ACL 390611 | MFAA Member | Established 2005
Self-Employed Mortgage Broker in Penrith.Assessed on Your Returns.
A self-employed home loan is usually assessed on two years of tax returns, and those returns are built to keep your taxable income low. So the lender sees a smaller business than the one you run. We find the home loan lenders that add back the right costs for your structure and trading history, and show you how much you can borrow to buy or refinance.
15 minutes. Bring your last two tax returns, or just the numbers from them. No credit check, no paperwork, no obligation, and we will tell you what a lender is likely to assess them at. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement and we disclose it in writing before any work begins.
Intellect Finance – Self-Employed Mortgage Brokers
Independent since 2005 | ACL 390611What Does a Self-Employed Mortgage Broker Do?
A self-employed mortgage broker works out what your tax returns will support before any lender sees them, then matches your file to the lenders whose self-employed policy reads your structure most favourably. There is no separate home loan for self-employed borrowers. What differs is how income is proved and which figure a lender uses, and that varies more between lenders on self-employed files than on almost anything else.
On a full documentation loan the figure a lender uses is net profit after deductions, not turnover. For example, a sole trader turning over $260,000 who deducts down to a taxable profit of $58,000 starts as a $58,000 borrower in the eyes of most lenders, before any expenses are added back. Your accountant is doing their job when they reduce taxable income, and a lender is doing its job when it uses the reduced figure.
Banks then test the repayments at least 3 percentage points above the loan rate, and since February 2026 they can write only a limited share of their new loans at six times income or more. A modest assessed income pushes your ratio up and puts the file in that limited share, which is one more reason the lender you approach first matters. Our guides cover how much a self-employed person can borrow and buying a first home while self-employed.
Common Situations
How Your Structure Changes the Assessment
Six situations cover most self-employed home loan enquiries. The loan is the same. Which line of your return a lender reads is not.
A sole trader
Assessed on net profit from the business schedule of your personal return, usually averaged across two years. Where the latest year is lower, many lenders use the lower figure rather than the average.
A company director
Usually assessed on your salary plus your share of the company’s net profit after tax. Where you control the company, profit left in it can often be counted as available to you rather than treated as gone.
A contractor who recently left employment
Moving from an employed role into contracting in the same field is treated more sympathetically than a genuine start-up. Some lenders will assess one full year of returns, and a few will look at contracts in place.
A strong year after a weak one
Some lenders cap how much of an increase they recognise, on the view that one strong year is not yet a pattern. Others will use the latest year. Which one you approach decides how much of that year counts.
Returns behind or an ATO debt
Unlodged returns stop applications more often than low income does. A tax debt on a payment plan is workable with many lenders if it is disclosed and evidenced up front. More on why good businesses get declined.
A trust or a partnership
Distributions are traced through to you as an individual. Changing structure, from sole trader to company or adding a trust, can make a lender treat you as having a shorter trading history than you really have. See borrowing through a trust or company.
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Joseph Sukkar
Principal Broker · ACL 390611
Who You’re Dealing With
Built on 25 Years in Australian Finance
Joseph Sukkar started in finance in 2000 and founded Intellect Finance in Penrith in 2005. Since then the team has arranged more than 6,500 loans for clients across Australia, from first homes to complex commercial and asset finance.
Residential lending sits with Moufid, our Head of Residential Lending, who works on self-employed and Western Sydney residential files. On a self-employed application the useful work happens before anything is lodged: reading the returns the way a credit assessor will, working out which add-backs your file can evidence, and choosing the lenders whose policy suits your structure rather than fighting it. Self-employed policy varies between lenders more than almost anything else in home lending.
100+ Lenders Including
Accreditation with a lender is not an endorsement by it. Which lender suits you is decided by your file, not by who is on this list.
Not Sure What Your Returns Support?
Find out before you apply. Fifteen minutes, no credit check.What Actually Decides It
How Lenders Read a Self-Employed Borrower
Being self-employed rarely stops you getting a home loan. It makes the number harder to find. Six things decide what a lender will assess your income at, and most were settled when your returns were lodged.
