TITLE: Australian Tax and Compliance Update: BAS Deadline, Card Surcharge Ban and Trust Tax Changes
Lodge and pay your August BAS by Monday 21 September
If your business reports GST monthly, your August 2026 BAS is due on Monday 21 September 2026. You must lodge the statement and pay any amount owing by the same date.
The ATO’s BAS due-date guidance confirms that monthly BAS obligations are generally due on the 21st day of the following month.
Before submitting, check:
- Sales and GST collected for August.
- Business purchases and eligible input tax credits.
- Imports and international payment fees.
- Payroll, PAYG withholding and instalment amounts.
- Marketplace, payment gateway and currency-conversion reports.
Do not assume that using a registered BAS agent creates an extension for a standard monthly BAS. The August statement remains due on 21 September.
Late lodgment may trigger a failure-to-lodge penalty. Unpaid tax can also attract the ATO’s general interest charge. The Commonwealth penalty unit is now $364 for offences committed from 1 July 2026, increasing the cost of some compliance failures.
Remove card surcharges before the 1 October ban
From 1 October 2026, Australian businesses will generally no longer be able to add a surcharge when customers pay by eftpos, Visa, Mastercard or American Express.
The change applies to:
- Physical card payments.
- Online checkout payments.
- Credit, debit and prepaid cards.
- International cards.
- Mobile wallets and other digital payment channels using covered card networks.
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s payment reform guidance confirms the new no-surcharge framework. Existing rules continue until 30 September, but a surcharge must currently remain within the cost of accepting that payment method.
Update your checkout and accounting systems
You should remove card surcharge settings from your:
- Shopify, WooCommerce and other checkout systems.
- Marketplace payment settings.
- Invoicing software.
- Payment gateway rules.
- Receipts and customer terms.
You may still charge a genuine booking, service or handling fee where it applies independently of the customer’s payment method. Do not relabel a card surcharge as a general fee if it is only charged when a customer pays by card.
For accounting purposes, merchant processing fees will continue as business expenses. If an Australian payment provider charges GST, you may be able to claim an input tax credit where the normal requirements are met.
From 1 October:
- Stop recording card surcharge income as a separate revenue stream.
- Continue recording merchant processing costs.
- Build payment costs into your overall pricing.
- Review GST coding for product, service and platform fees.
- Reconcile payment-provider settlements to your accounting records.
For an Australian e-commerce business in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, this is both a checkout issue and a margin issue. Update your pricing model before the ban starts so the change does not create unexpected losses.
Treat the proposed trust tax as a planning deadline, not current law
Treasury consultation on the proposed 30% minimum tax for certain discretionary trusts closed on 18 September 2026. The proposal is intended to apply from 1 July 2028, subject to final legislation.
The ATO’s current guidance on the proposed minimum tax explains that the measure is aimed at in-scope discretionary trusts, including some family-owned trading structures.
The proposed alternative arrangements may include:
- Restructuring out of the discretionary trust model during a proposed transition period.
- Electing into an excluded election trust arrangement.
- Locking in nominated beneficiaries and fixed distribution proportions.
The 47% warning needs careful interpretation. The proposal does not create a separate 47% trust tax. The figure generally relates to the highest individual marginal tax rate, including Medicare levy. If a beneficiary’s personal tax rate is higher than the 30% trustee-level tax, additional tax may still arise.
An election can also reduce future flexibility. If circumstances change, fixed beneficiaries and fixed proportions may no longer reflect how the family-owned business operates. That is why trustees should preserve distribution records, beneficiary information and trust accounts now.
Do not treat the proposal as enacted law. Monitor the final legislation and keep your trust compliance records ready.
Bendel changes the UPE position, but not all Division 7A risks
The High Court decision in Commissioner of Taxation v Bendel [2026] HCA 18 held that an unpaid present entitlement, or UPE, is not automatically a loan or financial accommodation for Division 7A purposes.
The High Court judgment and the ATO’s decision impact statement provide the current position.
The ATO has accepted the decision and is withdrawing or revising its previous guidance in TD 2022/11. However, Bendel does not make every trust distribution risk-free.
Division 7A issues may still arise where:
- The trust makes payments or loans to shareholders or associates.
- UPE funds are actively used for private benefits.
- A company releases or deals with an entitlement.
- The arrangement involves other forms of financial accommodation.
- Subdivision EA applies to payments or benefits involving a corporate beneficiary.
Treasury is considering whether a legislative response is required. Private groups should therefore retain historic trust distribution records and monitor whether any future law changes could affect existing arrangements.
Expect stronger ATO action on missing lodgments
The ATO reports that non-lodgment prosecutions connected with shadow economy activity increased by more than 80% over two years. Court-imposed fines exceeded $2.7 million.
This enforcement activity affects more than cash businesses. It is relevant to any Australian company that repeatedly misses:
- BAS lodgments.
- Income tax returns.
- PAYG withholding reports.
- Superannuation obligations.
- Other required business statements.
