The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will now be moving from paper to electronic lodgement of activity statements. It has been recently announced that taxpayers will need to lodge their activity statements electronically and their paper activity statements will no longer be accepted.
This can cause some confusion or disturbance to people who are accustomed to the paper method. At SMG we are quite familiar with the paper lodgement as well as electronic lodgement methods. Get in touch with our team of professionals and we can definitely help you out with a smoother transition from paper to electronic means.
Paper statements will not be issued when an activity statement is lodged electronically through one of the following channels:
- Online services for tax agents.
- The practitioner lodgement service (PLS).
- Standard Business Reporting (SBR) enabled software.
- When you have linked your myGov account to the ATO.
Electronic activity statements will be available rather than paper. They will be available three to four days after the activity statement is generated. You can lodge electronically using:
- Online services for agents (OSFA).
- Practitioner lodgement service (PLS).
- Standard Business Reporting (SBR) enabled software.
- Business Portal.
- myGov, when a client links their account to the ATO.
You can access electronic activity statements via your PLS software or Online services for agents (OSFA). You will find the information at the client summary screen or lodgement menu in OSFA. You and your client may receive one last paper activity statement if the first electronic lodgement is after the activity statement generated date. You should continue to lodge electronically, if this were to happen.
Paper (PAYG) or (GST) quarterly instalment notices, where your client has a digital preference on ATO systems, has been stopped since 2020.