BAS Due Dates and How to Lodge (Australian Sole Traders)
If you're a sole trader registered for GST, the Business Activity Statement (BAS) is the form where you report the GST you've collected and the GST you've paid, then square up with the ATO. It sounds daunting the first time, but once you know the due dates and have your receipts in order, lodging your BAS is usually a ten-minute job. This guide covers the quarterly BAS due dates, when you'd report monthly instead, the ways you can lodge, what those G1/1A/1B labels actually mean, and the simple habit that makes every BAS painless.
Quarterly BAS due dates
Most sole traders report GST quarterly, so you'll lodge four BAS statements a year. For standard quarters, each one is generally due on the 28th of the month after the quarter ends:
| Quarter | Period | Standard due date |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | July – September | 28 October |
| Q2 | October – December | 28 February |
| Q3 | January – March | 28 April |
| Q4 | April – June | 28 July |
Quarter 2 gets a slightly longer runway (28 February rather than late January) to account for the Christmas and New Year break. If a due date lands on a weekend or public holiday, you can lodge and pay on the next business day. The ATO can adjust dates from year to year, so it's worth confirming the current ones at ato.gov.au when you sit down to lodge.
Monthly vs quarterly reporting
Quarterly is the default for small businesses, but there are two other cycles:
- Monthly — required if your GST turnover is $20 million or more, and available voluntarily if you'd rather report in smaller, more frequent chunks. Monthly statements are generally due on the 21st of the following month.
- Annual — available to some voluntarily registered businesses under the GST threshold, letting you report just once a year.
For a typical sole trader, quarterly strikes the right balance: frequent enough to stay on top of, infrequent enough not to be a chore. If your turnover has grown, check whether you've crossed into monthly territory — the rules on when GST applies are covered in GST on business expenses.
How to lodge your BAS
You've got a few options, and you can switch between them:
- Online through myGov — if you've linked the ATO to your myGov account, you can lodge your BAS directly. This is the most common route for sole traders.
- ATO Online services / the ATO app — lodge and pay through the ATO's own online services, including from your phone.
- Through a registered BAS or tax agent — a registered agent can prepare and lodge on your behalf. This is the option to consider if your affairs are more involved or you'd simply rather hand it off.
One quiet advantage of using a registered agent: agents usually get extended, concessional lodgement dates. For quarterly BAS that's often around four weeks later than the standard due date (the December quarter is typically the exception). If you lodge your own quarterly BAS online you may also qualify for a short extension. Don't assume the extension applies — check the exact date that applies to you before you rely on it.
Whichever way you lodge, if you have nothing to report for a period you still need to lodge a "nil" BAS by the due date.
What G1, 1A and 1B mean
The GST section of the BAS is simpler than it looks. Three labels do most of the work:
| Label | What it is |
|---|---|
| G1 | Your total sales for the period (including GST) |
| 1A | The GST you collected on your sales |
| 1B | The GST you paid on purchases and are claiming back as credits |
The amount you owe the ATO — or the refund coming your way — is broadly 1A minus 1B. So the two numbers that decide your bill are the GST you charged customers and the GST you can claim on business expenses. That's exactly why recording the GST on every purchase, not just the total, matters: each valid tax invoice you keep feeds straight into 1B. If you invoice clients, tools like a quote and invoice app that calculate GST for you keep the 1A side clean too.
Keep receipts sorted all quarter — and BAS is easy
Here's the real secret to a painless BAS: the statement is easy when the records behind it are already done. The pain people feel at BAS time isn't the form — it's reconstructing three months of receipts the night before it's due.
The fix is a light, ongoing habit rather than a quarterly marathon:
- Snap each receipt as you get it. Snapceipt reads the merchant, date, total and GST from a photo, so the record is built without typing — and the GST is captured for your 1B total.
- Keep everything categorised. When purchases are sorted as you go, your GST credits are already tallied when the quarter closes.
- Export at BAS time. Snapceipt keeps BAS-ready records, so you can pull a clean summary of your GST collected and paid and enter the figures with confidence.
Do that across the quarter and lodging becomes a quick check-and-file rather than a scramble. For the wider habit this fits into, see how to track business expenses in Australia, and when the financial year wraps up, the EOFY checklist for sole traders ties your last BAS into your tax return.
This is general information, not tax advice — check ato.gov.au or a registered tax agent for your situation.