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@dontwastedollarss wrote:

it was mentioned about filling out a BAS every quarter or month... could anyone give me an idea about what that is? And yes speaking to an accountant would answer the question but id like to pay them as little as possible... infact ill be doing my tax in etax next financial year.. just keeping all receipts etc.. i don't see why i should pay a guy to file my tax when..

IT IS HUMANLY POSSIBLE OVER THE NEXT YEAR TO GOOGLE AND ASK ENOUGH QUESTIONS TO KNOW ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW AND DONT SAY IT ISNT 😄

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Oh boy.....you need help from an accountant ASAP.

I (erroneously) thought as you were talking about a business possibly needing to pay GST that you were talking about a registered business with an ABN.

You have to have an ABN before you can register for GST.....the whole system works on your ABN (Australian Business Number)

The BAS (Business Activity Statement) is connected to your ABN.

You really need advice on the best business structure for your circumstances.  The simplest is a Sole Trader using your own name, or a Sole Trader using a business name (Your Name trading as Your Registered Business Name).

Or you can trade simply as a Registered Business Name.....or you can go the whole hog and register as a PTY LTD company.

Do you really fancy Googling all those options and trying to decide which is the best for you when an accountant could tell you in a few minutes?

I was a Sole Trader with a Business Name when the GST first came in and was able to get quite a bit of help understanding the system.  Since then I have registered 2 incorporated (Pty Ltd) companies and it doesn't get any easier.

In the first instance we had a choice of accounting for GST quarterly or annually.  When I registered the first Company we had to pay it quarterly, but when I registered the second company about 18 months ago it had to be done monthly.

I do the BAS for both companies but I hand the tax returns to the accountant as he is up to date with the changes to what we can claim for depreciation and deductions.

I must admit I like the monthly accounting...it takes me about 5 minutes to do and submit.  Admitedly it is a Service based company with weekly income from one source and weekly wages so not huge columns of small amounts of money to add up.

But my point is.....see an accountant and don't rely on Google to set your business up in the most efficient and tax effective way for your circumstances.