Income Tax Assessment (Requirement for Parents Liable for or Entitled to Child Support to Lodge a Return for the 2026 Year) Instrument 2026

General outline of instrument

1.                   This legislative instrument is made under section 161 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936).
2.                   This instrument requires certain parents liable for or entitled to child support to lodge an income tax return for the income year by the due date specified in the instrument. A return must be lodged in the approved form.
3.                   This instrument is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.
4.                   This instrument is remade annually to capture a threshold change.

Date of effect

1.                   This instrument commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Background

1.                   Under the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989, an assessment for child support relies on the adjusted taxable income of both parents. This requires both a parent liable for and a parent entitled to child support to lodge an income tax return.
2.                   The Commissioner makes a legislative instrument every year to require this class of persons – that is, parents liable for or entitled to child support – to lodge a return under section 161 of the ITAA 1936. Certain parents are exempt from this requirement (if their income is less than the income threshold, and they receive certain government pensions, allowances or payments for the whole year).
3.                   This legislative instrument obliges relevant persons to lodge an income tax return even if they are not required to lodge a return under the Taxation Laws (Requirement to Lodge a Return for the 2026 Year) Instrument 2026.

Effect of this instrument

1.                   Section 5 specifies that a parent liable for or entitled to child support is required to lodge an income tax return for the ‘2026 year’, unless:

1.                the total of certain amounts (set out in paragraph 5(2)(a)) they received during that income year was less than $31,047, and
2.                they received one or more Australian Government pensions, allowances or payments (listed in paragraph 5(2)(b)) for the whole of that income year.

1.               For persons who do not have a ‘substituted accounting period’, the 2026 year is the year of income ended on 30 June 2026. For persons with a substituted accounting period – that is, a period they have been granted leave to adopt under section 18 of the ITAA 1936 instead of the year of income ended 30 June 2026 – the 2026 year is their substituted accounting period.
2.               Under section 6 every person that is required by section 5 to lodge a return for the 2026 year must do so by 31 October 2026 unless they have a substituted accounting period. Persons with a substituted accounting period must lodge their return on or before the last day of the fourth month after the end of their substituted accounting period.
3.               These due dates provide persons with 4 calendar months from the end of their 2026 year before they are required to lodge their return with the Commissioner. This provides a sufficient amount of time for those who have to lodge to identify and obtain information required for their return.
4.               The due dates for persons covered by this instrument align with the due dates they would have if required to lodge a return under the Taxation Laws (Requirement to Lodge a Return for the 2026 Year) Instrument 2026.

Compliance cost impact

1.               Compliance cost impact: Minor – There will be no additional regulatory impacts as the instrument is minor and machinery in nature (OIA26-11554).

Consultation

1.               For this instrument, broad public consultation was undertaken for a period of 4 weeks ending on 13 March 2026.
2.               The draft instrument and draft explanatory statement were published to the ATO Legal database. Publication was advertised via the ‘What’s new’ page on that website, and via the ‘Open Consultation’ page on ato.gov.au. Major tax and superannuation publishers and associations monitor these pages and include the details in the daily and weekly alerts and newsletters to their subscribers and members. This ensures advice of the draft is disseminated widely across the tax professional community, and that they are in an informed position to provide comments and feedback.
3.               No feedback was received on the draft instrument and draft explanatory statement during the consultation period.
4.               However, general questions were received relating to the instruments more generally and have been responded to outside this process.

Statement of compatibility with human rights

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

Income Tax Assessment (Requirement for Parents Liable for or Entitled to Child Support to Lodge a Return for the 2026 Year) Instrument 2026

This legislative instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Overview of this legislative instrument

This instrument specifies that certain parents liable for or entitled to child support are required to lodge an income tax return for the 2026 year (which, for many persons, is the income year ended 30 June 2026), even though they may not otherwise be required to lodge a return. Certain exemptions and conditions are identified in the instrument.

Human rights implications

This instrument does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms. It requires certain persons to lodge an income tax return, and specifies when this must be done, so that the Commonwealth can properly administer child support laws.

Conclusion

This legislative instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.