Self-employed home loans
Yes, you can get a home loan when you're self-employed, and many lenders want your business. Most ask for two years of tax returns. Some accept one year, usually only when you're borrowing 80% of the value or less. What decides how much you can borrow is how each lender reads your income: what it adds back to your profit, and which year it uses when your income has changed.
Full doc, low doc, and what the words mean
Full doc. You prove income with tax returns and notices of assessment, and for a company or trust its financial statements too. It's the route most lenders, including the major banks, use, and it usually gets the best rates and the highest loan size against the property's value.
Low doc, or alt doc. You prove income another way: business activity statements (BAS), business bank statements, or a letter from your accountant. It's offered mainly by specialist lenders, usually at a higher rate and a lower share of the value. It suits a business whose tax returns are late or don't show what it really earns.
What you'll need, by business structure
Sole trader. Your personal tax returns and notices of assessment, usually for two years. Proof of your ABN and how long it's been registered. Often recent BAS and business bank statements.
Company. Your personal tax returns and notices of assessment, the company's tax returns, and its financial statements: profit and loss and balance sheet, prepared by your accountant, usually covering two years.
Trust. The same as a company, for the trust, plus your personal returns. Lenders want to see how income reaches you, through distributions or wages.
Every lender has its own list, and the lender's application checklist is the final word on what it wants.
One year of figures, or two?
Two years is the usual rule. One year is possible at some lenders, but almost always at 80% of the value or less. That makes it a trade between paperwork and deposit. Four lenders' policies show how differently they draw the line.
| Lender | One year accepted? | The condition | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| One lender | For 11 listed professions only | 80% of the value or less; at least 12 months trading | The lender's credit guidelines |
| MyState | Yes | 80% or less; one source of self-employed income; profit reduced by 10% | Mortgage Lending Procedure, effective 1 Jul 2026 |
| NAB | Yes, on a single year's financials | 80% or less | NAB public page |
| ING | Yes, for self-employed generally | No limit published | ING media release, 18 Dec 2025 |
That lender's 11 professions are accountants, actuaries, lawyers, medical professionals, engineers, vets, architects, pharmacists, psychologists, podiatrists and optometrists. Policies change; these were read on 26 and 27 August 2026.
If your latest year isn't lodged yet
This is one of the most common hold-ups. Some lenders accept a draft return if your accountant confirms in writing that it won't change; one lender allows that on its professional pathway for the 11 professions above. Others refuse drafts outright: MyState's policy doesn't accept draft returns, draft financial statements or projected income.
Lenders also set how old your latest figures can be. MyState's are not accepted if they're more than 18 months old when you apply. Late in a financial year, a buyer whose newest return hasn't been lodged can fall outside that without noticing.
Add-backs: the biggest lever on your borrowing
Your taxable profit isn't the income a lender uses. Lenders add back costs that reduced your profit on paper but aren't ongoing. The policies of two lenders, one of them Firstmac, allow:
Wages or salary the business pays you, in full.
Depreciation, but only up to 20% of the business's net profit. Both policies set the same cap. Depreciation above it isn't added back.
Interest on business loans being refinanced into the new loan.
Super above the compulsory amount.
One-off costs that won't recur, which your accountant may need to confirm.
How add-backs change the number
An illustration, not a client file, using the add-back rules above. A business shows a net profit of $100,000. It claimed $30,000 in depreciation, a one-off legal bill of $8,000, and $5,000 of super above the compulsory amount. It also spent $6,000 on advertising.
Depreciation is capped at 20% of $100,000, so $20,000 is added back, not $30,000. The legal bill and the extra super are added back in full. Advertising isn't. The income a lender would start from is $133,000, not the $100,000 on the return. Each lender's own list differs, so the real figure depends on which lender you use.
If your income has risen or fallen
Lenders don't simply take your best year. Firstmac's published policy uses the lower of your latest year's taxable income or 120% of the year before. If you earned $80,000 one year and $130,000 the next, it would use $96,000, not $130,000. A change of 20% or more between the two years has to be explained.
If your income has fallen, the lower, latest year is usually the one used. Either way, a strong recent year can count for less than you expect, which is why the year you apply in matters.
Company profits and director wages
If your business is a company, lenders differ on whether its profit counts as your income. Firstmac's published policy counts only what actually reaches you, as wages, directors' fees or dividends, for a loan in your own name. ING announced in December 2025 that a director owning at least 50% of the company can use its profits. The same business can support very different loans at different lenders.
When low doc makes sense, and what it costs
It suits a business with BAS and bank statements but late or unrepresentative tax returns, or a short trading history.
It usually means a higher interest rate than full doc, and a lower maximum share of the property's value.
It usually needs an accountant's letter, recent BAS, or business bank statements, and a declaration of your income.
It's often a stepping stone: once two years of returns are lodged, refinancing to a full-doc loan can lower the rate.
If you owe the ATO
A tax debt doesn't always show on your credit file, but lenders ask about it and want to see any payment arrangement. Lenders split hard here. Some banks won't release money to pay off a tax debt at all. Some specialist lenders will refinance it into a home loan, or leave an existing payment plan in place. Which lender you go to decides whether a tax debt is a problem or a solved one.
When it's better to wait for another year of figures
Sometimes the right answer is to wait. If your next tax return will show a much stronger year and it's a few months from being lodged, waiting can mean a bigger loan, a better rate and a full-doc loan instead of low doc. If you've only traded for a year and your deposit is under 20%, the one-year options above won't be open to you, and the next year's figures may be.
Questions self-employed borrowers ask
Yes. Most lenders ask for two years of tax returns, some accept one year at 80% of the value or less, and specialist lenders offer low doc loans that use BAS, bank statements or an accountant's letter instead.
Self-employed and thinking about buying or refinancing?
Tell me how your business is set up, how long it's traded, what your last two returns show, and what you'd like to borrow. I'll tell you which lenders would read your income best, what to bring, and whether it's worth waiting for your next return.
You'll hear back within the hour in business hours, and by 9am the next business day after hours.
Sources
- 1
One lender's residential home loan credit guidelines (the lender isn't named). Read 26 August 2026.
- 2
Firstmac, Residential Lending Policy, changelog to 28 July 2026. Read 26 August 2026.
- 3
MyState Bank, Mortgage Lending Procedure (broker version 1.0a), effective 1 July 2026. Read 27 August 2026.
- 4
NAB, self-employed home loan page. Read 26 August 2026.
- 5
ING, media release on self-employed lending, 18 December 2025. Read 26 August 2026.
Updated 2 October 2026