Episode 4 | Tax Time 2026: The ATO's Key Tips and Focus Areas

In this month's episode, Robyn talks with the ATO's Tax Time Spokesperson, Anita Challen, to discuss Tax Time 2026. They cover everything from under-declared income and dodgy deductions to the new holiday-home ruling, MyGov scams and the ATO's tougher stance on GIC and penalty remissions. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:08 Tax Time 04:53 The basics 06:17 Income 11:50 Deductions 31:54 What's new this Tax Time 35:50 Legislation changes from 1 July 2026 36:34 New $1,000 standard deduction 40:28 EVs and PHEVs 41:27 Holiday rental PAG 46:30 Don't lodge early! 48:43 ATO app 52:14 Scams, fraud and AI 56:24 Cost of living support is available 01:01:14 Closing comments Tax Tales by NTAA is hosted by Robyn Jacobson, Senior Advocate at NTAA. Robyn has over 30 years’ experience in the tax profession, spanning public practice, training and advocacy. She is NTAA’s key advocacy contact, representing members in consultative forums with government, regulators and industry stakeholders. Robyn is a Fellow of NTAA, CA ANZ and CPA Australia, a Chartered Tax Adviser of The Tax Institute, and holds a BCom. Robyn leads conversations that are insightful, practical and grounded in real-world application. Connect with Robyn: 🤝 LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/robyntax/ Connect with NTAA: 🤝 LinkedIn – https://wwwlinkedin.com/company/national-tax-and-accountant's-association/ 📸 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/ntaa_taxexperts/ NTAA is a prominent not-for-profit association, established in 1992 to support tax agents, accountants and tax advisers. For more than 30 years, we have advocated on behalf of our members and supported them through highly regarded tax seminars, products and our hotline service. We are a major representative voice for the tax community, representing more than 45,000 practitioners. Learn more about NTAA: https://ntaa.com.au/