2023-24 Key Dates for Common Lodgements

Single Touch Payroll (STP) Finalisation / Payment Summary

• Lodge / finalise by 14 July

Single Touch Payroll finalisation declarations will need to be lodged to the ATO by 14 July each year. Please ensure that your Single Touch Payroll finalisation declaration(s) are lodged to the ATO via your payroll software.

For employers that are still reporting payment summaries, generally, you must give each of your workers a payment summary by 14 July each year, even if the withheld amount is nil.

You do not need to provide your employees with payment summaries for information you report and finalise through Single Touch Payroll.

Superannuation

Employers must pay super for eligible employees on time in order to avoid the super guarantee charge. This applies from the day your employees start working for you.

Super payments are due quarterly. Please refer to the table below for the payment due dates.

When a super due date falls on a weekend or public holiday, your contribution must be received by the fund on or before the next business day.

You can also make payments/contributions more frequently than quarterly (i.e. fortnightly or monthly). If you choose to do so, please ensure that you pay your total super guarantee (SG) contribution for the quarter by the due date.

If you have missed or made late super payments, you may need to pay the superannuation guarantee charge (SGC).

Superannuation Guarantee Charge Statement

Employers who do not pay minimum super contributions by the due date must pay the super guarantee charge (SGC) and lodge a SGC statement by the relevant date below:

Please note that the super guarantee charge is not tax deductible.

Income Tax

For most entities, the due date for income tax returns is 15 May 2024. Some entities may be required to lodge their income tax returns earlier as indicated below:

Business Activity Statements (BAS) / Instalment Activity Statements (IAS)

Monthly Lodgements

For businesses with a GST turnover of $20 million more in a year, they must report and pay GST monthly and lodge their activity statements online (via a Business Activity Statement).

Employers with PAYG Withholding amounts between $25,001 and $1 million in a year will also need to report and pay their PAYG Withholding amounts monthly (via an Instalment Activity Statement).

The due date to lodge and pay your monthly BAS/IAS is the 21st day of the month following the end of the taxable period. Please find below a table for your reference:

Quarterly Lodgements

For businesses with a GST turnover of less than $20 million in a year, they must report and pay GST quarterly via a Business Activity Statement.

For employers with PAYG Withholding amounts below $25,000 in a year, they must report and pay PAYG Withholding quarterly via an Instalment Activity Statement.

The due dates to lodge and pay quarterly BASs/IASs is the 28th day of the month following the end of the quarter.

Businesses that lodge through a tax agent will be able to access a concession date for Business Activity Statements of around one month after the original due date. Please see the table below for your reference:

Taxable Payments Annual Report

Some businesses and government entities will need to lodge a Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR). Businesses lodge a TPAR to report payments made to contractors for their services.

The due date for a TPAR is 28 August.

Tips For Meeting Your Due Dates

Please find below some tips on how to meet your deadlines and avoid the dreaded ATO letter/phone call to follow up late lodgements or payments:

1. Set up recurring events or tasks in your email/online calendar. Set a reminder for a week before the due date.
2. Set time aside to add the due dates relevant to your business in a physical calendar. Perhaps place the physical calendar in clear sight. BLG team members can help ensure that you have all the key dates accounted for, just ask us.
3. If you have a bookkeeper, request that they remind you of when your lodgements are coming up.

If accounting is one of those areas that just gets out of hand, and you would like some support and advice to make it easier, our team can certainly help you out. BLG Business Advisers are Wollongong Accountants who service all over Australia and are available to assist you so please talk with us.

*This information is relevant at the time of publishing and is subject to change*