATO will issue you with an assessment when you file your tax return for an income year. An assessment indicates your tax liability for that specific income year. They will issue an amended assessment indicating your updated tax liability if either:

You request an amendment to your assessment, for instance, to include a deduction you didn’t mention to claim
The ATO will review your return and amend your assessment

There are specific time limits for making and amending an assessment. These limits give you certainty in your tax affairs, as the ATO cannot change your assessment once the time limit has passed. If your amendments include claims for amendments for your business, then you must have accurate records to support your claims. For accurate records, you can get help from a Bookkeeper in Craigieburn.

Individuals: Individuals usually have 2 years of time limit to amend an assessment. The time limit starts from the day when the notice of assessment is delivered to you. For instance, if you get an email from myGov on 3 November 2025 to suggest you your notice of assessment is available, then the time period for your amendment will start on 4 November 2025. It simply means you have until 4 November 2027 to request an amendment to your assessment. If the time limit is exceeded to amend your assessment, you may have to file an objection instead. While the time limit for filing amendments and objections is the same, you can ask for an extension of time to file an objection in some circumstances. You can request more than one amendment within a review period.

Sole Traders: For sole traders, the time limit for amendments of assessment for the 2023-24 income year and the previous income year is 2 years. On the other hand, sole traders will have 4 years to amend their assessments for the 2024-25 income year and later income years. There are many Accounting Firms In Craigieburn, including our accounting firm, which can keep you aware of time limits for tax return amendments.

The timeframe for amending your assessment begins the day after it is issued to you. To ensure timely processing, it’s best to submit your amendment as early as possible. You’re allowed to submit multiple amendment requests within the review period.

In most cases, the ATO cannot amend an assessment more than two years after it was issued unless you make a request. However, in exceptional situations, such as cases involving fraud or evasion, the ATO may still amend your tax return beyond the standard time limit.

When to Lodge an Objection?

If the time limit to amend your assessment has passed, you may need to lodge an objection instead.
You should lodge an objection if you want to:

Challenge how the law has been applied
Dispute the facts the ATO relied on to make a decision about your tax affairs (including your assessment)
Request an amendment outside the allowed time frame.

In some cases, you may also be able to request an extension of time to lodge your objection.

Conclusion
You must be aware of the time limit for tax return amendments to the ATO. That’s why we’ve shared important time limits, irrespective of whether you are a sole trader or an individual. For more information, you can contact RSG Accountants