07 Reporting and paying GST
How to report GST amounts and claim GST credits
You report GST amounts to us and claim GST credits by lodging an activity statement or an annual GST return.
You can complete and lodge your activity statements electronically.
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For more information and to register for this service visit our Online services.
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If you have no GST amounts to report or claim for a particular reporting period, you must still report this along with any other tax obligations and lodge your activity statement by the due date, signed and dated. If all your tax obligations for a particular reporting period are nil, you can lodge your nil activity statement on our automated phone system by phoning 13 72 26 and selecting 'nil activity statement' from the lodgment menu.
Options for reporting and paying GST
Depending on your GST turnover and other eligibility requirements, you will be able to work out, report and pay GST either:
- monthly
- quarterly
- annually.
Reporting and paying monthly
If you have a GST turnover of $20 million or more, you must report and pay GST monthly and lodge your activity statement electronically.
We may also require some other businesses to report monthly - we notify the businesses that must do this.
All other businesses may report GST monthly if they wish.
Reporting and paying quarterly
If your GST turnover is less than $20 million, and we have not told you that you must report GST monthly, you can report and pay GST quarterly.
If you report and pay quarterly, you have three reporting options:
Option 1:
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work out, report and pay GST quarterly - you may do this electronically
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Option 2:
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work out, report and pay GST quarterly and provide further information annually in an Annual GST information report.
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Option 3:
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pay a GST instalment amount quarterly and report annually in an Annual GST return.
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You can only choose option 3 if you meet some eligibility requirements and one of the following applies, your:
- small business's annual turnover is less than $2 million
- enterprise's GST turnover is $2 million or less.
Under option 3, each quarter (or twice yearly in special cases) you must pay a GST instalment amount we work out, (or you vary).
We will send you an annual GST return to report your total GST liability for the financial year. If the total of the instalments you have paid is more than your total GST liability, we will refund the difference to you. If your actual GST liability is more than the total of your instalments, you must pay the difference to us.
If we work out that you are eligible for option 3, your activity statement will have your instalment amount pre-printed on it.
Reporting and paying annually
If you are voluntarily registered for GST and you have not made an election to pay GST by instalments, you can choose to report and pay or claim a refund of GST annually.
You are considered to be voluntarily registered for GST if your GST turnover is less than $75,000 ($150,000 for non-profit organisations) and you have chosen to be registered for GST. Some entities, such as taxi drivers, are required to be registered regardless of their GST turnover. As these entities are not voluntarily registered, they cannot choose to report and pay GST annually.
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When choosing whether to report monthly, quarterly or annually, think about your cash flow and the compliance implications. For example, if you make mainly GST-free sales, you may be entitled to GST refunds and may prefer to choose monthly tax periods. However, if you choose to report monthly, you generally have to do so for at least one year and you may be subject to penalties if you do not comply with your monthly reporting requirements.
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For more information about reporting and paying GST, refer to:
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Sections within 07 Reporting and paying GST
Last Modified: Friday, 8 October 2010