Home loan documents for PAYG employees: the application checklist

A PAYG employee applying for a home loan typically needs proof of identity, income evidence (recent payslips plus the ATO income statement downloaded through myGov), statements showing savings and the deposit, and full details of existing debts and living expenses. Exact document lists vary by lender — under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, every lender and broker must make reasonable inquiries about your financial situation and take reasonable steps to verify it before a loan can be assessed.

Key points:
- Document requests are a legal requirement, not paperwork for its own sake: under **Chapter 3 of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009**, credit licensees must make reasonable inquiries about your financial situation, requirements and objectives, verify your financial situation, and assess that a loan is “not unsuitable” — per [ASIC’s responsible lending guidance](https://asic.gov.au/regulatory-resources/credit/responsible-lending/).
- The typical PAYG checklist falls into five buckets: **identity, income, employment, savings and deposit, and liabilities and living expenses** — with the exact list set by each lender. No universal payslip count or statement period exists.
- PAYG income evidence centres on the **ATO income statement**, accessed through myGov or the ATO app — it shows year-to-date salary, tax withheld and super, and most employers have until 14 July to finalise it as “Tax ready”.
- Your deposit drives your [loan-to-value ratio (LVR)](/technical-resources/glossary#lvr): above 80% LVR you may pay [lenders mortgage insurance](/technical-resources/glossary#lmi), while a 20% deposit avoids it.
- You can obtain a copy of your **credit report** every 3 months, at no cost, from each of Australia’s two main credit reporting bodies — worth checking for errors before a lender or mortgage insurer sees it.
- Pre-approval uses the same evidence of your current financial situation, typically lasts **3–6 months**, and does not commit you to a loan.