How Do I Pay my BAS?
Once you realise that the GST collected is more than the total of GST credits to be claimed for your business at the end of the reporting period, it all becomes a matter of reporting those figures and pay the difference to the ATO.
Under a simpler BAS method (applicable to most small businesses), the main amounts you have to declare are your total sales (including GST), the GST collected and the GST to be claimed as credits.
In order to confirm the amount due, first make sure that the calculations you have made are correct. If your sales figures include GST, then you should have obtained the GST component of your prices by dividing that amount by 11. On the other hand, if your sales figures do not include GST, you should have multiplied that figure by 10% (or 0.1), adding this amount to your sales figures to obtain the total sales amount including GST. These methods will help you confirm the first two figures required for your BAS. The third amount is just a sum of the GST components of your eligible expenses.
BAS Lodge makes lodging your BAS very simple. All you need to do is take 2 minutes to fill out our BAS lodgement form. It will then be checked by agents registered with the Tax Practitioners Board to ensure that there are no mistakes, before being lodged with the ATO.
Where do I Pay my BAS?
Once your BAS has been lodged you will receive a payment slip, it will contain all of the details on how to pay. Usually you can pay at Australia Post or via BPAY. You have to take into consideration that the due date for your payment to the ATO is the same date as your BAS lodgement due date. You will need to ensure that you are lodging your BAS with enough time to receive your payment slip and pay for it.
Can I Get Extra Time to Pay my BAS?
Yes! The good news is that if you lodge with BAS Lodge, you can take advantage of agent concessions for BAS lodgements, giving you an extra 4 weeks to lodge.
These extra 4 weeks to submit and pay give you and your business more space and time to deal with the payment of your BAS, allowing you to better manage your cash flow. This extension is also applicable to other obligations that your BAS might include (like PAYG instalments).
What if I get a refund?
In the case that the total amount of GST credits is more than the GST you have collected, you may be entitled to a refund which the ATO will pay directly into your nominated financial institution account. Although new immediate payment systems are in place in the Australian banking industry (like Osko and PayID), the ATO cannot currently pay using a those systems. Refunds will not occur in real-time and it can take around 14 days before the funds arrive into your account.