The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has released its Tax Time toolkit for small business for the 2026 filing season, which covers the period 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.
What’s inside the toolkit?
The ATO updates its toolkits annually, bringing together resources designed to help you meet your obligations confidently, both during tax filing season and across the year more generally. The toolkit for small business covers common deductions and problem areas faced by small business owners, including:
- Home-based business expenses
- Motor vehicle expenses
- Travel expenses
- Digital product expenses
- Using business money and assets (Division 7A)
- Pausing or closing your business
Each section provides clear, relevant, and practical information, including key points, any criteria that should be met to claim the deduction, alongside record keeping pointers and practical examples to help small business owners.
What’s new for small businesses?
The toolkit also outlines what changes to be aware of for the 2026 filing season. This includes, among other updates, the fact that:
Deductions can no longer be claimed for any general interest charge (GIC) or shortfall interest charge (SIC) incurred from 1 July 2025 (in prior years, such charges could be claimed as a tax deduction).
For the first time in 2025-26, pre-fill is expanding to include taxable payments annual report (TPAR) data, which applies to certain payments made to contractors within the building and construction, cleaning, courier, IT, and security sectors.
Businesses with an aggregated annual turnover of less than $10 million can continue to claim the instant asset write-off on the business-related portion of assets costing less than $20,000. For 2025-26 returns, eligible assets must be first used or installed ready for use between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026. The $20,000 limit is available on a per asset basis, meaning multiple assets can be written off this way.
Businesses with an annual aggregated turnover of less than $50 million now have up to 4 years from the date of their tax assessment to request a tax return amendment. This applies to assessments for the 2024-25 and later income years.
In addition to these new developments, keep in mind that some upcoming changes to the tax system are not available this Tax Time. The $1,000 standard deduction for work-related expenses, the Working Australians Tax Offset, as well as the changes being introduced to the capital gains tax and negative gearing rules, are all not applicable this filing season.
Make the most of deductions this Tax Time
Want to make sure you’ve claimed all available tax deductions this Tax Time, or have any questions about how to prepare your small business tax return? For further guidance on how to improve your tax position, speak to a member of our team today.
