Borrowers · Credit assistance
Lending for Borrowers Whose Income Takes Explaining
Self-employed, low-doc, and trust or company borrowers often have income that a lender reads differently to a salaried applicant. Eternity Group is a Credit Representative (565110) under Australian Credit Licence 561324 held by Loans Only Pty Ltd — and a Chartered Accounting practice, so the way your income is prepared and the way it is presented to a lender are handled together.
In short
Can I get a home loan if I’m self-employed?
Often, yes — though it depends on your figures and the lender. Self-employed, low-doc and trust or company borrowers are assessed on income that reads differently to a salaried payslip: tax returns, BAS, add-backs, distributions and retained profits. Because Eternity Group prepares the accounts and assists with the lending, your real income can be documented and presented consistently to a lender whose policy fits. Eligibility, lender criteria, fees and charges apply, and any approval rests with the lender’s assessment — we cannot promise one.
Borrower pathways
Find the pathway that fits how you earn.
Whether you are self-employed, borrowing through a structure, or buying your first home, the starting point is the same: understanding what a lender needs to see.
Self-employed & business owners
Documentation & low-doc
Home lending pathways
Why this matters for self-employed borrowers
The return you lodge is the income a lender reads.
For a salaried applicant, income evidence is straightforward. For a sole trader, company director or trust beneficiary, the picture is shaped by how the return is prepared — add-backs, distributions, retained profits and depreciation are all read differently by different lenders. Because Eternity Group prepares the accounts and assists with the lending, your real income can be presented consistently rather than pieced together across two offices.
Information on this page is general only and does not take your objectives, financial situation or needs into account. Credit eligibility, lender criteria, fees and charges apply, and any lending outcome depends on the lender’s assessment of your specific position — we cannot promise an approval. For background, see our guides on self-employed borrowing capacity, the documents a self-employed borrower needs and trust and company borrower evidence.
General advice warning: The information provided on this website is general in nature and does not constitute personal financial advice. Before making any financial decisions, you should consider your own circumstances and seek professional advice.
Preparation by situation
Different borrowers prepare differently.
A lender does not assess every applicant the same way — and the preparation that strengthens one file is wasted effort on another. What each situation actually calls for:
PAYG employees
The most straightforward evidence set — recent payslips, an income statement and bank statements. Preparation is mostly about living expenses and existing debts, because that is where a lender’s assessment usually tightens.
Self-employed borrowers
Income is read from lodged returns, so preparation starts well before the application — ideally before the returns themselves are finalised. Add-backs, one-off items and retained profits all shift how a lender reads capacity.
First home buyers
Preparation centres on deposit evidence — genuine savings history, any family gift documented properly — plus scheme eligibility where it applies. The purchase-cost side (stamp duty, LMI) matters as much as the loan itself.
Upgraders
The complication is timing: selling and buying rarely line up neatly. Preparation means understanding your equity position, whether the existing loan is retained or discharged, and what bridging would cost if the dates do not cooperate.
Property investors
Lenders shade rental income and apply assessment buffers across every existing loan, so a portfolio serviceable at one lender may not be at another. Loan structure — ownership, splits, offsets — deserves attention before the application, not after.
Not sure which you are?
Many clients straddle categories — a salary plus a side business, or an upgrader keeping the old home as an investment. That is what a pre-approval scoping call is for.
The broker's role
What we actually do at each step.
Credit assistance is more than collecting documents and forwarding them. Each step exists because it changes how a lender reads the file.
Understand the position
A scoping conversation covering income, deposits or equity, debts, and what you are actually trying to do — before any lender is mentioned.
Assemble the evidence
We tell you exactly which documents your situation requires and review them the way a credit assessor will, so gaps surface before lodgement rather than after.
Match policy, then price
Lender policies differ on income types, entity structures and property security. The shortlist starts with lenders whose policy fits your evidence; rate comparison comes second.
Lodge and manage
We prepare the application, respond to assessor queries, track valuation and approval, and stay across the file through to settlement — and check in afterwards as your loan ages.
Choosing a starting point
Which pathway fits? A quick decision guide.
