The short version
All four major banks now accept one year of financials for a self-employed home loan. ANZ opened the door in September 2024, CBA followed at the end of that year, NAB moved in March 2025 and Westpac completed the set in July 2025. The old rule that a bank wouldn't look at you without two years of tax returns is gone.
What's left is the fine print, and the fine print does the deciding. Most of the one-year options stop at 80% LVR. Some banks discount the income they'll count. The return has to be lodged and assessed, and it can't be too old. Below is what each major accepts as at August 2026, and where a non-bank alt-doc loan still beats all four.
One scope note. Home loans are NCCP-regulated consumer credit. Aurelius Capital arranges them for self-employed and business-owner clients only, not standard PAYG borrowers, as a credit representative (560751) of Viking Money Pty Ltd under ACL 471435 (Viking Aggregation Pty Ltd). Reading a set of business financials is the standard work of a commercial brokerage. That's why this lending sits here.
Why the two-year standard gave way
Tax returns date fast. A return for the year ended June 2025, lodged in May 2026, is the freshest paper a bank can ask for, and some of the income on it was earned almost two years before your application. If the business grew since then, the older year drags the average down. If the newer year is lower, most two-year policies just take the lower figure. The borrower wears it either way.
The banks didn't move out of generosity. Westpac's own numbers showed a 30% surge in lending to self-employed customers in the year before it changed policy. Brokers write 81% of new residential loans and can place a file anywhere. And the non-bank lenders had spent a decade building entire books out of the borrowers the two-year rule excluded. The segment was walking, so the majors moved.
What each major bank accepts
The state of play as at August 2026:
| Bank | One-year policy | The detail that matters |
|---|---|---|
| ANZ | Most recent year's return, which can be up to 22.5 months old | First to move (September 2024), and the exception on LMI: one-year evidence is accepted above 80% LVR with a 20% shading of net profit before tax. Director fees and dividend income are also accepted on one year's documentation |
| CBA | One year of financials for self-employed applicants | In place since late 2024 |
| NAB | One year of personal and business tax returns | Policy live since March 2025; the return must be final and lodged, not interim or accountant-prepared figures |
| Westpac | Most recent year's tax returns plus the ATO Notice of Assessment | Live since July 2025; business liabilities are verified separately |
Treat the table as a snapshot. Credit policy moves without a press release; the two-year standard held for decades and then all four majors dropped it inside a year. Part of a broker's job is checking the current version of each policy on the day the application is lodged, not the version that made the news.
The conditions that decide it
Five clauses do most of the deciding:
- The 80% LVR cap. Most one-year options don't extend to loans that need lender's mortgage insurance (ANZ's shaded version is the exception). With less than a 20% deposit your realistic paths are two full years, alt-doc, or waiting.
- ABN history is still ABN history. One year of financials is not one year of trading. Most policies still want the ABN registered, and usually GST-registered, for around two years. A company incorporated eighteen months ago with one strong return sits in a different policy bucket from a business that traded five years and lodged one return under a new structure.
- The return must be assessed. Lodged with the ATO, Notice of Assessment issued. A return your accountant has prepared but not lodged counts for nothing at the majors.
- Recency cut-offs. Each bank limits how old the "most recent" return can be. ANZ's limit is 22.5 months, so apply in the wrong month and last year's return has aged out before the new one is lodged.
- Shading. Where a bank assesses a discounted share of the latest year's profit, a strong year with a 20% haircut can land below another lender's two-year average. The assessment method matters more than the headline policy. The right lender for one self-employed borrower is regularly the wrong one for the next.
Where one year wins, and where alt-doc still does
The bank route wins on price. Qualify and you get standard bank pricing on the strength of one good year. Non-bank alt-doc products typically cost 0.5–1.5% p.a. more than comparable full-doc rates.
It also wins on borrowing power. Say your taxable income went from $120K in FY2024 to $190K in FY2025. A two-year averaging policy assesses $155K. A one-year policy assesses the full $190K. Every application is currently tested at the actual rate plus APRA's 3% serviceability buffer, and at those settings an extra $35K of assessable income moves maximum borrowing by six figures.
Alt-doc still wins in five situations:
- No lodged return yet. Alt-doc verification runs on BAS, an accountant's declaration and business bank statements instead. The mechanics are covered in how lenders assess self-employed income.
- ABN under two years.
- LVR above 80%, beyond what ANZ's shaded option reaches. Several non-banks lend to 85–90% on alt-doc evidence, priced accordingly.
- ATO debt or a payment plan. Major-bank policy is unforgiving here. Several non-banks are not.
- The DTI cap. Since February 2026, APRA has limited the banks to writing 20% of new lending at six times debt-to-income or above. Non-bank lenders are exempt. For a borrower already carrying investment or business debt, that exemption sometimes decides the whole file.
None of this locks you in. The standard play is to settle on alt-doc now and refinance to full-doc pricing once the second return is lodged, usually 12 to 24 months later.
How to run it
Lodge before you apply, and wait for the Notice of Assessment. The most common avoidable delay in this whole process is a return sitting in the accountant's drafts folder. Build the add-back schedule with your accountant before anything goes to a lender; taxable income and assessable income are different numbers, and the gap is usually in your favour. Check that your ABN and GST registration dates actually support the trading history you're claiming. Then pick the lender on how it assesses, not on whichever one-year policy got the press coverage.
That last step is the one a broker does daily. The scope of what we arrange is on the self-employed home loans page. If you've got one strong year on paper and want a read on which lender's assessment gets you furthest, the application form takes under a minute, and most enquiries get a response within four business hours.