Business Activity Statements

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A Business Activity Statement (BAS) is a form that businesses must submit to the Australian Tax Office (ATO) on a monthly or quarterly basis. BAS reports both the total Goods and Services Tax (GST) collected from sales activities—which must be paid to the ATO—and the total GST paid on purchases – which is claimed as an input tax credit.

Companies can report their taxes manually using a form, or electronically using Electronic Commerce Interface (ECI) software provided by the ATO. If you choose to file your BAS electronically, the ATO provides the ECI software at no cost. Many different BAS layouts are available, depending on the type of business involved.

You are provided with a worksheet that you can use to review and update your BAS details before completing the manual form or exporting the XML file for electronic submission to ECI.

When you file your BAS electronically, you must perform the following tasks:

  1. Ensure that the BAS setup has been completed.
  2. Using the ECI software, download your monthly or quarterly file from the ATO.
  3. Import this file into the BAS area.
  4. Update your tax details.
  5. Export the data to an XML file.
  6. Upload the completed XML file to the ATO using the ECI software.
  7. Update BAS with the receipt number received from the ATO.

See Also

Dynamics 365 Business Central
How to: Set Up Business Activity Statements
How to: Export Business Activity Statements
How to: Calculate Goods and Services Tax on Prepayments
How to: Print Goods and Services Tax Sales and Purchase Reports
Australia Local Functionality