Who needs to lodge an Activity Statement?¶

You do not decide to start lodging an Activity Statement on your own — the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) issues one to you based on what your business is registered for. When it is time to report, the ATO sends you a statement with the right sections already set up.

What you report depends entirely on your registrations. If you are registered for GST, you lodge a BAS (business activity statement). If you have obligations such as PAYG withholding or PAYG instalments but you are not registered for GST, you may lodge an IAS (instalment activity statement) instead.

In one line

The ATO issues you an Activity Statement based on your registrations — registered for GST means a BAS; PAYG obligations without GST may mean an IAS.

Why this matters¶

Many small-business owners worry they have missed a form they were meant to lodge. The good news is that you generally do not have to work it out from scratch: the ATO sends you the statement when one is due. Understanding that your registrations drive what turns up helps you check that the statement you receive matches your business.

What you will learn¶

Who the ATO issues an Activity Statement to
How your registrations decide what you report
When you lodge a BAS versus an IAS

Understanding the concept¶

The ATO builds your Activity Statement from your registrations — the roles your business has signed up for. The main ones are:

GST — you must register for GST once your business turnover reaches $75,000 or more ($150,000 for not-for-profit organisations). You can also register voluntarily below that. Being registered for GST means you lodge a BAS.
PAYG withholding — you take on this role when you have employees and hold back tax from their pay to send to the ATO.
PAYG instalments — the ATO can enter you into this to pre-pay your own income tax through the year.

If you are registered for GST, those PAYG obligations are usually reported on the same BAS. If you have PAYG obligations but are not registered for GST, the ATO issues an IAS instead — the same idea, without the GST sections.

So the short answer to "who lodges?" is: anyone the ATO has issued a statement to, because they hold one or more of these registrations.

For accountants & bookkeepers

Registrations, not the entity type, drive the form. A GST role produces a BAS; a PAYG-withholding or PAYG-instalment role without GST produces an IAS. The ATO pre-fills the labels on each statement from the client's active roles. If a client is issued a statement but has nothing to report for the period, they still generally need to lodge a "nil" statement rather than ignore it, unless the ATO has been told lodgment is not required.

Example¶

Two business owners, same town, different registrations.

Jordan is a sole-trader electrician turning over well above the GST threshold. He is registered for GST and has one apprentice on the books. The ATO issues Jordan a BAS each quarter, where he reports his GST plus the PAYG withholding from his apprentice's wages.

Sam runs a small side business that has not reached the GST turnover threshold, so Sam is not registered for GST. But Sam has one part-time worker and withholds tax from their pay. Because there is no GST but there is PAYG withholding, the ATO issues Sam an IAS to report the withheld amounts.

Same question — "what do I lodge?" — but the answer differs because their registrations differ.

Common mistakes¶

Assuming only GST-registered businesses lodge anything — PAYG obligations can mean an IAS even without GST.
Thinking you have to request a statement — the ATO issues it to you when one is due.
Ignoring a statement when you have nothing to report — a nil statement is usually still required.

How this works in myaccountant¶

In the app — myaccountant works from the obligations set up for your business and prepares the matching Activity Statement for the period. It pulls together your GST and PAYG figures, shows you the statement to review, and lets you lodge it to the ATO.

Key points¶

The ATO issues you an Activity Statement based on your registrations.
Registered for GST means you lodge a BAS.
PAYG obligations without GST may mean you lodge an IAS instead.
You must register for GST once turnover reaches $75,000 ($150,000 for not-for-profits).
What you report depends on what your business is registered for.

Learn next¶

General information only — not tax, super or financial advice.

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