How to Notarise a Tax Return in Australia

To notarise a tax return in Australia, a notary certifies a copy against an original they have sighted, and DFAT then apostilles or authenticates it for overseas use. The catch is that most tax documents exist only electronically, and the overseas body often wants a different document: a notice of assessment, an agent's letter or ATO confirmation of residency.

Key takeaways

• "Your tax return" rarely means the same document to a consulate, a foreign bank, a foreign court and a foreign tax office. Ask which document the receiving authority wants.
• For proof of income, a notice of assessment is usually stronger than the return, because the ATO issued it.
• For a tax treaty claim, a foreign tax office usually wants confirmation of residency from the ATO, not your return.
• A notary must sight an original. A myGov PDF and an electronically lodged return raise a real question about what the original is.
• A notary certifies the copy or the signature. The notary never confirms the figures or that the return was accepted.

Why do overseas bodies ask for Australian tax documents?

They usually want to prove one of three things. The first is that you earn what you say you earn. The second is that you are an Australian tax resident. The third is your financial position in a legal proceeding.

A consulate assessing a visitor visa, a foreign bank considering a mortgage, a foreign court dividing assets and a foreign tax office considering treaty relief may all ask for "your tax return". Each is looking for something different. Getting the wrong document certified is the most common and most expensive mistake on this topic.

Which document does the receiving authority actually want?

• Your lodged tax return. This is what you or your tax agent submitted to the ATO. It is your claim, not the ATO's assessment of it.
• Your notice of assessment. The ATO issues it after processing the return. It shows taxable income and tax assessed. For proof of income it is usually the stronger document, because it comes from the ATO rather than from you.
• Your income statement. Your employer reports it, and it is now generally available through myGov rather than on paper.
• Evidence of Australian tax residency. A foreign tax authority applying a tax treaty usually wants confirmation from the ATO itself. The ATO provides a document for that purpose on request. Your return is not a substitute for it.

Who is asking	What it usually wants to prove	Document to ask about
A consulate, for a visa	Your income and ties to Australia	Notice of assessment, often as a plain copy
A foreign bank or lender	Your income	Notice of assessment or a tax agent's letter
A foreign tax office	Your tax residency	ATO confirmation of residency
A foreign court	Your financial position	Whatever form of evidence the court specifies

If the request just says "tax return", ask whether a notice of assessment will do. For a residency question, ask whether the ATO's own confirmation is what they want. Ask how many years they need, too.

Do you need a notary at all?

Often not. Many visa applications to other countries accept plain copies or printouts of tax documents as financial evidence, with no certification. Check the destination's visa checklist before paying for anything. See tourist visa documents for how visitor visas usually treat financial evidence.

For an Australian visa, the Department of Home Affairs generally takes uploaded copies of tax documents. Where it wants a certified copy, one made by an authorised person is usually enough. A notary is rarely needed for Home Affairs.

A notary is needed when an overseas receiving authority asks for certified or notarised copies. That is more common with foreign courts, lenders and tax authorities than with visitor visas.

What counts as the original of a tax document?

A notary certifies that a copy matches an original the notary has sighted. Your notice of assessment probably reached you as a PDF in your myGov inbox. Your return was lodged electronically. A printout of either is not an original in the ordinary sense.

Notaries deal with this differently. Some will certify a printout with wording that says exactly what it is, for example that it is a print of an electronic document shown to them on screen. Others will decline. What matters is what the receiving authority accepts, so ask it. Ask the notary how they handle electronic tax documents before you book, too. See originals and copies for the general rule.

Two alternatives often work better.

• A document from the ATO. Ask the ATO what it can provide directly, for example copies of past notices or confirmation of residency. A document the ATO issued is stronger evidence than your own printout.
• A letter from your registered tax agent. Your accountant can write a signed letter confirming your lodged income for the relevant years. The agent can sign it in front of a notary, and the notary then certifies the agent's signature. The notary verifies who signed, not the figures.

What happens at the notary appointment?

Bring the documents, every page, and photo identification, ideally a current passport. If you are making a declaration about your income or tax status, bring it unsigned and sign in front of the notary.

The notary checks your identity, sights what you bring, prepares a notarial certificate, binds it to the copy and records the act in the notary's register. The notary may decline if the document is not a genuine original or if something about the request looks wrong.

The notary does not check your tax affairs, confirm the figures, or certify that the return was lodged or accepted. A notarised copy proves only that the copy matches what you showed the notary. The receiving authority decides how much weight to give it.

Blank out nothing without asking the receiving authority first. A covered tax file number may be expected. A covered figure may make the document useless. Ask before you arrive, because a notary will not certify a copy that differs from the original without saying so.

Is a JP certification enough?

For use in Australia, a certified copy by an authorised witness such as a Justice of the Peace is normally enough, subject to the same question about the original. For use overseas, a JP's certification is not recognised and cannot be apostilled. A notary is needed.

Order everything for the same appointment. Many receiving authorities want more than one year, and a return, a notice and an income statement for each year soon add up. Doing them all at one sitting is simpler than going back.

Does it need an apostille or legalisation?

The notarial certificate is an Australian act. A foreign body usually needs the notary's signature and seal authenticated by DFAT, the only body in Australia that does this. An apostille certifies the signature and seal. It never certifies the figures in the document.

• If the destination is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, DFAT issues an apostille. Check membership on the HCCH status table on the day.
• If it is not, DFAT issues an authentication, and the destination's embassy or consulate then legalises the document.

DFAT's list of documents it can legalise includes Australian government commercial documents, naming ATO documents as an example. So an original ATO-issued document, such as a residency confirmation, may be able to go to DFAT without a notary. Your own return is different. You prepared it, and the ATO did not issue it, so it usually needs a notary first.

DFAT accepts only a limited range of electronic documents, assessed when you lodge, and it never treats a scan as an electronic document. Confirm with DFAT for your specific document before lodging. See apostille and authentication and DFAT authentication.

What if it needs translating?

Expect the foreign authority to want a certified translation of each document. Ask whether it wants the translation done in Australia or in the destination country, and whether the translation goes before or after the apostille. If an Australian translation is acceptable, a NAATI-certified translator's work can itself be notarised and sent to DFAT. See NAATI translation with a notary.

How should you prepare, step by step?

1. Ask the receiving authority exactly which document it wants, for which years, and in what form.
2. Get the strongest original you can. An ATO-issued document or a signed agent's letter usually beats a printout.
3. Ask whether DFAT can take it directly. An ATO-issued original may not need a notary.
4. Book the notary for anything you prepared yourself, bringing every page and your passport.
5. Lodge with DFAT for an apostille or authentication, then the embassy if the country is outside the Convention.
6. Arrange translation in the order the receiving authority specifies.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A Sydney consultant is buying a flat in Lisbon, and the Portuguese bank asks for "tax returns for the last two years, certified". She asks the bank what it means, and it says proof of income. Her tax agent writes a signed letter confirming her lodged income for both years and signs it before a notary. She also has the notary certify copies of both notices of assessment, using wording that describes them as prints of electronic documents, which the bank has agreed to accept. DFAT then apostilles the notarial certificates.

In short

Before notarising a tax return, find out what the overseas body is trying to prove. For income, a notice of assessment or an agent's letter is usually better. For a treaty claim, ask the ATO for its own confirmation. A notary certifies copies and signatures, never the figures, and DFAT adds the apostille or authentication. See document notarisation for how the notary step works.

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Asked for certified tax documents by an overseas body? Send us its request and we will explain each step before you book.