Before you start, have these ready
- A myGov account linked to the ATO, or a registered tax agent
- Your tax file number, kept private and entered only on the official ATO or myGov site
- Current bank account details for the refund to be paid into
- A list of the years you worked, including casual, part-year and student jobs
- Any old payment summaries or income statements you still have
Refunds that could not be paid
If a refund was issued to a bank account that has since closed, the payment bounces back to the ATO and sits on your account until you provide current details.
The fastest way to check is through myGov linked to the ATO, where your account balance and transaction history show any credit sitting unpaid. Updating your bank details will usually release it automatically.
Returns you never lodged
Many people with tax withheld from wages are owed a refund but never lodged a return, particularly for part-year work, casual jobs and student years.
You can lodge prior year returns going back several years through myGov or a registered tax agent. The ATO holds your income statements and prefills much of the detail.
If you were not required to lodge, submit a non-lodgment advice so the years are closed off properly - but check first whether a refund is sitting there.
Other credits worth checking
Family Tax Benefit and childcare subsidy reconciliations through Services Australia can produce top-up payments that go unpaid when contact details are out of date.
Franking credits on shares can be refundable even when no return is otherwise required, which matters most for retirees and low income earners.
While you are in myGov, run the ATO's lost superannuation search as well - it is the same login and covers a different pot of money entirely.
Step by step
- 1
Sign in to myGov and open the ATO service. Check your account balance and transaction history for a credit sitting unpaid.
- 2
Update your address and bank details first. A stranded refund often releases on its own once the details are current.
- 3
Open your income statements year by year and note any year with tax withheld but no return lodged.
- 4
Lodge the outstanding years. The ATO prefills most of the detail, and a registered agent can help with older years.
- 5
For a year you were not required to lodge, submit a non-lodgment advice so the year is closed off, but check for a refund first.
- 6
While you are signed in, run the ATO's lost superannuation search. Same login, completely different pot of money.
- 7
If you hold shares, check whether franking credits are refundable to you, which matters most on a low income or in retirement.
Example: student jobs that were never lodged (hypothetical)
Someone worked casual retail and hospitality shifts through university, had tax withheld each week and never lodged a return because they assumed the amounts were too small. Years later they sign in to myGov, open the income statements for those years and find tax was withheld in four of them. They lodge the outstanding returns with prefilled data, and any refunds are paid to the bank account now recorded on the account. Nothing needed to be searched on a register, because the ATO does not publish one for tax.
Common mistakes
- Assuming a missing refund is lost. A bounced payment sits as a credit on your ATO account until details are updated.
- Skipping part-year and student jobs. Those are the years most likely to hold an unlodged refund.
- Responding to a text or email about a refund. Sign in at my.gov.au yourself rather than following a link.
- Paying an upfront fee to a service promising to release an ATO refund.
- Forgetting Services Australia. Family payment and childcare reconciliations can produce top-ups that go unpaid when contact details are stale.
I found a possible match, what now?
A listing is a record the authority holds, not proof the money is yours. Note the reference shown against it, check the details you recognise, then open the claim page on the official site and read what evidence it asks for before you start. You lodge the claim directly with that authority, never through this site.
What documents you may needI found nothing, what now?
A nil result usually means you searched the wrong register, the wrong spelling of a name, or too few variations of it. Try surname only, earlier surnames and each state you have lived in, then work through the troubleshooting steps before you give up.
Searched and found nothingTip: Update your bank details and address in myGov first - many stranded refunds release automatically once contact details are current.
Common questions
Official sources checked
- Researched and reviewed by
- Find Lost Money Australia
- Information last verified
- 1 August 2026
Find Lost Money Australia is an independent information service, not a government agency. Our review checks the responsible agency's current page, search location and claim instructions. Agencies can change their rules, so confirm details on the official site before you act.
Keep looking
Continue your lost-money search
Money goes missing in more than one place. These are the next things worth checking.
- Tax refunds and ATO creditsRefunds and credits the ATO could not pay out because it had no current details for you.
- How super gets lostWhy balances end up with the ATO and how to check under every past employer.
- Business and company moneyTrust balances, deregistered company funds and refunds owed to a business you ran.
- Bank accounts, shares and dividendsASIC holds bank money inactive for seven years, plus unclaimed dividends and share proceeds.
Searching is free. Every register we link to lets you search at no cost, and you can lodge a claim yourself. Be cautious of any business that asks for an upfront fee simply to search a public register on your behalf. Find Lost Money Australia is an independent information service. We are not a government agency and we do not hold or search unclaimed money databases.