The ATO needs to know who is managing the estate before it will talk to anyone about the person’s tax.
Who usually does this
Usually a relative, the executor or administrator of the estate, a solicitor, or a registered tax or BAS agent.
What they will ask for
- Proof of your own identity, such as a passport or driver licence
- The death certificate
- The grant of probate or letters of administration, if you have one
- The will, if probate or administration will not be applied for
- Documents showing any change of name
- The person’s tax file number, if you know it
How to tell them
Complete the “Notification of a deceased person” online form on the ATO website, print the summary, and take it with your identity documents and the estate documents to a participating Australia Post outlet for an identity check.
If you cannot use the online form, post the paper form “Notification by mail of a deceased person” with certified copies. You can also phone 13 28 65 to let the ATO know informally, so its letters are paused while you prepare the formal notification.
What happens next
The ATO records you as the legal personal representative of the estate or, if nobody holds that role yet, as an authorised contact, and updates the person’s tax records. It can then give you the information needed to lodge any final return.
The Australia Post identity check must be done within 30 days of submitting the online form. The ATO says it takes up to 28 days to update the records after receiving the finalised form.
The official page
Things change, so check their own page before you start: ATO: notifying us of a death.
The longer read
This is one of many. The tracker holds all of them.
The notification tracker lists every organisation most families have to tell, with a place to mark each one off and keep the reference number they give you. The checklist for the weeks after a death is free, with no account needed.
Checked against the official sources on 13 September 2026. General information, not advice. 18December is not affiliated with any organisation named on this page.