Pre-filling 2016–18

Available pre-filling reports

This information is available in the pre-filling report in:

• Online services for agents
• practitioner lodgment service (PLS) with some exceptions. MyDeductions is included in PLS.

Taxpayer details

The following information can be pre-filled from our records:

• name
• Australian residency (at the report creation date)
• postal and residential address
• phone number (not available for pre-filling from 2018)
• date of birth.

PAYG payment summaries

All original and amended PAYG payment summaries as they are reported to us by employers and super funds will be available.

PAYG payment summary – individual non-business

The pre-filling service will provide the following details if reported:

• salary or wages (including paid parental leave)
• allowances, earnings, tips, director's fees, etc
• lump sum payments
• Australian Government allowances and payments
• Australian annuities and superannuation income streams
• foreign source income
• other income, including lump sum E payments
• union and profession association fees
• workplace giving
• total reportable fringe benefits amounts
• reportable employer superannuation contributions.

PAYG payment summary – employment termination payment

The pre-filling service will provide the following detail if reported – employment termination payments.

PAYG payment summary – Australian annuities and superannuation income streams (AASIS)

(Known as Superannuation income stream payment summaries prior to 2018)

The pre-filling service will provide the following details if reported:

• Australian annuities and superannuation income streams
• Australian superannuation income streams.

Changes for 2018

Message added where AASIS income may no longer be exempt after the introduction of the transfer balance cap.

Reversionary income stream indicator ('Yes' or 'No') added.

Descriptions updated for lump sum in arrears payments.

PAYG payment summary – superannuation lump sum

The pre-filling service will provide the following detail if reported – Australian superannuation lump sum payments.

PAYG payment summary – business and personal services income

The pre-filling service will provide the following detail if reported – attributed personal services income.

Voluntary agreements, labour hire and other specified payments

Details of payments made under voluntary agreements, labour hire and other specified payments will display as information only. Check with your client and declare this income for the appropriate item on the tax return.

Reportable employer super contributions reported on this payment summary will display.

Government payments

The pre-filling service will provide information from:

• Centrelink
• Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)
• Department of Education, Skills and Employment (previously Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business).

This information consists of:

• taxable payments, including pensions and allowances
• tax-free government pensions.

ATO interest

A new reporting method was introduced from 2016 that:

• captures deductions and interest income by processed date
• reports a net interest amount at either     
  • 24Y or D10 for 2016 and 2017
  • 24X or D10N for 2018 and later income years.

If you choose not to rely on our pre-fill information you will need to manually calculate the interest amounts using your client's statement of account.

Interest data will not be provided in all circumstances and manual calculation will be required.

We provide ATO interest sourced from our systems on the income tax and integrated client account (ICA). From 2018, ATO interest on FBT and ICA insolvency accounts are included. Assessable interest amounts we pay will display at item 10L – Gross interest, and will include:

• interest on early payments
• interest on overpayments
• delayed refund interest.

A net interest amount will display as follows – either:

• A total net assessable interest income amount will display at 24Y or 24X, which will include remitted (or reimbursed)     
  • general interest charge (GIC)
  • shortfall interest charge (SIC)
  • late payment interest (LPI).
• A total net deductible interest expense will display at D10 or D10N, which will include imposed     
  • GIC
  • SIC
  • LPI.

For more information, see Calculate and report ATO interest.

ATO interest – recurring data issues

In some circumstances, we may not provide pre-fill data but will display a message that the client has interest. In this case, you will need to manually calculate the deductions or income amounts, using either reporting method.

In addition pre-fill reports may not capture your clients' specific circumstances and you may need to adjust the interest amounts reported for:

• recoupments of interest charged
• change in residency status
• movement of transactions across the ICA.

You should check your client's statement of account to ensure the accuracy of the pre-fill data before lodging their tax return.

For more information, see Recurring data issues – Calculating ATO interest – the business rules used to determine if ATO interest data may not suit your client's circumstance.

Changes for 2018

ATO interest on fringe benefits tax (FBT) and insolvency accounts is pre-filled.

• The individual income tax return labels you use to report ATO interest changed to display the total net ATO interest amounts at either     
  • interest charged by the ATO shown at new item D10N Cost of managing tax affairs – Interest charged by the ATO
  • interest remitted or reimbursed by the ATO shown at new item 24X Other income – Category 2 (ATO interest).

Interest income

Information reported to us by financial institutions and private companies will be available for pre-filling.

Available information consists of:

• interest-bearing accounts, including savings accounts, term deposits and fixed interest securities
• interest distributed by private companies
• individual sole and joint accounts – for example     
  • husband and wife joint accounts will be displayed
  • business partnership, trust, and superannuation accounts will not be displayed.