Net profit not turnover
The starting figure is what you told the ATO after deductions. A busy business with heavy deductions reads as a smaller borrower than its invoices suggest, and nothing a lender can do changes the returns already lodged.
Two years and how they are smoothed
Most lenders average the last two financial years. Where the latest year is lower, many use the lower one. Where it is much higher, some cap the increase they recognise. None of this is uniform between lenders.
Add-backs have to be evidenced
Depreciation, super above the compulsory minimum, interest on debt being paid out and genuine one-off costs are commonly added back. An add-back a lender will not verify is not an add-back, so the evidence is asked for up front.
The buffer sits on top
Whatever income a bank assesses, it tests your repayments at least 3 percentage points above the actual loan rate. That is APRA’s setting for banks and other authorised deposit-taking institutions, and it is why borrowing capacity feels smaller than income suggests.
The debt-to-income limit
Since 1 February 2026 APRA has capped the share of new lending banks can write at six times income or more, at 20 per cent of new owner-occupier and of new investor loans, with some exclusions. It is a cap on the bank, not on you, and non-bank lenders are not subject to it.
The returns you lodge now decide later
A lender assessing you next year reads returns you are lodging now. Reducing taxable income saves tax today and reduces assessed income later. That is a conversation to have with your accountant before lodgement, not after.
Checked 21 September 2026. The 3 percentage point serviceability buffer and the debt-to-income limit are from APRA’s May 2026 update and its November 2025 announcement of the limit. The definition of a low doc loan is from ASIC Moneysmart, and the expectation that low doc lenders verify income rather than rely on a declaration is from ASIC. Best Interests Duty is from ASIC Regulatory Guide 273. How individual lenders assess self-employed income is lender policy and varies. We are not tax advisers. Talk to your accountant about how you structure your affairs. Everything else on this page is described in the important information at the foot of the page.
The most useful fifteen minutes for a self-employed borrower is the one before an application goes anywhere. Bring the last two returns and we will tell you what they support and which lenders will read them best. Send us the numbers.
The Honest Comparison
Full Doc or Low Doc?
Most self-employed borrowers ask about low doc first. For most of them it is the more expensive way to borrow the same money.
Alternative documentation
- Works when returns are behind or understate what the business earns now
- Uses business activity statements, business bank statements or an accountant's letter
- Usually offered at a higher interest rate, and may include restrictive terms
- Fewer lenders, and often a lower maximum loan against the property value
- Still verified. A declaration of income on its own is not enough
Two years of lodged returns
- Assessed on your returns with evidenced add-backs, across the full lender panel
- Priced like any other home loan once the income is established
- Add-backs can close much of the gap between taxable and actual income
- Works with the lenders whose self-employed policy suits your structure
- Needs returns lodged and current, and a heavy deduction year shows up as lower capacity
If your returns support the loan, low doc is the expensive way to borrow it. Low doc earns its place when returns are behind, when the business has changed so much that last year’s return no longer describes it, or when trading history is short. For most established business owners, two years of returns with properly evidenced add-backs gets to the same place at a better price. And sometimes the right answer is neither: if one more lodged return would lift the assessed figure, waiting a few months usually costs less than carrying a low doc loan for years. That delays the loan, ours included, and it is still the advice. The test is simple: if we can make your returns work, use them.
Find Out What Your Last Two Returns Support
Bring the numbers. We will tell you what a lender will assess, which add-backs you can evidence, and whether to apply now or wait. Fifteen minutes. No credit check.The Difference
Why Business Owners Use a Self-Employed Mortgage Broker Instead of Their Bank
Your bank reads your returns one way, by its own policy. Another lender reading the same two returns can land a long way from it.
We Read the Returns First
Before any lender sees the file we work out what your returns support, which add-backs your accountant can evidence, and which lenders’ policy reads your structure well. The application goes to the lender most likely to say yes, rather than the one you happen to bank with.
Legally On Your Side
A home loan in your own name on a property you will live in, or a residential investment property, is regulated consumer credit, so Best Interests Duty applies. We must act in your best interests and give priority to your interests where they conflict with ours. Those obligations have applied to mortgage brokers since 1 January 2021.
No Fee. Not Even Clawback.
