Tax | Online Accounting

Australian Tax support by Saasu

Goods and Services Tax (GST)
Business Activity Statements (Simple and Full versions)
Tax Invoices
Recipient Created Tax Invoices
Pay-as-you-go Payment Summaries (PAYGPS)
Single Touch Payroll

GST Tax

Saasu supports Australian Tax Codes for the sale of goods and services. Updates to tax codes by the ATO are provided as a standard part of the service.

Tax Invoices

Saasu supports the following ATO tax invoice requirements for Valid tax invoices and GST credits

Ensure that you include your ABN in your document templates and your recipients ABN where required by including the Merge Field {BIType} in your invoice template. Where the GST to be paid is exactly one-eleventh of the total price, show the GST amount separately or provide a statement such as ‘total price includes GST’. Include statement as required via PDF Invoice Template. Where the GST to be paid is less than one-eleventh of the total price, show the GST amount and the total amount excluding GST for the sales. Include * (asterix) in Item Code and/or Description to denote Taxable Items.

Simpler BAS and GST Codes

Since 1 July 2017, Australian small businesses have had less GST information to report on their Business Activity Statement (BAS). Saasu supports not just the simpler report structure but also simpler GST tax codes. If your business is registered for GST, and you have an annual GST turnover of less than $10 million, you’re eligible for Simpler BAS.

You can choose your required BAS reporting structure, either Simpler BAS or Full BAS, by selecting the appropriate option from the Settings page by clicking cog icon and then Settings (for this file)

For Saasu files created on/after 14 Nov 2017, there are 2 options Simpler BAS and Full BAS. Simpler BAS only has access to the basic GST reporting options required by the ATO. The Full BAS option has the full range of ATO tax codes. Some of these are marked as inactive for ease of use, but you can change them to an active tax code by going to Settings > Tax Codes.

For Australian files created prior to 14 Nov 2017, you can access any custom tax codes created prior to this date, but unfortunately, no new custom tax codes can be created. The All Tax Codes option allows you to use all inbuilt and existing custom tax codes.

You can see the tax descriptions/codes available by selecting an option, clicking Save and then clicking See Tax Codes.

Reports

Tax Code Report
BAS Summary Report
BAS Detail Report
Taxable Payments Annual Report
Single Touch Payroll (STP) Report

FAQ’s

Transactions with tax codes don’t appear in my BAS Reports?

There could be a couple of reasons:

Quotes and orders ARE NOT included in the BAS report. You need to convert them to tax invoice first. If you’re using Tax Code report, there’s an option for you to include orders in the report.
Cash vs Accrual mode. For sales and purchases, cash mode works off the payment date whereas accrual works off the invoice date.
E.g. Let’s say you have a sale with G1 tax code on first-quarter (Jan – Mar) but payment for this invoice is in the second quarter (Apr – Jun), then this amount will be reported on first-quarter under accrual mode but second-quarter under cash mode.

What tax code should I use for a transaction?

Saasu isn’t an accounting advisory service so we can’t answer this type of question. The tax codes inbuilt into Saasu are made up from information supplied by the ATO and are dependent on whether the setting for your file is Simpler BAS or Full BAS operation. If you are not sure about the correct tax code to use then we suggest consulting your accountant, bookkeeper or the ATO website.

Why does the income in my Profit and Loss differ to the BAS?

Quite often this is because companies in Australia are run as Cash for GST and Accruals for Company Tax. It’s a good idea to know whether you are “Accruals” for Income Tax purposes even though you are “Cash” for GST. Quite often, customers assume they are “Cash” reporting for everything but later find out they are actually Accruals for reporting Income and Expenses for Tax purposes (Company Tax) but are Cash for GST purposes. This is quite common, and we suggest users check with their accountant or the ATO.

Why is my BAS income different to the income shown on the Dashboard Profit and Loss?

Profit and Loss reports accruals basis. You may be running a “Cash” BAS and comparing it to the “Accruals” P&L Summary on the dashboard. To get a better comparison you need to compare Cash Profit and Loss with Cash BAS.

Why do Sales appear twice in the BAS when I use G2, G3 or G4 related tax codes?

This is a common misunderstanding made by customers not familiar with how the BAS works with respect to Exports [G2], Other GST Free Sales [G3] and Input Taxed Sales [G4]. Sales enter the BAS at G1 and some are removed via G2, G3 and G4 (Total for which is G5). This generates the Sales subject to GST at G8. Saasu does this according to ATO specifications.

GST upfront on contracted payments?

Sometimes you may purchase a product or service on a payment plan. The seller maybe be liable to collect GST upfront and might accordingly charge you the full GST amount along with the first payment. In Saasu enter the full contracted amount with GST as a Purchase Invoice. Add a Purchase Payment each period to this invoice. If you account for GST on a Cash basis, then Saasu will include payments made in that BAS period in your BAS report run. If you account for GST on an Accruals basis and are entitled to claim your GST credit upfront, then Saasu includes the full GST amount in the BAS when run in Accruals mode.

Can I change my Tax Zone?

You can’t change the zone of a file once this has been set.