Apportioned amounts are calculated according to the number of investment owners reported by the provider.

There may be instances where the interest from children's bank accounts is pre-filled for the parent. Refer to Recurring data issues – Interest from non-formal trust accounts.

You may also notice an amount of investment income that belongs to a linked non-individual, such as a super or trust fund. Refer to Recurring data issues – Non-individual investment income for details.

Changes for 2018

Message added where all interest may not have been reported in the previous year.

Dividend and interest schedule

Dividend and interest information reported by companies through the company tax return is available for pre-filling at item 10 – Gross interest and item 11 – Dividends.

Apportioned amounts are calculated according to the number of investment owners reported by the financial institution.

Dividend income

Information reported to us by share registries, private companies and most listed public corporations is available for pre-filling at item 11 – Dividends.

Apportioned amounts are calculated according to the number of investment owners reported by the financial institution.

Information is generally available within a couple of days of being reported, and consists of:

• investment accounts that are issuer or Clearing House Electronic Sub-register System (CHESS) sponsored
• dividends paid by private companies
• individual sole and joint accounts – for example          
  • husband and wife joint accounts will be displayed
  • business partnership, trust, and superannuation accounts will not be displayed
• listed investment company capital gain deduction – shown at item D8 (from 2017).

Changes for 2018

Message added where all dividends may not have been reported in the previous year.

Employee share schemes

We will provide details of your client's employee share scheme (ESS) interests as reported by employers and other payers on the ESS annual report.

Information consists of:

• employer's name and Australian business number (ABN)
• shareholder registration number (SRN) or holder identification number (HIN)
• plan reference number
• amount of discount from taxed upfront schemes – eligible for reduction
• amount of discount from taxed upfront schemes – not eligible for reduction
• amount of discount from deferral schemes
• amount of discounts on ESS interests acquired pre 1 July 2009 and 'cessation time' occurred during the financial year
• TFN amounts withheld from discounts.

Changes for 2016

Consolidation of the account holding type into the SRN or HIN field.

The employee’s identifier will not be displayed.

There will not be an indication of original or amended data being displayed. The information displayed is the most up-to-date reported data.

For some employees with overseas employment periods, informative messaging may be displayed to indicate whether certain discount amounts have been adjusted and reported as assessable amounts, or have not been adjusted and are reported as gross amounts.

Changes for 2018

From 2018, new and amended ESS data reported for 2015 and prior years will not be updated in pre-fill.

New and amended ESS data reported for 2016 and later years will continue to be updated in pre-fill.

Managed funds distributions

Managed investment funds will provide distribution income details as reported in the annual investment income report (AIIR).

Information includes:

• trusts
• partnerships
• capital gains
• foreign entities
• foreign source income and foreign assets or property.

You will be able to view details of:

• a list of managed fund accounts
• sole and joint investments (as an individual)     
  • husband and wife joint investments will be displayed.

Changes for 2016

The capital gains indexation method field will not be displayed. Any amounts reported at this field will be included in the Capital gains other method amount.

New field for Transfer or trust income. Apportioned amounts are calculated according to the number of investment owners reported by the financial institution.

If the pre-filled information doesn't match your client's distribution statement, use the information the fund manager provided to your client. Contact the managed fund if you have any questions.

Changes for 2017

New data pre-filled for managed fund distributions are:

• share of early stage investor tax offset
• share of early stage venture capital limited partnership tax offset
• share of foreign resident capital gains withholding credits
• exploration credits
• other income
• attribution managed investment trust (AMIT) cost base net amount – excess
• AMIT cost base net amount – shortfall.

Partnership distributions

Statement of distribution information reported by partnerships through the partnership tax return will be available for pre-filling in the partner’s individual tax return.

Information will consist of:

• partnerships and trusts
• foreign source income and foreign assets or property
• other refundable tax offsets

You will be able to view details of partnerships.

If the pre-filled information doesn't match your client's statement of distributions, use the information the partnership provided to your client – contact the partner who notices are sent to if you have any questions.

Changes for 2016

New data fields from the statement of distribution reported through the partnership tax return will be available:

• share of exploration credits
• share of net small business income
• credit for TFN amounts withheld from payments from closely withheld trusts (not available through PLS)
• share of credit for amounts withheld from foreign resident withholdings.

Changes for 2017

New data pre-filled for partnership distributions include:

• net financial investment loss
• net rental property loss.

Foreign source investment income

Foreign source investment income reported by financial institutions and private companies through the Annual investment income report (AIIR) will be available for pre-filling from 2016.

Apportioned amounts are calculated according to the number of investment owners reported by the financial institution.

