This article provides an overview of important business tax lodgement dates for 2024/25
Annual Employee Payment Summaries & Annual PAYG/W Summary Report
These should be prepared and lodged through the STP system by 14 July each year unless the only employees are related parties, in which case you have until 30 September.
Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR)
Businesses that pay contractors may need to report these payments and lodge a TPAR by 28 August each year. The industries required to lodge TPARs include:
- Information Technology services
- Building & Construction services
- Security, Investigation or Surveillance Services
- Cleaning services
- Road freight & Courier services
Contractors can include subcontractors, consultants, and independent contractors. They can also be sole traders (individuals), companies, partnerships, or trusts.
SGC Superannuation contributions for employees:
Although we strongly recommend payment monthly, the final deadline for payment of SGC is required by 28 days after the end of the relevant Quarter. For example:
- July – September – by 28 October;
- October – December – by 28 January;
- January – March – by 28 April;
- April to June – by 28 July; although we note that to be tax deductible in the current financial year, you should pay before 30 June and preferably by 15 June to ensure payments are processed and receipted by the relevant super funds before 30 June.
Please also note that for future cash flow management purposes, starting on 1 July 2026, the government is proposing that all employers be required to pay their employees’ super at the same time as their salary and wages.
Business Activity Statements
BASs are how employers pay their GST and income tax instalments to the ATO. The PAYG Withholding Tax deducted from employee wages for small employers (< $25,000 PAYG/W pa) can also be paid quarterly on the BASs.
For medium employers (paying between $25,000pa and $1M PAYG/W pa)they need to report & pay the other monthly PAYG/W amounts on Monthly Instalment Activity Statements which are due for payment by the 21st of the following month.
Large employers (paying more than $1M in the previous financial year) need to lodge and pay their PAYG/W electronically to the ATO within a week of the relevant wage payment.
| Quarterly lodgement obligation | Original due date for paper lodgements | Lodgement & Payment date if lodging by Online services by tax agent or business |
| Quarter 1
1 July to 30 Sept |
28 October 2024 | 25 November 2024 |
| Quarter 2
1 Oct to 31 Dec |
28 February 2025 | 28 February 2025 |
| Quarter 3
1 Jan – 31 March |
28 April 2025 | 25 May 2025 |
| Quarter 4
1 April – 30 June |
28 July 2025 | 25 August 2025 |
Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) Returns
If an employer provides Fringe Benefits to employees or associates, they should prepare a FBT Return. The FBT year runs from 1 April to 31 March, and the Statutory Due Date for lodgement & payment is 21 May. But Tax Agents have an extension to 25 June. Lodging a FBT return, even for those who don’t think they need to is best practice. It affirms compliance and activates the statute of limitations on the ATO for audit, continuing the review period to the last three years.
Income Tax Returns
The 2024 tax return lodgement dates are:
31 October 2024 – Tax returns for all individuals and entities where self-preparing or if one or more prior year tax returns were outstanding as at 30 June 2023 (unless ATO has since revised lodgement date).
31 January 2025 – Large and medium taxpayers whose gross revenue is more than $10M pa.
31 March 2025 – Tax returns for individuals and trusts whose latest return resulted in a tax liability of $20,000 or more (excluding large and medium trusts). Tax returns for entities with total income in the 2022 year of more than $2M.
15 May 2025 – Tax returns for all remaining individuals, companies and trusts if not required earlier. The ATO usually gives an automatic extension to 5 June 2024 but any tax payable must be paid at time of lodgement rather than when they issue the Notice of Assessment.
Late Lodgement & Late Payment Penalties
There are two sorts of ATO penalties that can be applied if you lodge and/or pay your tax late.
Failure to Lodge (FTL) Penalties
There is an automated penalty system that applies an FTL penalty to late-lodged returns, reports and statements, including:
- Activity statements (BAS and IAS)
- Income tax returns
- FBT returns
- PAYG Withholding annual reports (formerly group certificates)
- Single Touch Payroll reports (STP)
- Annual GST returns and information reports
- Taxable payment annual reports (TPAR).
Generally, a penalty will not be applied to a late-lodged tax return, FBT return, annual GST return or activity statement if the lodgement results in either a refund or a nil result.
The amount of the penalty depends on:
- The size of the entity (Small, medium or large); and
- How late the return is.
- The current amount of a “Penalty Unit”
For example:
The current penalty unit amount (from 1 July 2023) is $313.00
For a small entity, the FTL penalty is calculated at the rate of one penalty unit for each period of 28 days (or part thereof) that the return or statement is overdue, up to a maximum of 5 penalty units.
The penalty unit is multiplied by 2 for a medium entity. A ‘medium entity’ is a medium withholder for PAYG withholding purposes or has assessable income or current GST turnover of more than $1 million and less than $20 million.
The penalty unit is multiplied by 5 for a large entity. A ‘large entity’ is a large withholder for PAYG withholding purposes, has assessable income, or has a current GST turnover of $20 million or more.
Please provide us with the necessary information as soon as possible to ensure we can help you lodge your tax returns on time.
If there are unforeseen or mitigating circumstances, we can try to get you a lodgement extension, or if you are already late, we can prepare and lodge a Request for Remission of Penalties to try to get any penalties remitted.
General Interest Charges
These are charged on late payment of tax liabilities (regardless of whether the relevant return was lodged on time or late). They are also applied regardless of whether you have an extension of time to lodge. For example, if you are running late lodging your tax return, even if you have an extension of time to lodge, you should still look at paying an estimated amount of tax ASAP to minimise any interest charges.
The GIC rate is updated each quarter and is currently 11.36 % pa (for the 2024-2025 income year). GIC is charged daily. It is tax deductible in your tax return, but at 10%+, you should look for any alternative means to pay ASAP.
If you are having trouble paying your tax on time, please let us know so that we can discuss issues and options in more detail and hopefully work out a Payment Plan that is acceptable to the ATO.
