Can you get a low doc home loan?

Hunter Galloway can check whether your completed figures or regular company wage fit a standard, fully verified home loan. If you need a genuine low doc loan, speak with a lender or broker who currently arranges that type of lending.

You do not automatically need 2 full years of tax returns with every lender. Some lenders have methods that can use the latest completed year, provided the business history, deposit and rest of the application meet their rules.

That can help when:

• the latest year is complete and better reflects the current business
• the business has been trading long enough, but only 1 recent year is relevant
• you changed business setup without changing the work
• a large increase can be explained rather than simply projected

One completed year still needs proper returns, notices of assessment and any required business figures. It is full verification, not low doc.

Some lenders publish methods that verify income without asking for the full standard set of business returns and financial statements.

For example, a lender may use personal notices of assessment under a specific method. Another may assess a regular wage paid from your own company using payslips and an ATO income statement. Those routes have their own business age, ownership, deposit and income rules.

Fewer documents does not make the loan low doc. The lender still verifies the income under its full-verification policy.

Paying yourself a regular company wage? The self-employed home loan guide explains how lenders assess business income and the documents they may need.

The current lender policies we hold include genuine alternative-document options using a declaration of financial position plus one approved income source.

Each lender sets the evidence option, form, business history and other conditions. You generally need to follow that combination.

For the published evidence options, see Pepper Money’s alternative-document checklist and Resimac’s Prime Alt Doc requirements.

I checked 10 lenders for this guide. They use 3 broad approaches when full tax returns are not available.

Related lender and guide links: Pepper Money · Resimac · ANZ · Bankwest · NAB · Commonwealth Bank · ING · Macquarie · Westpac · St George ·

Lender rules checked 30 July 2026 and reviewed quarterly. A general starting-point view of the 10 lenders named above, not a ranking, a recommendation or credit advice. Lending policy changes without notice, and any loan is subject to the lender's own credit assessment and approval of your full application.

BAS can show sales and GST reporting. It does not show every cost needed to keep the business running.

A paving business may receive $200k into the account, then pay for materials, staff, subcontractors, fuel, machinery and insurance. The owner does not earn the full $200k.

View the income graphic at full size

That is why no prime full-doc lender in the policy set we hold uses BAS by itself as standard income evidence. BAS is a genuine alternative-document option only within the specialist low doc methods described above.

• the business is established but the latest returns are not complete
• the lodged returns no longer reflect a current, supportable level of trading
• you have the BAS, bank statements or accountant evidence a low doc lender accepts
• the deposit, credit history and property fit the available product
• you understand the cost now and have a realistic plan to review the loan later

• the business is too new for the lender's minimum history
• turnover is high but profit after normal costs is low
• the deposit does not meet the product limit
• recent credit problems place the loan in a different price or policy tier
• the property itself is outside the lender's rules

Alternative income documents do not remove the credit check. Your report records borrowing, repayments and credit applications. You can request a free copy every 3 months. Check for mistakes before applying and ask the credit reporting body to correct anything that is wrong. See Moneysmart’s guide to credit reports.

Tell the lender or broker about missed payments, defaults and recent applications at the start. They can check the relevant credit criteria before you apply again. The income-evidence question and the credit-history question both need an answer.

A low doc approval can be useful, but approval is not the whole comparison. I would put these beside the standard-loan alternative:

• interest rate and ongoing fees
• upfront fees or risk fees
• deposit and equity required
• loan features you will actually use
• the income evidence needed now
• what would need to change before a future refinance

I would not promise a particular refinance date. The future application still depends on completed figures, property value, credit conduct, rates and lender policy at that time.

Suppose both the purchase price and the lender’s valuation are $800,000. At an assumed 80% loan-to-value ratio (LVR), the loan would be $640,000. Your contribution would be $160,000, plus stamp duty and other purchase costs. This illustrates the arithmetic; the lender’s actual limit and valuation may differ.

Ask whether the quote includes lenders mortgage insurance (LMI), a risk fee or another lender charge, and how it is paid. LMI protects the lender if you cannot repay; it does not protect you. See Moneysmart’s explanation of deposits and LMI.

Ask the proposed lender whether its product accepts a family guarantee before relying on one. A guarantor may have to repay the guaranteed debt if you cannot, and property offered as security can be at risk. The guarantor should get independent legal or financial advice. Read our guarantor home loan guide and Moneysmart’s guide to going guarantor.

Low doc does not remove business-age rules. The available specialist options have minimum ABN and GST periods that change by product and credit tier.

Earlier PAYG work in the same industry can still be useful context, especially where you changed from wages to invoicing. It does not automatically override a lender's minimum trading rule.

If you have only been trading for 6 months, your options may be limited, expensive or unavailable for now. I would explain that before an application creates another credit enquiry.

You can also keep renting or delay buying while you complete the financials and build your deposit. Compare the cost of waiting with the repayments and fees of the available loan. More time may help you prepare a standard application, but it does not guarantee approval or a lower rate.

Potentially. Once your current returns and financial statements are complete, a standard lender may be able to assess the income through its normal method.

That does not make the refinance automatic. The new lender will still check income, business debts, personal commitments, credit history, property value, loan size and policy at the time.

This is general information, not a loan approval. Lender policy, pricing and document requirements can change, and the lender must assess the full application.