Share disposals

Details of share disposals are provided to remind taxpayers about possible capital gains tax events and will contain the:

• company name
• Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) code
• HIN or SRN
• date of sale
• number of shares sold
• number of investors.

The following types of transactions will be included:

• PRF – preference shares
• ORD – ordinary shares
• CDI – CHESS – depository interest transactions.

We are able to display a maximum of 20 share disposals.

Changes for 2018

Capital proceeds shown where available.

Indicator added to advise whether data is original or amended (Online services for agents only).

Share buybacks

Share holdings will be pre-filled where your client participated in a share buyback event that may have resulted in a capital gains event.

Property transfers

From 2017, information about property transfers will be pre-filled. We are able to display a maximum of 5 property transfers only.

Details of property transfers are provided to remind taxpayers about possible capital gains tax events and will contain:

• messaging where your client may have transferred a property resulting in a capital gains tax event
• messaging where the property may have been the client's main residence
• property address
• contract date
• settlement date
• sale price.

Taxable payments

From 2013, contractor payment information reported to us in the Taxable payments annual report will be pre-filled.

The contractor payment information is not mapped to a specific label – it will be provided in a summary.

Information is only available for individual contractors – it is not available for contractors that operate as companies, trusts or partnerships.

The contractor payment information includes:

• payer name
• payer ABN
• date available for pre-filling
• type
• tax withheld where ABN not quoted
• total GST
• gross amount paid.

It should be noted that:

• the gross amount includes GST, if it has been charged
• amounts invoiced, but not actually paid in the financial year, are not included.

Government grants

Government grant information reported to us in the Taxable payments annual report will be pre-filled from 2018.

Government grant information will not be mapped to a specific label – it will be provided in a summary. Consider the nature of the grant to determine if it should be included as income in your client's tax return.

Government grant information will include:

• payer name
• payer ABN
• name of grant or grant program
• date of grant payment
• gross amount paid
• GST
• date available for pre-filling
• type (original or amended).

Note:

• gross amount paid includes GST, if it has been charged
• report may not include all government grants paid
• nature of the grant must be considered before including it in the income tax return.

Changes for 2018

Payments made by government entities for services and grants paid to ABN holders displayed.

For more information, see Government entities – Taxable payments annual report.

Net farm management deposits or repayments

Information is reported by financial institutions and will include:

• company name
• investment reference number
• account name
• details of deposits, repayments, transfers in and transfers out
• interest offset account (from 2017).

If the pre-fill data provided is different from your client’s records, you should use the information provided by the client.

Tax offsets

Seniors and pensioners – a reminder message will be displayed if your client may be eligible.

Australian superannuation income stream – amounts reported on payment summaries will be displayed at T2.

Zone – Remote area allowance amounts reported on payment summaries will be displayed for information (for zone tax offset eligibility and calculation at T4).

Exploration credits – the total amount of exploration credits reported by companies and partnerships will be displayed at T9 (2016 only).

Exploration credits from managed funds displayed at T11 (from 2017).

Early stage venture capital limited partnership – Current year tax offset for managed funds at item T8 (from 2017) and T8K (from 2018).

Early stage venture capital limited partnership – Tax offset carried forward from previous year displayed at T8M (from 2018).

Early stage investor – Current year tax offset for managed funds at item T9 (from 2017) and T9L (from 2018).

Early stage investor – Tax offset carried forward from previous year displayed at T9O (from 2018).

Changes for 2016

Remote area allowance will be displayed as information only for use in determining zone tax offset eligibility and calculations.

The total amount of exploration credits reported by companies through the Annual investment income report (AIIR), and partnerships through the partnership distribution statement will be displayed at T9.

Message relating to net medical expenses tax offset removed.

Changes for 2017

Share of current year Early stage venture capital limited partnership now at T8.

Share of current year Early stage investor now at T9.

Exploration credits from managed funds now at T11.

Changes for 2018

Early stage venture capital limited partnership – Tax offset amount carried forward from previous year will be shown at T8M.

Early stage investor – Tax offset amount carried forward from previous year will be shown at T9O.

Early stage venture capital limited partnership – Current year tax offset for managed funds changed from item T8 to T8K.

Early stage investor – Current year tax offset for managed funds changed from item T9 to T9L.

Medicare levy surcharge

We will provide details reported to us by health funds to help you confirm that your client held an adequate level of health insurance.

Information will be processed using our enterprise systems and will be updated throughout the week, but no updates will occur on weekends. Only pre-filled data for the current financial year and the previous financial year will update.

Information will include:

• health insurer ID and name
• membership number
• start and end date of the policy
• type of policy (no longer displayed from 2017)     
  • S – Single cover
  • P –Single parent cover
  • C – Couple cover
  • F – Family cover.

