Simpler BAS for Some NFP Organisations

The Australian Taxation Office is implementing changes to address community concerns about the costs associated with goods and services tax (GST) record keeping.

To reduce these costs the ATO said it was working on ways to make the business activity statement (BAS) simpler.

“The community has told us a reduction of the number of GST labels on the BAS will significantly reduce GST record keeping requirements,” the ATO said.

The ATO said this would benefit NFPs a number of ways, including a simplified account set-up, ongoing bookkeeping and BAS preparation, and reducing their record keeping costs.

“To ensure we get it right, we’re working with small businesses, industry associations, tax professionals and the accounting software industry, to conduct user testing on the simpler BAS solution,” the ATO said.

“The planned changes are scheduled to go live from 1 July 2017, when Simpler BAS will become the standard GST reporting option for all organisations with a turnover of less than $10 million.”