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I haven't done last year's tax return. Can I still get a home loan?
Bayley Clarke · Mortgage broker on the road · Last checked 3 September 2026 · 3 min read
The short answer
Generally, yes. The lenders are quite generous as far as which year counts as the latest year.
The banks aren't going to expect you to have lodged a return that isn't due yet. They keep using the previous year's figure, for most banks until March and for a lot of banks until May, before they make you use the new one. As long as you're adhering to ATO lodgement guidelines, the latest year you've actually lodged is the one that counts.
The one minute version. The rest of this page is the detail underneath it.
Which year is the latest year
Being in September, the 2026 financial year has now finished. Of course the banks aren't going to expect you to have done your 2026 return at this point, because it isn't really due until May. So what the banks actually do is use your 2025 tax return figure all the way up until, for most banks, March, and for a lot of banks it's actually May of the following year, before they then make you use your 2026 figure.
So there's a window, roughly July through to March or May, where last year's return is still your latest year in the bank's eyes. If you're applying inside that window, you're fine. If you're applying after it, the new return needs to be lodged, and the bank will want to see the lodgement, not just the accountant's draft.
The rule underneath it
As long as you're adhering to ATO lodgement guidelines, then generally your latest year is the one you're going to actually have available, and the banks are going to support using that when they figure out how much you can borrow. The bank isn't checking whether you're organised. It's checking whether the return you're relying on is the most recent one the tax office expects you to have.
Where it goes wrong is the other direction. If the return you'd be relying on is two years old and the cut-off has passed, the bank will treat it as stale. The fix is lodging, not arguing. And if you lodge through an accountant, the extended lodgement date is the one that applies, which is where the May figure comes from.
If the new return is going to be the better one
Sometimes it's the reverse problem. Last year's return is weak, this year's is strong, and you'd rather the bank saw the new one. Then lodge early. Once it's in, the lenders that use your latest year only can pick it up straight away, and the averaging lenders get a better second number.
And if the timing doesn't work at all, there's still the alt doc path: income verified through BAS statements, business bank statements or an accountant's declaration rather than a lodged return. Fewer lenders, higher rates, lower loan to value caps, but it exists for exactly this gap.
The honest bit: this answer has a date on it
The financial year cut-offs I've described are the ones that apply right now. The pattern holds year to year, but the exact months move with the calendar, and each lender publishes its own. Don't plan a purchase around a date off a web page.
Tell me when you're planning to buy and I'll tell you which return you'll be relying on and whether it needs to be lodged before we apply. Five minutes, and it saves a declined application.
Want to know which return the bank will read?
A 30 minute call. When you're planning to buy, what's lodged and what isn't, and whether the timing works or whether we lodge first. Nothing on your file.
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I'm self-employed. How many years of financials do I need?Once the return is in, this is how the bank reads it.
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