If you are a sole trader or contractor in building, cleaning, couriers, IT or security, this year's tax return will look a little different. The ATO announced on 5 August that payments reported about you by the businesses you worked for will now show up as pre-filled income in your return.

What has changed

Businesses in certain industries already tell the ATO each year how much they paid their contractors, through the taxable payments annual report. Until now that information was mainly used behind the scenes for checking. For Tax Time 2026, the ATO says about $21 billion in those payments will be pre-filled into eligible returns, covering around 700,000 sole traders and individuals in business.

The industries covered are:

  • building and construction
  • courier and road freight services
  • cleaning
  • information technology
  • security, investigation and surveillance

Why timing matters

Most businesses have until 28 August to send the ATO their contractor payment reports. That means a lot of the new pre-fill information will only appear from late August onwards. The ATO's own suggestion is that waiting until after 28 August gives you the best chance of seeing complete information, and lowers the odds of having to amend your return later.

You stay in control of your return. You can check, update and confirm every pre-filled figure before you lodge. If you change a pre-filled amount, you will be asked to choose a short reason code explaining why.

The compliance angle

This is a convenience measure, but it is also a visibility measure. The ATO estimates that more than $1 billion in contractor payments could be left out or under-reported this year, and it has described that as shadow economy behaviour. When the income is already sitting in your return, leaving it out becomes very hard to explain.

What to do now

  • Reconcile your own records first. Add up your invoices and bank deposits for the year so you know what your income should be before you look at the pre-fill.
  • Compare, do not just accept. Pre-fill shows what payers reported. It can miss income from payers who are not required to report, and it can include mistakes such as a wrong ABN or GST treated differently to your own books.
  • Keep evidence for any change. If you adjust a pre-filled figure, hold on to the invoices and statements that back up your number.
  • Do not panic about the 31 October date. If you lodge through a registered tax agent you generally have longer, provided you are on their books in time.

If your records and the ATO's figures do not line up and you are not sure why, that is a good moment to get help before you lodge rather than after.

This article is general information only and does not take your personal circumstances into account.