Private health insurance policy details

All rebate percentages are adjusted annually on 1 April.

This means the rebate percentage for premiums paid before 1 April will be different to the rebate percentage for premiums paid on or after 1 April.

The benefit codes indicate which percentage applies to the premiums (as determined by the payment date and the age of the client) but it is not the rebate percentage.

Information will be processed using our enterprise systems and will be updated throughout the week, but no updates will occur on weekends. Only pre-filled data for the current financial year and the previous financial year will update.

Information will include:

• health insurer ID and name
• membership number
• premiums eligible for Australian Government rebate
• Australian Government rebate received
• benefit code.

For more information, see Private health insurance rebate.

Income test related items

We will display in the TAP pre-filling report the following data as reported on payment summaries:

• total reportable fringe benefits amounts
• reportable employer superannuation contributions
• tax-free government pensions.

Ensure compulsory super amounts are not included.

For more information, see Recurring data issues – Reportable employer super contributions on payment summaries.

ATO data

This section includes amounts to help you estimate your client's refund or debt.

Help and other Income-contingent loans debts

Information will be displayed for repayable amounts of income- contingent loans for:

• Higher Education Loan Program (HELP)
• Student Financial Supplement Scheme (SFSS)
• Trade Support Loan (TSL)
• Student Start-up Loan (SSL) (from 2017)
• ABSTUDY Student Start-up Loan (ABSTUDY SSL) (from 2017).

The repayable balance provided by pre-filling may be different to your client's account balance. The repayable balance does not include new debts until they become repayable. There is a lead time between when the debt is incurred and when it becomes repayable.

Indexation is applied to repayable amounts each year on 1 June.

For 2018, the pre-fill amount displayed includes the repayable balance at 1 June 2018, less any repayments made after that date.

Where the pre-fill request is made between:

• 1 January and 31 May of the current year, the repayable balance will only include debts incurred up to (but not including) 1 January of the previous calendar year
• 1 June and 31 December of the current year, the repayable balance will only include debts incurred up to (but not including) 1 January of the current calendar year.

Prior year amounts

If the pre-fill request is for an outstanding prior year return, the repayable amount is shown as at the date the pre-fill request is made. This means if a pre-fill request is made for a prior year return, the current repayable loan balance is shown and will be the repayable amount regardless of the income year of the return.

PAYG instalments

The total amount displayed represents the calculated liability regardless of payment.

Accumulative low-rate cap

Information will include:

• accumulative low-rate cap amount
• year
• low-rate cap used
• messaging where client has exceeded the low-rate cap.

Income averaging for primary producers and special professionals

We will display the following amounts for:

• primary producers – basic taxable income amounts by year
• special professionals – taxable professional income amounts by year    
  • average calculated amount for special professionals removed from 2018
  • message advising manual calculation of the pre-filled amounts according to the client's income averaging residency status.

Overdue income tax returns

An overdue income tax returns advisory message will display in the pre-fill report when your client has one or more outstanding tax returns in the 3 years immediately prior.

Prior year tax return details

This data is provided by our systems from the previous year's tax return:

• rental property details reported
• net capital losses carried forward to later income years
• business income and expenses     
  • closing stock total
  • valuation method type – C cost, M market selling value or R replacement value (not available in PLS)
  • subtotals for primary and non-primary production amounts added (from 2017) (not available in PLS)
• the occupation description and code (not available in PLS)
• source of supplementary income reported (not available in PLS)
• deductions reported (not available in PLS)     
  • includes a work-related expense message where clients had comparatively high deductions for work-related expenses (available in Online services for agents from 2017 and PLS from 2018)
• dependents     
  • number of dependent children and students for Medicare M1
  • number of dependent children for Income test IT8 (available in PLS from 2018)
• spouse details – name, date of birth, and gender (not available in PLS).

Changes for 2016

Spouse gender to include 'Indeterminate'.

Closing stock total and type is provided to assist in completing the opening stock balances in the current year individual tax return.

Tax offsets removed.

Changes for 2017

Work-related expense message added where clients had comparatively high deductions for work-related expenses.

Business income and expenses – prior year closing stock amounts for primary and non-primary production added.

Current data issues

Check for current data issue with pre-filing data.

Resolving discrepancies

Discrepancies between the information sent to your clients and the information reported to us for pre-filling need to be resolved with the data provider before you lodge your client's tax return.

If you are unable to resolve the discrepancy or have notification that an income or account does not belong to your client, we prefer you to contact us online using Practice mail in Online services for agents. Select:

• new Mail message
• topic Income tax
• subject Pre-filled tax return data incorrect.