All taxpayers who are registered or are required to be registered must provide a GST return to the Australian Taxation Office. The GST return must be in the approved form that is in a Business Activity Statement (BAS) however the precise requirements for lodging returns vary according to the circumstances.
The standard method requires a return to be lodged for each tax period. This may be used by either monthly or quarterly taxpayers.This paper outlines the rules pertaining to businesses preparing the Business Activity Statement monthly on a "cash" basis.
To lodge the Business Activity Statement month on a "cash" basis, the business' annual turnover must be under $1M. If the business's turnover is under $1M, the business could have elected to lodge quarterly on a "cash" basis. However if the business has already made an election to lodge monthly on a "cash" basis, it must do so for the next 12 months.
