With the Christmas holidays now behind us, we are now back in normal lodgement patterns.  So here are the lodgement deadlines for February.

Deadlines for the month of February 2025 are:-

• 7^th – monthly Pay-roll Tax – January 2025 remuneration
• 21^st – monthly BAS remitters – January 2025 BAS
• 21^st – quarterly BAS lodgers with monthly PAYG Withholding remitter – wages tax for January 2025
• 28^th – quarterly BAS lodgers – December 2024 BAS

It is timely to remind all taxpayers that the ATO has been on the war path of late.

Whist they were friendly (perhaps overly friendly) during covid, the ATO is now actively chasing unlodged documents and moreover aggressively chasing tax debts.

It is also no longer easy to have late lodgement penalties and interest removed (no matter what the cause reason is).

And it is recounted by many fellow accountants that the ATO continues to issue Director Penalty Notices (DPNs) at an alarming rate.  DPNs are issued where GST, PAYG Withholding or SG super remains unreported and unpaid after 3 months.  A DPN makes a director(s) responsible for that debt.  Options are limited and require prompt action – and if not paid or otherwise dealt within 30 days, a director will be left being personally responsible for that debt.  This could mean bankruptcy.

You can read more about unpaid super here

I have also heard of where a director’s address as recorded with ASIC is out of date.  The problem then is the ATO will mail the DPN notice to the address as recorded with ASIC.  So apparently some directors have been unaware one was even issued.

There is also an issue that the 30 day countdown starts from the time the ATO issues a letter.  The problem is that it may take 6 days to be received.

TIP      Advise us as soon as you change address.  In any case there is a 28 reporting deadline for reporting a change of director’s details to ASIC.

TIP      Don’t fall for the mistake of not lodging or paying a BAS or SG super whatever the reason.  In the first instance you will avoid late lodgement fines.  Secondly, you can always enter a payment plan if necessary.