We do not charge you for the comparison, the structuring or the application, on any loan type. If you discharge the loan early we wear the clawback ourselves rather than invoicing you for it, which plenty of brokers do. Lenders pay a commission on settlement, disclosed to you in writing before any work begins.
100+ Lenders That Differ Sharply Here
How many years of returns, whether they average or take the lower year, which add-backs they accept, how they treat company profit and whether they will look at one year of trading all vary between lenders. On a self-employed file the lender choice is most of the result.
The Process
How a Self-Employed Home Loan Comes Together
Four steps, and nothing is lodged until we know what your returns support.
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15 minutes
Before any application
Your structure, the figures from your last two returns, what you owe and what you want to buy or refinance. No documents and no credit check. You finish the call knowing roughly what a lender will assess, and whether to apply now or after one more return.
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You gather
The documents
None of this is needed for the first conversation. Having it makes the first answer accurate rather than approximate.
- Two years of personal tax returns and notices of assessment
- Business financials for the same period, for a company, trust or partnership
- ABN and GST registration dates
- Recent business activity statements
- A list of what the business owes, including any ATO payment plan
- Your deposit and evidence of where it came from
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We handle
Add-backs then lender selection
We work out which add-backs your file can evidence, ask your accountant for the right supporting documents up front, and select the lender whose self-employed policy suits your structure. Then we manage the conditions through to approval.
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Settlement
Settlement and the next return
We coordinate settlement with your solicitor or conveyancer and the lender. If you are likely to borrow again, it is worth talking before your next return is lodged rather than after.
Track Record
Independent Since 2005
Joe Sukkar started in finance in 2000 and founded the practice five years later. Residential lending sits with Moufid, who works on self-employed files and knows which lenders read which structures well.
Related Options
Where Self-Employed Borrowers Go Next
The loan types self-employed borrowers most often need alongside this one.
First home buyer loans
Buying your first home, and how the government schemes apply to a self-employed file.
Low doc lending
How alternative documentation works when returns are behind or understate trading.
Mortgage pre-approval
Knowing what your returns support before you walk into an open home.
Guarantor home loans
Where a family guarantee makes a file work that assessed income alone would not.
Refinance home loan
Moving your loan once a stronger return or a longer trading history is on file.
Investment loans
Buying an investment property on self-employed income.
Talk to Us Before Your Next Return Is Lodged.
That is when the next assessment is decided. It costs you nothing.Questions Answered
Self-Employed Home Loan FAQs
The questions business owners ask us most often before they apply.
What does a self-employed mortgage broker do?
A self-employed mortgage broker works out what your tax returns will support before any lender sees them, then matches your file to the lenders whose self-employed policy reads your structure most favourably. There is no separate home loan for self-employed borrowers. What differs is how income is proved and which figure a lender uses, and that varies more between lenders on self-employed files than on almost anything else.
Can I use my business turnover instead of my net profit?
Not on a full documentation loan. Lenders assess net profit after deductions, usually from two years of lodged tax returns, with certain expenses added back. Turnover shows how busy the business is. Net profit is what the lender treats as available to repay the loan. Low doc lending works differently, using activity statements and bank statements.
How long do I need to have been self-employed?
Two full financial years of returns is the standard most lenders work to. Some will assess one full year where the business is established and you moved from employment into the same field. Under a year is difficult but not automatically ruled out, and alternative documentation is a separate route again.
What are add-backs?
Expenses that lowered your taxable income without lowering your cash position, or that will not recur. Depreciation, super contributions above the compulsory minimum, interest on debt being paid out as part of the loan and genuine one-off costs are commonly considered. Lenders differ on which they accept, and each one has to be evidenced.
Is a low doc home loan worth it?
Sometimes. It uses documents such as business activity statements, business bank statements or an accountant’s letter in place of full returns, and it usually costs more. It suits a borrower whose returns are behind or understate current trading. If your returns already support the loan, full documentation is usually the cheaper route. Our low doc lending page covers how the documentation works.
Does an ATO debt or an unlodged return stop me?
Not automatically. Unlodged returns stop applications more often than low income does, because lenders want the most recent year on file. A tax debt on a payment plan is something lenders want disclosed and evidenced rather than discovered. Getting current and being upfront removes blockers that have nothing to do with what you earn.
