New Feature: Lodge your BAS in minutes

Lodging your BAS is quite a hands-on process for most business owners. On average, it may take a few hours to several days to prepare a BAS, depending on the size of the business and how effective its record-keeping system is. On top of the time it takes, it can cost a lot of money to do it right. There are several traditional methods used by Aussie businesses to lodge their BAS:

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‍Lodging BAS through a tax agent

Hiring a tax agent to lodge your BAS can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars, depending on the complexity of your business and the services you require. Tax agents generally charge based on how much time they spend preparing and lodging your BAS.

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‍Lodging BAS online through the ATO

The ATO provides two online systems for BAS lodgment. For sole traders, you can use the myGov platform. For entities such as companies, you'll need to lodge via the Online Services portal. In both cases, you'll need to do your calculations and tax estimates before submission.

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‍Lodging BAS via an accounting software

There is accounting software available that can help you manage your BAS obligations. These services can become quite expensive quickly, depending on the features you need. You'll also need the assistance of an accountant or bookkeeper to complete the final submission.

To calculate your BAS, you will need to determine the following:  

• Total sales: This is the full value of sales you generated over the reporting period, which includes any GST charged to your customers.  
• Total purchases: This is the full value of your business purchases, subject to GST. You can claim credit for the GST included in these purchases.  
• PAYG liability: This is the amount of PAYG withholding tax you must withhold from payments to your employees or contractors and pay to the ATO. The amount withheld depends on the income earned by your employees or contractors and their tax file number (TFN) declaration.  

Once you have determined these values, you can calculate your GST liability and BAS.

It's essential to keep accurate records of your sales and purchases to ensure that your BAS calculations are correct because submitting incorrect information to the ATO for your BAS can have serious consequences, including:  

• Penalties and fines: The ATO can impose penalties and fines for submitting incorrect or late BAS returns. These penalties can be substantial and increase if the errors are deliberate or repeated.  
• Audit: The ATO may choose to audit your business if they suspect that your BAS returns are incorrect or that you are not meeting your tax obligations.
• Reputation damage: Submitting incorrect information to the ATO can damage your reputation and negatively impact your relationship with the ATO.  

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To lodge your BAS with Thriday, it's very straightforward. If you are registered for GST, Thriday will automatically pick this up when you log in and enable the BAS lodgment function under the Tax menu. If you are not registered for GST, you will not be able to lodge a BAS.

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Lodging BAS with Thriday

Thriday will notify you when your BAS is due, as depending on your business type, you will need to submit an update to the ATO either monthly, quarterly or annually. These reminders mean you have the added peace of mind of not having to remember for yourself.

Once you are ready to lodge your, it's only a few simple steps:  

• Step 1: Review the automated BAS calculations Thriday has retrieved from your business bank accounts*.  
• Step 2: You can manually input any balances for income or expenses you may have incurred outside the Thriday platform. Examples may include rental income or travel expenses.  
• Step 3: Confirm your Tax File Number (TFN) and address details.  
• Step 4: Select the option to submit directly to the ATO or get a friendly human tax agent to review. If you lodge via a tax agent, you get an extra month to pay off any tax owed.  
• Step 5: Confirm and lodge.  

Once the ATO has reviewed your BAS lodgment, they will determine your final tax position. The Thriday platform will then notify you of ATO acceptance.

If your BAS lodgment means you need to pay a tax bill for the nominated period, Thriday will automatically set up a payment for you via its handy Bill Manager feature. On the other hand, if the ATO owes you a refund, the funds will be automatically disbursed to your nominated Thriday bank account*. No paperwork, no manual calculations, no fuss. How do you think you'll feel when tax time takes no time?

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From a pricing perspective, Thriday has your back as always. Irrespective of the size of your business, we have a pricing structure that will work for you. For those happy to lodge it themselves, BAS lodgment is only $59.95. For those that want a tax agent to check it before lodgment to the ATO, that comes in at only $199.95. It's an absolute bargain.

BAS Lodgment is now live on the Thriday platform and available to all GST-registered businesses. You can check it out when you go to the tax screen, or you'll be notified whenever your next BAS is due. Now that you have one less thing to worry about with your business, where will you spend that extra time?