Your ATO Notice of Assessment, Explained Line by Line

What is a notice of assessment?

A notice of assessment is the ATO's official record of how your tax for an income year was calculated. According to the ATO, your NOA shows the tax you owe on your taxable income, the credit you have for tax already paid during the year, the tax you need to pay or the refund you will get, and any excess private health insurance reduction or refund.

Most people also receive a tax receipt with the NOA, which shows how their tax was allocated to areas of government spending. If your account balance differs from the result of the assessment, for example because a refund was used to pay another debt, the ATO also sends a statement of account. When a statement of account is issued, the payment advice and due date are on that statement rather than on the NOA.

The NOA is not final. The ATO normally has 2 years (4 in some cases) to review a return and change the tax payable, and you have matching rights to amend or object.

How long does a notice of assessment take?

Processing time depends on how you lodge. The ATO sends your NOA once it has processed the return, and pays any refund into the Australian bank account you nominated. Its published targets are below.

Why your NOA might be delayed

A status of "Under review" or "Information pending" in ATO online services means the ATO is checking your return; manual processing generally takes up to 30 calendar days. "Balancing account" means part of a refund may go to other government debts.

How to get your notice of assessment in myGov

If your myGov account is linked to the ATO, your NOA and tax receipt go to your myGov Inbox and myGov sends you an email or SMS saying you have mail. If you lodged on paper and the ATO is not linked to myGov, the NOA is posted to the address the ATO holds for you.

To find a current or earlier NOA that is no longer in your Inbox, the ATO's steps are:

• Sign in to myGov and select ATO from your linked services.
• Select My profile from the menu.
• Select Communication, then History from the drop-down menu.
• Open the notice for the income year you need and save or print it.

How to read each line of your NOA: a worked 2025–26 example

The NOA follows the same order as the tax calculation. Take an employee on $85,000 a year who claimed $1,200 of work-related deductions in their 2025–26 return, held private hospital cover, has no study loan, and was paid fortnightly with the tax-free threshold claimed. Their employer withheld $694 a fortnight under the ATO's tax tables, $18,044 for the year.

What each line usually tells you

Taxable income should match the figure in your lodged return. The ATO advises checking every detail on the NOA against what you lodged. If a figure differs and you made a mistake, amend the return; if you think the ATO is wrong, contact it with your NOA and a copy of your return.

The Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge appear as one amount, labelled "Medicare levy and surcharge". If that line is larger than 2% of your taxable income, a surcharge has probably been charged because you did not hold an appropriate level of private hospital cover; see our Medicare levy surcharge guide. Compulsory HELP or other study loan repayments are also added to the tax you owe, not taken from your refund separately.

Tax offsets such as the low income tax offset appear as "Less non-refundable tax offsets": they can cut tax to zero but any unused amount is not refunded. Credits are the tax already paid, mainly PAYG withholding from wages and PAYG instalments; if your refund is smaller than expected, compare them with your income statements in myGov first.

Why your NOA shows a tax bill

A frequent cause is that not enough tax was withheld during the year, for example because the tax-free threshold was claimed with more than one employer. Suppose someone in 2025–26 held two jobs paying $30,000 each and claimed the tax-free threshold with both employers. Each employer withheld $84 a fortnight, $4,368 in total, but tax and Medicare levy on $60,000 come to $9,888. The NOA would show about $5,520 to pay. With the threshold claimed from only one employer, the second job withholds $236 a fortnight and total withholding rises to $8,320, close to the real liability.

Other reasons the ATO lists include a promotion or extra income, a study loan your employer did not withhold for, income with no tax withheld (business, rental, dividends, capital gains), the Medicare levy surcharge, and too much private health insurance rebate taken as a premium reduction.

When a tax bill on your NOA is due

If you lodge your own return between 1 July and 31 October and it results in a bill, payment is due by 21 November. If the assessment issues after 31 October, payment is due 21 days after it issues. The due date is printed on the NOA or statement of account. In 2026, 21 November falls on a Saturday; the ATO's rule is that when a payment date falls on a day that is not a business day you can pay on the next business day, Monday 23 November 2026.

If you lodge through a registered tax agent, the payment date follows the agent lodgement program and can be later. Interest can apply to anything unpaid after the due date. If you cannot pay on time, the ATO's advice is to act quickly while the debt is manageable; you may be able to set up your own payment plan.

How to amend your tax return after the NOA

You amend when you made a mistake, left something out (such as a deduction you forgot) or your circumstances changed after you lodged. Wait until the original return has been processed and your NOA has issued before you send an amendment. There is no fee and you do not lodge a whole new return.

Individuals generally have 2 years to request an amendment, counted from the day after the NOA is given to you. The ATO's own example: if myGov emails you on 3 November 2026 to say your NOA is available, the period starts on 4 November 2026 and you have until 4 November 2028. Sole traders have 4 years for 2024–25 and later income years. You can lodge more than one amendment within the period.

• Online through myGov (any return, however it was lodged): ATO > Manage tax returns > Amend next to the year. The ATO says this takes about 20 days to process.
• Through your registered tax agent, who can lodge it electronically even if they did not prepare the original return.
• On paper with the "Request for amendment of income tax return for individuals" form, or by signed letter: up to 50 business days to process.

How to object if you disagree with your assessment

An objection is the formal way to dispute the ATO's decision. You need one, rather than an amendment, if you dispute the law or the facts the ATO relied on, or if you are outside the amendment time limit. In some circumstances you can ask the ATO for an extension of time to lodge an objection.

For income tax assessments, most individuals have 2 years from the date the assessment was given to them; other taxpayers have 4 years. For an amended assessment you have until the later of 60 days from the amended assessment or the original time limit. If the ATO keeps a refund while it checks your return, your objection period starts 90 days after you lodged.

If you are unhappy with the objection decision, you can generally apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal, which replaced the AAT from 14 October 2024, or the Federal Court. Complaints about how the ATO handled your matter, rather than the tax outcome, can go to the Tax Ombudsman.