Tax Time in Australia: What New International Students Need to Know

If you arrived in Australia in the past year and picked up some casual work, you are about to meet something new: tax time. The Australian financial year ends on 30 June, and from July millions of people, students included, lodge a tax return. If it is your first one, take a breath. For most students it is quicker and friendlier than it sounds, and there is a real chance you will get some money back.

This is general information, not tax advice, and Afrovo is not a registered tax agent. For the full step by step, see our Student Finance guide. For your own situation, use the official ATO website or a registered tax agent.

Do international students even have to do this?

Usually yes, if you worked. If you earned income in Australia during the tax year, you generally need to either lodge a return or let the ATO know you do not need to. If your employer took tax out of your pay, lodging is also how you claim any of it back. Either way, it is far better to sort it out than to leave it and risk a letter later.

First, the good news: many students get a refund

Here is what surprises a lot of newcomers. Through the year, your employer takes tax out of each pay automatically, before anyone knows what you will earn in total. If you stayed under the tax-free threshold, or had tax taken out early before you reached it, you may have paid more than you actually owed. Lodging your return is how you ask for that difference back.

So for many first-timers, a tax return is not a bill at all. It is the step that puts money back into your account, often within a couple of weeks of lodging.

The mistakes that trip up new students

Most tax-time stress comes from a small handful of avoidable slips. Steer around these and you are most of the way there:

• •Not giving your employer your TFN in time. Without your Tax File Number, your employer may have to tax you at a much higher rate. Provide it within your first 28 days of work.
• •Paying for a TFN. A TFN is completely free from the ATO. If a website charges you for one, it is a scam.
• •Assuming you do not need to lodge. If you earned income and had tax withheld, you generally need to lodge, and it is how any refund reaches you.
• •Missing the 31 October deadline. Lodge on time even if you owe nothing, because late penalties build up quickly.
• •Forgetting your superannuation. Your employer also pays super on top of your wage. You may be able to claim it when you permanently leave Australia.

None of these are hard to avoid once you know they are there.

Where to actually do it, for free

You do not need to pay anyone for a simple return. Most students lodge online for free through myGov and myTax. The ATO also runs a free Tax Help service, staffed by trained volunteers, for people on lower incomes between July and October, and many students qualify. A paid registered tax agent is really only worth it for more complicated situations.

If you want the full walk-through, getting your TFN, setting up myGov, what documents you need and how to lodge, our Student Finance page lays it all out in plain English. That is the place to start.

Stay alert for tax-time scams

Scammers work overtime at tax time, pretending to be the ATO by phone, text and email. The real ATO will never threaten you with arrest, demand payment in gift cards or cryptocurrency, or ask for your myGov password. If a message feels off, do not click any link inside it. Go to the ATO website directly instead.

While you are getting organised

Tax is just one part of settling into student life. It is a good moment to look at the bigger picture: what your real monthly budget looks like on our cost of living guide, whether any scholarships could ease the pressure, and where your studies could eventually lead. When you are ready to think past graduation, a free Pathway Snapshot or a full Pathway Report maps your options from study to a skilled visa.

You already did the hard part by making the move. Your first tax return is just admin, and now you know exactly where to begin.