ATO shifts to Digital
The ATO has recently announced that taxpayers will now receive and need to lodge their activity statements electronically, and paper activity statements will no longer be accepted.
Activity statements must now be lodged electronically through one of the following channels:
- Business Portal
- Standard Business Reporting (SBR) enabled software, or
- myGov account to the ATO.
The ATO has confirmed that there are a few instances where an exception will be made and the ATO will continue to send paper activity statements to certain taxpayers who are unable to transition to electronic self-lodgement.
Taxpayers will now be advised by the ATO when their activity statement is available and the due date by email. However, given the latest Activity Statements have already been raised and the ATO converted everyone to digital you may not have received any communication. We are busy trying to ensure everyone’s email address is updated with the ATO.
Individuals and Sole Traders can access and lodge business activity statements and instalment notices using myGov. Details of how to lodge online can be found here.
If you don’t already have a myGov account you will need to create one as per the instructions here
If you receive a payment demand from the ATO requesting payment of an income tax instalment that you have not received an associated IAS statement for, please sign in with myGov and review your ATO obligations. It is likely your paper statements have been discontinued.
For Business clients, including Self Managed Super Funds who are attending to their own Activity Statement lodgement obligations, the ATO provides what is known as the Business Portal. This is an online facility for businesses to view their ATO records, and transact with the ATO electronically.
If you don’t already have a Business Portal account you will need to create one as per the instructions here
In the same way that individuals no longer receive paper statements, the same applies for businesses. If your business receives a payment demand from the ATO requesting lodgement of an outstanding BAS or IAS return, please review your ATO records via the Business Portal. It is likely your paper statements have been discontinued.
There will no doubt be some teething problems as we all adjust to the new electronic communication and lodgement methods so we ask that you please remain patient and understanding.
Here is a list of the quarterly and monthly Activity Statement generation and due dates.
