In the event you’re registered for GST, lodging your BAS (enterprise exercise assertion) is a basic actuality of doing enterprise in Australia. Lodging your BAS is a cornerstone of remaining compliant with the Australian Taxation Workplace (ATO).
So, how does this work in actuality? Do you have to do your individual BAS or enlist a BAS agent? Let’s examine a few real-world eventualities so you may perceive your choices and the way it actually works.
Firstly, what precisely is BAS?
Once you’re registered for GST and have an ABN, you could report and pay your GST and different taxes to the ATO by lodging a BAS assertion.
Your BAS will assist you to report and pay your:
- GST
- PAYG instalments
- PAYG withholding tax
- different taxes
When do you’ll want to be registered for GST?
You should register for GST if:
- Your corporation has a GST turnover (gross revenue minus GST) of $75,000 or extra per monetary yr.
- Your non-profit organisation has a GST turnover of $150,000 or extra per monetary yr.
- In the event you’re a taxi driver or ride-sharing driver, it doesn’t matter what your turnover is.
When do you’ll want to course of BAS?
Your GST reporting and fee cycle will typically be one of many following.
- Quarterly – in case your GST turnover is below $20 million
- Month-to-month – in case your GST turnover is over $20 million
- Yearly – in case you are voluntarily registered for GST and your GST turnover is below $75,000 ($150,000 for not-for-profit our bodies).
Situation 1: Arnie the Uber driver
Arnie drives Ubers as a sole dealer and has determined he desires to do his personal BAS.
Let’s see how that works.
Arnie’s state of affairs
Arnie is an uber driver and usually solely earns round $30,000 per yr. Though Arnie is beneath the $75,000 GST threshold, he nonetheless must be registered for GST as he’s a ride-share driver—the exception to the overall threshold rule.
Arnie is a Dad who research on the aspect and works to his personal schedule. Which means he has simply sufficient spare time to do his personal accounting and admin.
Moreover, he’s fairly good with software program and should not have any issues doing his personal BAS, which is way simpler than it sounds.
Since Arnie can simply lodge BAS by himself with the assistance of his accounting software program and doesn’t earn some huge cash, he doesn’t essentially want to rent a BAS agent. Many small companies discover doing their very own BAS a breeze.
Arnie will probably be processing BAS on-line by himself
As a sole dealer, Arnie will probably be doing his BAS quarterly utilizing his accounting software program and the ATO’s on-line kind. As a sole dealer, Arnie can select to do that by MyGov (obtainable for people), or the ATO’s on-line portal (which is accessible for all companies). Each are well-liked and straightforward choices.
The ATO will notify Arnie when his quarterly BAS is due, and he merely must log in to his accounting software program and course of a BAS report. The report will give him all the knowledge he must fill out the web BAS kind. As soon as he’s stuffed the web kind and submitted it, that’s it, he’s performed till the subsequent quarter!
Situation 2: Lily the Café proprietor
Lily owns a café and has determined she desires to make use of a BAS agent to assist her.
Let’s see how that works.
Lily’s state of affairs
Lily is a busy café proprietor and has an annual turnover of greater than $250,000 – properly over the GST threshold. Which means Lily is registered for GST and might want to repeatedly lodge her BAS.
Lily has determined that her busy life operating a profitable café and managing employees is already hectic sufficient. With a younger little one at dwelling, she is at all times trying to in the reduction of on as a lot enterprise administration as doable. As an employer of a number of employees, she additionally has loads of PAYG duties making issues a bit extra advanced.
To assist her out, Lily determined to appoint a BAS agent to handle her BAS duties on her behalf. After doing a little analysis, she found an area BAS agent, Daryl, and determined to rent him.
Lily has appointed a BAS agent to course of BAS for her
By appointing Daryl as her native BAS agent, Lily has primarily authorised him to characterize her to the ATO.
He’ll have entry to Lily’s ATO alerts and messages and can be capable of lodge her BAS assertion on her behalf, releasing Lily as much as handle run her café and spend extra time along with her household.
On prime of that, as a registered BAS agent, Daryl also can deal with Lily’s PAYG and revenue taxes, additional lowering the time she spends on accounting and bookkeeping.