GST Guidelines for Formations
1. For financial periods after 1
April 2026 only Formations registered as a GST Branch will be able to lodge
an Activity Statement.
2. All other Formations are
required to update their Xero to remove the accounting for GST,
which will simplify the processing of transactions.
3. All Formations with an
expected annual GST
turnover of $150,000 will need to be registered as a GST Branch and also meet
the requirements below.
4. Any other Formations that are
not required to be registered due to turnover, but would like to be, must meet
the following criteria:
a. They
must use Xero and it must be up to date
b. Their
GST lodgments must be up to date
c. They
must be up to date with their Financial Returns
d. They
must have their finances audited by a BAS or Tax Agent or a member of their
committee is suitably qualified and will be the ATO contact person. The Auditor
should be requested to review the GST transactions as part of the audit.
5. All registered Formations are
required to, and must be able to, lodge a BAS quarterly within the required
time frame of 21 days from the end of the quarter. The parent entity is
responsible for lodgment of the activity statement, but it can be prepared and
lodged by either the parent entity or the GST branch. Any fines for late
lodgment will be the responsibility of the Formation, which is currently $330 for
each period of 28 days (or part thereof) that the return or statement is
overdue, up to a maximum of $1,650.
6. Any Formations wishing to
register as a GST Branch should contact the Finance Manager to request an ATO
Application Form, who will review the request based on the above criteria. All
requests for registration should be completed by the 28 February 2026, as they
all need to be lodged and approved by the ATO.
GST Claims from Formations who
are not registering to be a GST Branch will be accepted up until 15 April 2026.
Due to the required payment date of the 21st this allows time for
the returns to be reviewed before lodgment.
Submit a GST Claim
for the finalised accounting period here.
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