Each row below is a situation in a borrower’s own words, and the page where that situation is worked through properly. If two rows sound like you, start with the one describing your income — income evidence decides more than anything else.
“Most of my income is salary and I want to know what I could borrow”
Start with pre-approval — it forces the document and expense questions early. Home Loan Pre-Approval →
“I trade through my own ABN and my returns tell the income story”
Start with the self-employed pathway — how the return is prepared shapes the borrowing. Self-Employed Mortgage Broker →
“My business is newer, or my latest return is not lodged yet”
Low-doc may fit — lenders assess BAS, bank statements or an accountant’s declaration instead. Low-Doc Home Loans →
“The property will be owned by my trust or company”
Start with entity borrowing — the deed or constitution gets reviewed alongside the income. Trust & Company Loans →
“A family member is offering to help with the deposit gap”
Read the guarantor pathway first — it asks real things of the guarantor, and both sides should understand them. Guarantor Home Loans →
“I already have a loan and suspect it no longer fits”
Start with a refinance review — rate is only one of the questions worth asking. Refinancing →
Preparation checklists
What to have ready, by borrower type.
A lender-ready file is mostly assembled before the application exists. These are the working lists we build from in a scoping call — your exact list depends on the lender and your circumstances.
PAYG & first home buyers
- Photo identification, current and matching the name on the contract
- Recent payslips and your income statement from myGov
- Bank statements showing salary credits and savings history
- Statements for every credit card, personal loan and buy-now-pay-later account
- Evidence of any gifted funds, documented before the application rather than during it
The evidence is simple; the discipline is in the conduct a lender reads from your statements.
Self-employed borrowers
- Personal tax returns and notices of assessment for the years the lender requires
- Business financial statements where income runs through an entity
- Recent BAS if lodged returns are not yet available
- An ATO portal position — lodgements up to date, any debt on a documented plan
- A note explaining one-off items, add-backs or an unusual year before the assessor asks
Most of this list already exists in your accounting file — which is why preparing it under one roof is faster.
Trust & company borrowers
- The trust deed or company constitution, complete with any amendments
- Details of trustees, directors, shareholders and beneficiaries — who guarantees the loan
- Entity financial statements and tax returns
- Personal returns for each guarantor standing behind the borrowing
- Confirmation the entity has authority to borrow and grant security
The lender reads the structure before the income, so the structural documents come first.
Where files stall
What actually delays an approval.
Most delays are not the lender being slow — they are questions the file raised that it could have answered in advance. These are the ones we see most, and prepare against.
Unlodged returns and ATO debt
For self-employed borrowers, the most common stall. A lender wants lodged returns and a clean or documented ATO position; an outstanding lodgement or an undisclosed tax debt can pause a file for weeks. This is the delay an accounting-and-broking practice is best placed to prevent.
Unexplained account activity
Large deposits with no paper trail, regular transfers to accounts the lender cannot see, or gambling transactions all draw assessor questions. Answering them after lodgement is slower than annotating them before.
Valuation surprises
If the valuation comes in below the price, the loan-to-value ratio moves and the approval may need reworking — a bigger deposit, lenders mortgage insurance, or a different lender. Nothing prevents this entirely, but knowing the fallback before it happens saves days.
Entity documents that raise questions
A trust deed missing an amendment, an unclear borrowing power, or a corporate trustee whose details do not match ASIC records will go to the lender’s legal team. Reviewing the deed before the application keeps it out of that queue.
Expired or stale documents
Payslips, statements and pre-approvals all age. If a file sits while you search for a property, some evidence will need refreshing before formal approval — quicker to update proactively than to be asked.
The months before you apply
Your credit file is already being written.
A lender reads your last few months of conduct as evidence of the next thirty years. None of the habits below requires perfection — but each is easier to manage before an application exists than to explain after one is lodged.
Repayment history is visible
Under comprehensive credit reporting, lenders see how recent repayments were made — not just whether an account exists. A missed card or loan payment in the months before applying is read directly from the report, so consistency in that window matters more than most borrowers realise.
