No tax return refund for six months

 Author: RachelATO(Community Moderator)Community Moderator

4 Mar 2026

Hi @EC123456,

Six months is longer than our standard processing timeframes so it's important you talk with us about your specific return. Contact us directly on the individual enquiry line so you can speak to a team member (yes, a person not the self-help line).

We recommend you try calling at the start or end of our operating hours, which are Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 6:00 pm AEST.

You can monitor your return status online through ATO online services via myGov or the ATO app. There are several reasons why a return may be delayed, including:

• we need to verify some of the details you provided
• we're waiting for information from other sources, such as income from your bank
• we're conducting additional checks to ensure accuracy
• we're checking with other government agencies about potential debts.

If you're unable to get through and your return hasn't been processed within our committed timeframes, you can lodge a complaint.

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