Why do different lenders offer me such different amounts?
Because self-employed policy differs more between lenders than almost anything else in home lending: which years they use, whether they average or take the lower year, which add-backs they accept and how they treat profit left in a company. Banks then test repayments with a serviceability buffer, and can write only a limited share of their new loans at six times income or more. Two lenders reading the same returns can land a long way apart.
Does Best Interests Duty apply, and what does Intellect Finance charge?
Yes, for a home loan in your own name on a property you will live in or a residential investment property, which is regulated consumer credit. Brokers must act in your best interests and give priority to your interests where they conflict with ours. Borrowing that is predominantly for the business, or taken out by a company or trust, is generally not regulated consumer credit. We charge you nothing on any loan type, and no clawback fee if you discharge early. Lenders pay a commission on settlement.
Visit Us
Penrith Based.Clients Australia-Wide.
Penrith is our head office and the one you can walk into without an appointment. We also meet clients at Parramatta and in the Sydney CBD by arrangement. Most of the process runs by phone, email and video, so we arrange self-employed home loans in every state.
Parramatta
Suite 23, Level 1, 181 Church St, Parramatta NSW 2150
Mortgage broker Parramatta →Ready When You Are
Find Out What Your Returns Support.
Fifteen minutes with a residential specialist and the figures from your last two returns. We’ll tell you what a lender is likely to assess, which add-backs your file can evidence, and which lenders read your structure best. If you would be better off waiting for one more return, we’ll tell you that too. No credit check, no paperwork, no obligation. Penrith based, clients Australia-wide. Intellect Finance Pty Ltd, ACL 390611.
A home loan for a property you will live in, or a residential investment property, is regulated consumer credit, so Intellect Finance is legally required to act in your best interests under the Best Interests Duty in the National Consumer Credit Protection Act. Borrowing used predominantly for business purposes, or taken out by a company or trust, is generally not regulated consumer credit. We are not tax advisers. Nothing on this page is credit assistance, legal advice or an offer of credit, and no outcome is guaranteed.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member
Important information General information only. Not credit assistance, legal advice or an offer of credit. We charge you no fee. Every caveat and source on this page is collected here. Tap to read.
General information only. The content on this page is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not credit assistance, financial advice, legal advice or tax advice, and it is not an offer of credit. You should consider whether it is appropriate for you and seek your own advice before acting on it.
Tax and business structure. We are not tax agents or accountants. Nothing on this page is a recommendation about how to structure your business or your tax affairs, or about what to claim. Talk to your accountant before you act on anything here.
Self-employed assessment. How self-employed income is assessed, how many years of returns are required, whether figures are averaged and which add-backs are accepted are set by each lender and change over time. The APRA settings described on this page apply to banks and other authorised deposit-taking institutions.
Nothing here is a guarantee of approval. Loan approval, borrowing capacity, interest rates, loan to value ratios, valuations, income assessment, add-back treatment and eligibility are determined by individual lenders and by independent valuers, not by us. They differ between lenders and change over time. Timeframes vary with the lender and the valuer, and are not guaranteed. Any figure or timeframe on this page is indicative and is not a quote, an offer, or a prediction of your outcome.
Best Interests Duty. A home loan for a property you will live in, or a residential investment property, is regulated consumer credit under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009. When providing credit assistance in relation to these products, Intellect Finance is required to act in your best interests and, where there is a conflict of interest, to give priority to your interests. These obligations have applied to mortgage brokers since 1 January 2021.
How we are paid. Intellect Finance does not charge borrowers a fee for arranging finance, and does not charge a clawback fee where a loan is discharged early. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement. The basis of that commission is disclosed to you in writing in our Credit Guide before any credit assistance is provided.
Third-party information. Where this page refers to regulatory settings, consumer guidance or lender policy, that information is sourced from the relevant authority and was correct to the best of our knowledge at the date shown on this page. Those rules change, sometimes without notice. Always confirm the current position with the issuing authority or with us before relying on it.
Found something wrong? If you believe anything on this page is inaccurate or out of date, tell us at joe@intellectfinance.com.au and we will review and correct it.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member