BAS — Business Activity Statement

Depending on which obligations apply to your business, a BAS captures: total sales (G1), GST on sales (1A), GST on purchases (1B), wages paid (W1), PAYG withholding (W2), PAYG income-tax instalments (5A), FBT instalments (6A) and a handful of others. Most small businesses see G1, 1A, 1B and possibly the PAYG fields. The form auto-calculates the net amount owing or refundable.

Standard BAS quarters end 30 September, 31 December, 31 March and 30 June. Lodgement is due 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July respectively for self-lodgers. Tax-agent clients usually have an extension of about 30 days on Q1, Q3 and Q4 — Q2 (Christmas quarter) typically has no extension because the public date already absorbs the holiday gap.

Failure-to-lodge penalty starts at $313 per 28-day-late period for small entities and scales up sharply for medium and large entities. General Interest Charge (GIC) accrues daily on any unpaid GST or PAYG. Both penalty and interest are not deductible. Late lodgement also restricts the ATO's tax-agent lodgement programme — repeated lateness can push you into earlier deadlines next year.

Most small businesses lodge on a cash basis (GST recognised when money moves) — simpler and matches your actual cash position. Larger businesses (over $10m turnover) must use accruals (GST recognised when invoices are issued and received). The choice affects when GST is reported, especially on long-payment-cycle work.

· Claiming GST on private-use portions of mixed expenses · Forgetting to report wages (W1) or PAYG withholding (W2) when employees are paid · Lodging without reconciling to the bank — small mismatches compound across quarters · Not amending a prior-quarter BAS when an error is found (the right move is to amend, not silently fix in the next one) · Treating a refund quarter as a BAS that doesn't need lodging

If you've fallen behind on BAS, if your bookkeeping isn't reconciling, or if your GST refunds keep being held by the ATO — these are all things we sort regularly. BAS lodgement is a fixed-fee service from $90 per quarter. We'll catch up overdue quarters as a one-off and then keep you current.