If you’re a sole trader, partnership or company in Australia, there are a few options for lodging your tax return. This guide explains the process and your options as a small business. It covers Australian rules only, for businesses that balance on 30 June.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) administers income tax. State and territory revenue offices collect some other taxes, such as payroll tax. The financial year for tax purposes starts on 1 July and ends on 30 June the following year. Your tax obligations depend on your business structure, whether you have employees, and whether you provide fringe benefits.
Here’s an overview of how to lodge for different types of businesses:
How to Lodge Taxes as a Sole Trader
If you run your business by yourself as an individual, you are a sole trader. You don’t lodge a separate tax return for the business. You lodge one individual tax return that covers your personal and business income, including the business and professional items schedule, even if your income is below the tax-free threshold.
As a sole trader, you can lodge in one of the following three ways:
1. With myTax
You can lodge your individual tax return online with myTax. To do so, you need a myGov account linked to the ATO.
2. Through a registered tax agent
A registered tax agent can prepare and lodge your tax return for you. Anyone who prepares or lodges tax returns for a fee must be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB). You can check an agent’s registration on the TPB register.
If you lodge yourself, your individual return is due by 31 October. If you use a registered tax agent, you may get a later due date under the agent’s lodgment program, but you need to be on the agent’s client list by 31 October. For 2025–26 returns, that means by 31 October 2026. If a due date falls on a weekend or public holiday, you can lodge on the next business day.
3. Complete a paper tax return
You can also lodge a paper return. See the ATO’s guidance on lodging a tax return for your business for how to get the form. Paper returns take longer to process: the ATO says most refunds for paper returns issue within 50 business days (about 10 weeks).
How to Lodge as a Partnership
A partnership is a business structure of two or more people (or entities) who share the profit or loss. The partnership lodges its own partnership tax return, reporting its net income, but it doesn’t pay income tax. Each partner reports their share of the net income or loss in their own tax return and pays tax on it.
Partnerships can lodge in one of the following three ways:
1. Using SBR-enabled software
Standard Business Reporting (SBR) lets businesses lodge with government directly from their accounting or tax software. You can prepare and lodge a partnership return with SBR-enabled software.
2. With a registered tax agent
As with sole traders, partnerships can use a registered tax agent. Agents have a lodgment program that can allow a later due date than 31 October, as long as the partnership is on their client list in time. The agent will tell you when they will lodge.
3. Complete a paper tax return
A partnership can also lodge a paper partnership tax return. The ATO publishes the form and instructions for each year, along with the mailing address.
If you lodge the partnership tax return yourself, it is due by 31 October. If a registered tax agent lodges it, they will tell you the due date.
How to Lodge Your Taxes as a Company
A company lodges its own company tax return each year. Its income is separate from your personal income. The company tax rate is 25% for base rate entities (aggregated turnover under $50 million and no more than 80% passive income) and 30% for other companies.
What are the Company Tax Return Lodgement Options?
myTax is for individuals only. A company can lodge its return in one of these ways:
- online using SBR-enabled software (companies can’t lodge directly in Online services for business)
- through a registered tax agent
- by paper, using the company tax return form for the year.
What are the Due Dates for Your Company Tax Return?
If a small company lodges its own return, the lodgment and payment date is generally 28 February after the end of the financial year (28 February 2027 for 2025–26). If any prior-year returns are outstanding, or last year’s return was lodged late, the due date is 31 October. Medium and large companies have earlier dates.
If a registered tax agent lodges for the company, the agent’s lodgment program sets the due date, which for most small companies in the 2026–27 program is 15 May 2027. The agent will confirm the date for your company.
Conclusion
To work out your taxable income, you first need an accurate record of what your business earned and spent, and which items to include or exclude. Without a bookkeeping process in place, the figures may not be ready at tax time.
Visory doesn’t prepare or lodge income tax returns. We keep the books that your return is built from, so you or your registered tax agent can lodge with confidence. This is where Visory comes in.
Visory runs bookkeeping, payroll, accounts payable and accounts receivable for growing businesses, with a dedicated team and our AI, Delphi, overseen by that team. Visory Insights and a Business Performance Partner then turn the numbers into decisions.
Book a discovery call to see how it would work for your business.
About this article
Written by The Visory Team. Published . General information for Australian businesses, not advice for your situation.
