The ATO has been working with small businesses, tax professionals, industry associations and software providers on ways to deliver a simpler BAS to make GST record keeping easier and less costly.
To achieve this, several GST labels will be removed from the BAS with small businesses only required to report:
- GST on sales (1A)
- GST on purchases (1B)
- Total sales (G1).
These changes will simplify account set-up, record keeping, BAS preparation and lodgment for taxpayers. The ATO said it will begin user testing from 1 July 2016 and a simpler BAS will be the standard option for all small business from 1 July 2017.