I am a Canadian that lived in Australia in 2019/2020. I need to access my tax returns for these years but the online systems are making it very difficult for me. My myGov account was fully closed so I've had to make a new one. Now to link ATO to it I am required an Australian phone number but don't have one anymore... on top of that, there is no written or online way to contact support for myGov or the ATO, which means my only option is to pay overseas fees to wait for who knows how long in line for a call with them. Can someone help with my situation? Or has any insight on what to do? I don't want to create a digital ID just for that, I would simply like to access my tax return with a username and password. Thanks in advance.
All replies
Hi @mathilde.doucet,
For security reasons there is no way to access online services with just a username and password.
You can link your ATO services to your new myGov account without an Australian phone number by selecting email as your preferred option for receiving verification codes. When you're linking the ATO to myGov from overseas, you can choose email instead of SMS for the authentication codes.
You can also use myID to link your account, as long as you can establish minimum standard strength. This provides an alternative way to access ATO online services through the myGov platform. Instructions for accessing myGov and ATO online services while overseas are available on our website.
Featured articles
6 Feb 2026 · 4 min read time
24 Aug 2025 · 3 min read time
15 Apr 2026 · 3 min read time