This is a little tip to make sure you have proof of your BAS lodgement via the ATO Business Portal.
It’s a great idea to screen print or even print to PDF the message which appears after you have hit the final button to lodge your BAS. I always do this and it proved it was worthwhile because somehow my lodgement did not record on the ATO Business Portal. (Note you can right click on the webpage and select print from there)
I had lodged the return on time and I had the PDF copy of the Activity statement with a message stating the return had been lodged and I could not make any amendments. To my surprise when I logged into the Business Portal a while later it said my activity statement was not lodged.
I had a tedious time consuming conversation with the ATO about this and they advised to lodge the BAS again which I did successfully. I asked them to put notes on my file to make sure I am not penalised later for a late lodgement which is untrue. Especially seeing as how I am a BAS agent!
I also printed the payment receipt to PDF to keep in case that gets lost in cyberspace.
Of course it’s important to always lodge your BAS on time. Set yourself a reminder or employ a BAS agent to take care of lodging the BAS for you. What would you rather be doing?
If you have been manually sending your paper Activity statement to the ATO you may want to lodge your activity statement online. You can apply online for an AUSKEY.
Below are some links to the ATO websites or refer to one of my previous articles by clicking here.
ATO Business Portal
Register for an AUSKEY