Beginners Guide To Lodge The BAS Statement In Australia

As a business owner in Australia, it will be crucial for you to know things like GST, BAS, and other related components. The Australian taxation system has other facets also and it takes time to understand. Therefore, for theoretical and practical help, you may consult an experienced tax accountant Perth. 

This blog will help you understand the basic elements of GST and BAS and how to lodge the BAS for your business in Australia.

What is GST?

By GST, we mean ‘Goods and Services Tax.’ It is a kind of value-added tax applied to most services and goods sold domestically for consumption. Consumers who buy the products need to pay the GST, but the businesses selling the services and goods have to remit them to the Australian government. So, in a word, GST helps businesses produce revenue for the government. Two important points about GST are as follows.

• It is a type of indirect consumption tax but only applies to specific services and goods.
• With the GST system in place, state-based consumption taxes like service tax, sales tax, excise duty tax are removed, and the GST is collected as a single tax. The federal government collects the tax and distributes it to the state governments.

What is a BAS?

If a business registers for GST and ABN, it automatically receives a BAS (business activity statement) at the time of filing. Lodging this form will help your business pay the PAYG instalments, GST, PAYG withholding tax, and few other taxes.

How does BAS work?

When lodging a BAS for the business, it will be essential for you to have all the information readily available. This is why the ATO (Australian Taxation Office) recommends that businesspersons keep all the records of fees, sales, expenses, wages, and other business-related costs. In addition, you should also keep other essential records like a stock take records and logbooks.

A lot of businesses take help from bookkeeping services to do the job for them because they have to look after other business operations. Outsourcing the bookkeeping service can be an effective tool for a small or medium-sized business to consider.

For your BAS, you will have to know a few things, including:

• The number of sales for the period,
• The collected GST,
• The GST paid on business costs,
• PAYG withholding, and
• Wages paid to the employees.

Remember that you can claim the GST for only business purposes and not GST credits for private costs like food or entertainment. 

Read More: Does My Business Need To Submit BAS Returns? How Do I Manage It

How often can you lodge a BAS?

If you want to lodge your BAS offline, you can find the due dates on the form sent to you by the ATO. However, due dates will be different for an electronically lodged BAS. If you find that the due date falls on Saturday or Sunday or a public holiday, you can lodge and pay the BAS on the very next business day.

There are three options that you can consider while lodging and paying the GST. 

Monthly

• You can choose a monthly lodgement if your business’s GST turnover is $20 million or more.

Quarterly

• Quarterly lodgement is allowed if the maximum GST turnover is $20 million.

Annually

• Businesses with a GST turnover of less than $75000 can lodge the BAS annually.

The occurrence of a natural disaster changes the due dates for BAS. In such an unexpected situation, you can take help from a professional BAS accountant or agent who can help you determine the due date and file requirements.

Points to remember regarding completing the statement

When completing the business activity statement, you have to keep the following points in mind.

• You have to enter the exact amount of money (in dollars). Do not include any cents.
• Each invoice can be entered only once.
• If you choose cash accounting, your expenses and sales should be within the same period the payment is received.
• While filling out the statement, if you find a field not suitable for you, you should leave it. If you have nothing to report, you must enter zero in that space.
• Are you filling out your BAS manually? If so, you should thoroughly check all figures and calculations. You may be happy to hear that it is possible to go back and correct errors on earlier BAS.

Top-rated accounting software can be used to complete the statement more easily. Your BAS accountant can also do the job for you.

How can you lodge your BAS?

If you fail to lodge and pay your BAS on time, you will have to pay penalties and be held liable to pay the tax, regardless of your corporate structure.

However, if you miss it for any reason, you should not waste any more time and get in touch with a professional BAS agent. An experienced professional can make alternative arrangements, but you should be careful about giving the correct Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) code and Payment Reference Number (PRN) at the time of submitting the payment.

For lodging the BAS online, you can use the Business Portal. If you use any payroll, financial, or accounting software that integrates with standard business reporting-enabled software, filing the statement directly from that software portal will be possible. Alternatively, you can also hire a tax agent or BAS agent to lodge the BAS for you. Due dates and other conditions vary when a professional agent chooses to lodge the statement.

The last option for lodging the BAS is by mail. In that case, you have to contact the ATO for a paper BAS. But while lodging, you have to keep in mind the due dates.

Conclusion

Taxation duties have to be done very carefully and correctly. So, if you think you cannot manage it yourself, you can hire a professional agent. They will not only make your job easy but also help you lodge the statement within time.