Suitable for: Any sole traders who are currently registered, or think they may need to be registered for GST purposes

Tax Difficulty: Beginner

Airtax Experience: First Timers

Time to read: 2-3 minutes

Reporting and paying GST

Being registered for GST purposes means you need to report your business income and expenses for a given period in a Business Activity Statement (BAS). Based on the outcome of your BAS, you may need to pay the ATO an amount of GST (if income is greater than expenses) or the ATO may owe you a refund (if business expenses exceed income).

As a sole trader, it is important to be aware of the conditions in which you are required to be registered for GST purposes, to ensure you don’t fall behind in your reporting obligations. The goal of this article is to clarify exactly when you are required to be registered for GST purposes, and how often you need to lodge a BAS. Airtax provides free ABN and GST registration as part of its service.

When am I required to be registered for GST purposes?

As a sole trader, you are required to be registered for GST purposes if one or more of the following are true:

1. Your annual business activity turnover is over $75,000 annually (this does not include salary or any other income earned outside of your ABN), or
2. You provide taxi-travel or rideshare services (e.g. Ola, Uber, Didi) for a fee, as part of your business

Quick tip: Lots of our customers ask us about UberEats and Doordash. These are not considered rideshare and therefore you only need to be registered for GST if earning over $75,000 annually. 

I need to be GST registered. How often do I need to lodge a BAS?

If you are required to be registered for GST purposes based on either of the above conditions, you need to lodge your BAS on at least a quarterly basis - provided your business turnover is less than $20 million and the ATO has not told you that you must report monthly. 

The BAS quarters are as follows:

1. July - September (Q1)
2. October - December (Q2)
3. January - March (Q3)
4. April - June (Q4)

Once a BAS period has concluded, you have approximately 4 weeks to lodge your BAS. However, if you use Airtax you are typically eligible for an additional 4 weeks, courtesy of the Tax Agent deadline extension.

You may also elect to report BAS on a monthly basis voluntarily if you wish, however, please note that Airtax charges the same lodgement fee for processing monthly or quarterly BAS.

If you register for GST through Airtax, we will register you on a quarterly basis.

How do I pay by GST bill?

Once we’ve lodged your BAS, we will email you your ATO payment slip which includes the different payment options and instructions. This payment slip will outline how you can pay your GST bill via BPAY, credit card, direct credit, direct debit, post office, cheque or money order. You can find out more about payment options at the ATO website.

I do not need to be registered for GST. What do I need to do?

You don’t need to report BAS. However, you will still need to report your business income and expenses in your annual Tax Return - so ensure you still keep adequate records of your business activity. You can do this via Airtax through the income tax service, which includes a custom-built sole trader module.

Start your BAS with Airtax today:

• Log in or sign up to Airtax
• Complete your BAS using our easy BAS form
• Alternatively, you can book a Business Assist call to speak with one of our specialists who can help you lodge your BAS confidently