Overdue tax returns and BAS

Years behind on your business tax returns or BAS? Only the first step is hard.

How long has it been since your business last lodged a tax return? One year? Three? Five? If the answer makes your stomach drop, you are not alone. Most business owners who come to us with overdue tax returns or late BAS believe it is too big, too messy and too late to fix. It is not. The hardest part is the first phone call. After that, it is our job.

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How it happens

Why catching up feels impossible

This page is for business owners, whether a company, a trust or a sole trader, who are a year or more behind on tax returns, BAS or bookkeeping and want to get their life back on track. Falling behind usually happens like this.

It starts small A busy quarter. A family event. A bookkeeper who left.

Then one missed BAS becomes four And the letters from the ATO make it harder to open the file at all.

The longer it waits, the bigger it looks But the work itself is the same work as always. It just needs a plan and someone to do it with you.

You do not need a perfect file to start

Catch up bookkeeping from whatever records you have

Bank statements

Receipts, including photos and scans

PDF, Word and Excel invoices

Spreadsheets you have kept yourself

An existing Xero file, however out of date

Have a look at your own file

If you use Xero, open your dashboard now. Next to each bank account you will see a number of items to reconcile.

That number tells you how far your records are from the truth. If your bank reconciliation is out, everything is out: your profit, your GST, your BAS and your tax return are all built on top of it.

A large number is not a disaster. Even 1,000 unreconciled transactions can be worked through, one month at a time.

Locked out of Xero

If your Xero file is closed or not in your name

Sometimes the Xero file was closed when the subscription stopped. Sometimes it sits under a subscription that someone else holds, and you cannot get in.

Your history is not lost. We contact the person who holds the subscription, ask for their consent, and have the file reactivated and moved into your name. You are back in control of your own records.

How it works

From the first call to up to date

1 A 30-minute conversation No judgement, no lecture. Just a clear picture of where you are and what happens next.

2 The bookkeeping caught up From whatever records you have, one month at a time, until the bank reconciliation is right.

3 Overdue BAS and tax returns lodged Once the bookkeeping is right, we prepare and lodge what is overdue, oldest first, so the ATO can see real progress.

Dealing with the ATO for you

ATO debt, penalties and restructuring

When years are behind, there are usually penalties and interest. Nikoletta Neal, as a registered tax agent, can ask the ATO to reduce or remove them (a remission request). The ATO makes the final decision.

If the debt is more than the business can pay, there are formal options such as a Part IX debt agreement or small business restructuring. These are run by a registered practitioner. We get your records ready for that process and work alongside them, so you go in with accurate numbers.

Portrait of Nikoletta, Founder and Senior Accountant at NN Accountability — Nikoletta, Founder and Senior Accountant

After the catch-up

Staying on track after you catch up

Catching up once is good. Never falling behind again is better. Once you are up to date, we can:

Set up your Xero file properly, with bank feeds and rules that do the routine work for you

Make your system efficient, so it takes minutes a week, not days a quarter

Teach you how to maintain it yourself

Keep you accountable with regular check-ins

Do the ongoing bookkeeping for you

How it works in practice

Stories from clients who caught up

A trades business, three years behind, with 10 days to go A trades business came to us three years behind on BAS and tax returns. Payroll and STP reporting were behind too. The ATO would not agree to a payment plan, so the owners had engaged a small business restructuring specialist. He could not act until their Xero file was accurate. The file was hard to read. Some months had been reconciled by the owner and some by a bookkeeper. There were several bank accounts, and the transfers between them did not match. They had 10 days. Using Xero's bank rules and automation, we reconciled every account, brought payroll and STP up to date, and lodged all the overdue BAS and tax returns. The specialist had reliable figures on time and was able to reach a deal. Because automation did much of the routine work, the fees stayed lower than a manual catch-up would have cost.

A partnership that did not know what it owed For years, the partners of a small business did not know how much they owed the ATO. Every year they meant to sort it out, and every year it felt too big to start. When they came to us, they were four years behind. For two of those years they should have been registered for GST, so we backdated their registration as part of the catch-up. We brought everything up to date before the ATO's final deadline. With accurate figures, we set up a payment plan they could manage, and the ATO agreed to remit all of the penalties. They are now on track. We trained them in Xero so they can see where their money goes each month and keep their business expenses down. We lodge their BAS each quarter and check and correct the file at the same time.

A construction company that turned it around A construction company was at serious risk of closing. Every transaction was entered by hand, which took many hours each month and made the bookkeeping expensive. Their BAS was always late, and payments to the ATO were always behind. We caught up a year of overdue BAS and tax returns. Then we set up Xero, connected with job and receipt software, so the routine work happens automatically and the books stay current without hours of manual entry. We also trained their admin staff to manage parts of the bookkeeping themselves. Today the business is successful and growing quickly.

Questions we answer every week

Questions people ask us

Our business has not lodged for years. How far back can you go? We have caught up a client who was 17 years behind. However far behind you are, talk to us. Every situation starts the same way: with the records you have.

Do I need all my receipts before I call? No. Bank statements are usually enough to start. We work out what is missing as we go, and tell you exactly what we need.

Will the ATO charge late lodgement penalties? The ATO may charge penalties and interest on late lodgements. Once everything is lodged, Nikoletta Neal, as a registered tax agent, can ask the ATO to reduce or remove them. The ATO makes the final decision.

What if I cannot pay what I owe? Often the answer is a payment plan you can manage. If the debt is too large for that, there are formal options run by registered practitioners, and we can prepare your records for that process.

Can you work with our small business restructuring practitioner? Yes. We bring the bookkeeping, BAS and tax returns up to date and work alongside them, so you go in with accurate numbers.

Can I do some of the bookkeeping myself afterwards? Yes. We can train you or your staff to manage the day-to-day work, and check the file each quarter so it stays right.

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