I am a UK citizen. I had a 417 visa to work in Australia granted on 25 September 24. I left Aus in May 2025 and am now at home in the UK. I have been trying to claim Superannuation back and tax. I think I need to complete a tax return but having set up the ATO and myID app, the security level is not strong enough and I have not got the necessary documents required to increase it. `i keep getting error messages, so am unable to login to ATO either to complete a tax return or claim anything back. My Australian employer has advised me to login to my Tax Return Employee Portal as they do not issue Payment Summarys. Further, the Australian bank closed my account as it was empty and there had been no activity. Can someone advise what i need to do please, as this is causing lots of wasted time and anxiety.
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For the super, there is a paper copy of the DASP form: Departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP) | Australian Taxation Office Different forms depending whether the super is still with your super fund or has been transferred to the ATO due to inactivity on the super account, but both are in the link above. One way to then access your funds if you no longer have an Australian bank account would be to get the payment issued as a cheque, and open a bank account in the UK which allows foreign cheque deposits (I believe NatWest and HSBC do for example). Fees would probably not be great with the banks, and you might want to shop around, but its at least an option?
For the tax return, you can lodge paper but it sounds like you won't have the information with which to do that? One option then would be to contact an Australian tax agent who operates online and pay them to lodge your return for you as they will be able to access your prefill information and will also make sure your tax return is completed correctly with regards to your Working Holiday Maker status. Then you may be able to get any refund issued as a cheque and bank the same way as your DASP. Or you could bit the bullet and call from the UK to get your mygov sorted. The link below has numbers you can call to help with linking your ATO account to your mygov account from overseas: Contact us | Australian Taxation Office
Hi @Wilkie01,
It can feel overwhelming, especially when you're no longer in Australia. I’ll help break it down for you, building on what @taxtalk1234 has already shared.
Lodging your tax return
If you've set up myID and you can't achieve a strong identity strength through myID, you're right that you won't be able to access your ATO Online Services or the ATO app.
Some other ways you can lodge outside of Australia are:
- paper tax return, or
- through a registered 'Australian' tax agent.
Employers using the electronic system, Single Touch Payroll (STP) send employees end of year income statement electronically. You can ask them if it's possible to send you a copy, due to your current issues accessing your ATO Online Services, but if they won't you can reach out to us either by phoning our individual line from overseas or in writing to us, asking for a copy.
Accessing your superannuation
It sounds like you might be eligible to have your super released early through the Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP) but best to go through eligibility and check this, as you must meet all eligibility conditions.
If you're not eligible, you have to wait until you meet the normal conditions of release (which is reaching retirement age). This can also apply for people who no longer live in Australia.
The online system for DASP is different to your ATO Online Services, so you'll probably be able to use it. Alternatively, you can apply through a paper application.
When requesting DASP, you only need to access ATO Online services to check your super balance (although you can often do this directly through your super fund), or to apply to have your super released if it's been transferred to us for safe keeping (known as ATO‑held super). There is a paper application for ATO-held super as well.
Because you mentioned your Australian bank account is closed, I'm including another question that was asked recently about someone's home country not accepting cheque issues from DASP payment. This may end up being a similar scenario for you, too.
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