What a notice of assessment contains
Your notice of assessment (NOA) is the statement we issue that explains how your tax assessment is calculated. Your NOA will show the amount of:
- tax you owe on your taxable income
- credit you have for tax already paid during the income year
- tax you need to pay or your refund
- any excess private health reduction or refund (if applicable).
When you receive your notice of assessment, you should check everything is correct. If you have a myGov account and link it to the ATO, your NOA and tax receipt are sent to your myGov Inbox. Your tax receipt will show how your taxes have been allocated to key categories of government expenditure.
If you have a tax debt, check our advice on why you may receive a tax bill. Your NOA will include your payment advice and due date.
In some cases, we also issue a statement of account with your NOA. In this circumstance your payment advice and due date are included on the statement of account.
Under the law, we have a period of time to review your tax return. During this time, we may increase or decrease the amount of tax payable or refundable on your initial NOA. This review period is normally 2 years, but in certain circumstances it can be 4 years.
When we send a notice of assessment
We send your NOA to you after we process your tax return or franking credits lodgment. The processing timeframes we aim for depend on the lodgment method you use. If you lodge:
- online using myTax, we aim for processing within 2 weeks
- by paper, we aim for processing within 50 business days (10 weeks) from the date we receive the lodgment (paper lodgments may take up to 7 weeks to show on our systems)
- through a tax agent, we aim for processing within 2 weeks.
If your lodgment has not processed within these timeframes, check our advice on why there may be a delay in processing your tax return.
From the 2019–20 income year onwards, we will automatically issue some refunds of franking credits for eligible individuals. We will also issue an NOA to eligible individuals.
Faster processing for serious financial hardship
We may be able to help you get a quicker refund if you are experiencing serious hardship. After you lodge your tax return, you should contact us so we can:
- discuss your situation
- find out if you're eligible for this faster service.
When we send a statement of account
We will send you a statement of account with your NOA when your account balance is different to the outcome of your assessment. This can happen if:
- you incur a penalty or general interest charge
- we credit interest amounts to you
- we use credits or refunds to offset other debts – including debts on hold or debts you have with other government agencies
- you have an account opening balance that is not zero
- you lodge tax returns for multiple income years on the same day.
Get a copy of your notice of assessment
If you have a myGov account, your NOA and tax receipt is sent to your myGov Inbox. You can view and print some NOA from the myGov Inbox.
If you require a copy of a current or previous income year NOA and you can't locate it in your myGov Inbox:
- sign in to myGovExternal Link
- select ATO from your linked services
- select My profile from the menu
- select Communication, then History from the drop-down menu.
If you have lost a refund cheque, you need to contact us. Once we establish proof of identity, we can update your bank account details for a fast and secure refund.
If you think your notice of assessment is wrong
Check all the details on your NOA with the details you submitted in your tax return.
If you made a mistake when completing your return, you can amend your tax return.
If you have a tax debt, check our advice on why you may receive a tax bill. If you still think there is a problem, contact us for help.
When you phone, you will need your notice of assessment and a copy of your tax return (if possible).
If you still think your assessment is wrong
You can dispute or object to your NOA, if you are dissatisfied with it or if you disagree with our decision to retain a refund.
Generally, you must lodge your objection within the 2 year or 4 year amendment period, whichever applies to you.
Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra