The business activity statement (BAS) is a format issued by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on either a monthly or quarterly basis. Its purpose is to summarize the amounts of GST payable and receivable by you for a certain period, as well as a range of other taxes that includes pay as you go (PAYG) withholding tax and Australian business number (ABN) withholding tax. The objective is to allow any organization (Operational/Non Operation) to report and pay a number of tax obligations in one single transaction.
Business Activity Statements
BAS includes some or all of the following information:
• GST
• PAYG income tax installment (which will include the flood levy where applicable)
• PAYG tax withheld
• Fringe benefits tax (FBT) installment
• Luxury car tax
• Wine equalization tax
• Fuel tax credits
• Installment notices for GST and/or PAYG installments
All business owners registered for GST must lodge a BAS for each period, whether monthly or quarterly. The following are important dates you need to know for lodging and payment of your BAS.
• Monthly: The 21st day of every month for the period just gone.
• Quarterly: The 28th of October, February, April, and July.
(In the case of a lodgment/payment falling due on a weekend or public holiday, it is due by the next business day).
• Annually (pertaining to GST return): Is sent out after the fourth quarter BAS, and needs to be lodged by either 28 February, or before your yearly income tax return is due, whichever comes first.
• Lodging and paying your business activity statements has now been made easier with the option to pay via credit card. Your BAS can be lodged online, through your accountant, by mail, over the phone, or at Australia Post.
Even if your business hasn’t operated properly for the said period i.e. received income or incurred expenses, it’s still necessary to complete the form and lodge it with the ATO.
If you don’t submit the (BAS) on time you may fall subject to a failure to lodge (FTL) penalty. The fines can be higher if you’re often late in lodging BAS. For every 28-day period that you’re late in BAS lodging, you can be charged $110; however, you cannot incur charges of more than $550. The penalty is doubled if your business turns over more than $1 million but less than $20 million, & is 5 times higher if your turnover is more than $20 million.
If you submit a BAS that isn’t correct, the least you will be charged, in the case of a genuine mistake. It is in the general interest on the underpaid tax or extra credit received. However, if the mistake was attributable to carelessness or purposefully ignoring the law, you’ll be charged a penalty based on a percentage of the shortfall amount.
Reliable Bookkeeping Services tried our level best to express how important it is to lodge your BAS on time. The ATO is zoning in on tax fraud at the moment and it is getting harder and harder to get away with being non-compliant. If you are looking for more information, you can certainly call us for more details.