HECS/HELP · 2025–26 tax return
HECS changed this year. Make sure your tax return keeps up.
New threshold, new repayment rules. Tax Falcon's AI fills in your return from your ATO data, and a registered tax agent checks it before it's lodged.
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Hero Checklist
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Checked and lodged by a registered tax agent
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ATO pre-fill
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Lodge before 31 October
New for 2025–26
What changed with HECS
The threshold went up
For 2025–26, compulsory repayments start once your income is over $67,000.
Repayments are now marginal
You repay on the income above the threshold, not on your whole income.
Most balances dropped 20%
A one-off reduction was applied to most HELP debts in late 2025. Check your balance in myGov.
✓ This page's “2025–26” framing (in the eyebrow, this section's heading, and the FAQ below) is consistent with the Tax Return Calculator page and the Tax Deductions Guide article reviewed earlier in this session, both of which also treat FY2025–26 as the current/relevant year. This adds further corroborating evidence that the standalone Tax Return Dates & Deadlines page's FY2026–27 framing (flagged earlier as a likely year-off-by-one error) is the outlier, not the norm, across the site.
Your tax return is where it all gets worked out.
If you have a HECS/HELP debt, your employer may have withheld extra from your pay all year. That money isn't applied to your debt until you lodge. Your return is when the ATO works out your compulsory repayment under the new rules, so it's worth getting it right.
How HECS Withholding Is Settled
1 — All year
Your employer may withhold extra from your pay.
2 — Until you lodge
That money isn't applied to your debt yet.
3 — When you lodge
The ATO works out your compulsory repayment under the new rules.
How it works
How Tax Falcon works
01 — Link & pre-fill
Create your free account and securely connect to the ATO. Your income data and payment summaries pull in automatically.
02 — Add your deductions
Answer a few simple questions. Our AI helps flag work-related deductions you might otherwise miss.
03 — Review & lodge
A registered tax agent reviews your return, including your HECS details, then lodges it securely with the ATO for you.
Been “meaning to look into your HECS” for a while?
Same. Start with your tax return. It's the one bit with a deadline.
Start my tax return (see Links section below for how this button actually behaves)
FAQ
HECS and your tax return, answered.
Does my HECS debt change how I do my tax return?
Your HECS/HELP debt is linked to your TFN, so the ATO already knows about it. Your return reports your income, and the ATO uses it to work out your compulsory repayment. Our tax agent checks it's all correct.
My employer withheld HELP from my pay. What happens to it?
It's counted when your return is assessed, and the result shows on your notice of assessment.
Does the 20% reduction affect my tax return?
No. The ATO applied it directly to eligible balances. You don't need to do anything in your return.
When's the deadline?
If you're lodging yourself, 31 October. Using a registered tax agent can change your due date, so ask us if you're running late.
✓ An HTML comment directly above this FAQ section reads: “Registered tax agent to check these answers before publishing” — an internal editorial note indicating these FAQ answers were pending compliance sign-off at the time this page was written.
Get your tax return off your plate before 31 October.
Start my tax return (see Links section below for how this button actually behaves)