Enquiries accumulate quietly
Every credit application leaves an enquiry on your file, including quick online quotes that felt like browsing. A cluster of recent enquiries invites assessor questions about why. If you are months from applying, pause the comparison-site experiments.
Unused limits still count
A credit card is generally assessed at its full limit regardless of the balance you actually carry. Reducing or closing limits you do not use is one of the few preparation steps that is entirely within your control.
Small facilities read as commitments
Buy-now-pay-later accounts, overdrafts and store finance all appear as commitments on your statements. None is fatal on its own, but each one narrows the assessment — and closed is cleaner than merely dormant.
Joint applications & guarantors, at a glance
Applying jointly means both incomes count — and both credit files, debts and living expenses count with them. Each applicant is usually liable for the entire loan, not a share of it, which is worth understanding before names go on the application.
A guarantor typically offers property security to reduce the deposit gap rather than lending their income, and takes on genuine legal obligations in doing so. If family help is on the table, read the guarantor pathway before anyone commits.
Common questions
Self-employed and structured borrowing — answered.
How many years of tax returns do self-employed borrowers need?
Most lenders ask for the last one to two years of personal tax returns and notices of assessment, and business returns or financials where income runs through a company or trust. Some lenders accept one year; low-doc options assess alternative evidence such as BAS or an accountant’s declaration. The exact requirement varies by lender and your circumstances.
What is a low-doc home loan and who is it for?
A low-doc home loan is for borrowers who cannot provide the standard full income evidence — often newly self-employed people or those whose latest returns are not yet lodged. Instead of two years of returns, the lender assesses alternative documentation such as BAS, bank statements or an accountant’s declaration. Fewer lenders offer them, criteria are stricter and terms can differ, so they suit specific situations rather than everyone.
Can I borrow in a company or trust name?
Yes, some lenders will lend to a company or trust, with the directors, trustees and benefiting individuals usually standing behind the loan as guarantors. The lender reviews the structure — the trust deed or company constitution — and confirms the authority to borrow. Fewer lenders accept entity borrowers, so the panel is narrower and approval depends on the lender’s assessment.
Do PAYG employees benefit from using a mortgage broker?
Often, yes. Even with straightforward income, lenders differ on how they treat overtime, bonuses, casual hours, probation and existing debts — and on features and pricing. A broker compares those policies across a panel and manages the application. In most residential lending scenarios, the lender pays broker commission. We explain remuneration in our Credit Guide.
How far ahead of buying should I speak to a broker?
Earlier than most people expect. For PAYG borrowers, two to three months is usually enough to tidy expenses, close unused credit limits and evidence savings. For self-employed borrowers, the useful window is before your tax returns are finalised — once a return is lodged, it becomes the income a lender reads, and restructuring after the fact is far harder.
Can I get a home loan if I have an ATO tax debt?
Sometimes — it depends on the lender and how the debt is being handled. Some lenders decline files with outstanding tax debt; others will consider one that is disclosed and on a formal payment arrangement, treating the repayments as a commitment in serviceability. What consistently causes trouble is a debt the lender discovers rather than one you disclose. Because we see the ATO position as your accountant, it gets addressed before the application, not during it.
Does applying jointly with a partner increase what we can borrow?
Often, but not automatically. A joint application brings both incomes into the assessment — and both sets of debts, expenses and credit histories with them. Each applicant is usually liable for the whole loan, not half of it, so a weaker credit file or heavy commitments on one side can pull the assessment down rather than up. Where one partner is self-employed, their income evidence requirements still apply in full. Whether joint or single names works better depends on your combined position and, for investors, on tax outcomes worth checking before the application.
What if my income has changed since my last tax return?
It cuts both ways. If income has risen, some lenders will consider recent interim figures or BAS as supporting evidence, though many still anchor to the lodged return — which is why lodging the stronger year first can matter. If income has fallen, that must be disclosed: lenders assess your current position, not last year’s, and an application built on outdated figures creates problems at verification. Either way, raise it in the scoping call so the lender shortlist reflects reality.
Book a consultation
Let’s work out how your income presents to a lender.
A 20-minute call to understand your situation and the realistic options. A scoping call before any engagement letter.