The Australian tax calendar, and the dates that drain your account

Most owners don’t struggle with the tax calendar because they can’t read it. They struggle because the money for each date arrives on a different timetable. Customers pay when they pay, wages leave on a Thursday, and the ATO collects on a day fixed by law.

This guide walks through the dates that matter for a typical small business in the 2026-27 year, flags the ones that move because of weekends, and shows how to turn a list of deadlines into a cash plan. Always confirm your own dates in ATO online services, since your lodging cycle, your agent and your entity type change the answer.

What are the main recurring dates?

Think of the calendar in four layers.

Layer	Typical date	What it covers
Monthly BAS	The 21st of the following month	GST, PAYG withholding and instalments for businesses on monthly reporting
Quarterly BAS	28 Oct, 28 Feb, 28 Apr, 28 Jul	The same items, for the quarter just ended
Super	Each payday, received by the fund within 7 business days	Super guarantee under Payday Super
Annual	Varies by entity and agent	Income tax returns, TPAR, STP finalisation, FBT

The quarterly dates match the ATO’s standard pattern: quarter 1 (July to September) is due on 28 October, quarter 2 on 28 February, quarter 3 on 28 April and quarter 4 on 28 July. Monthly reporters work to the 21st.

Two things catch people out. First, the BAS usually bundles several amounts, so the figure that leaves the account can be a good deal larger than “the GST”. Second, PAYG instalments sit on the same statement for many businesses, and they are a payment towards your income tax, not a bonus charge. Our BAS glossary entry lists the labels you will see.

Which dates move this year?

Weekends and public holidays do the moving. If a due date falls on one, the ATO allows you to lodge and pay on the next working day.

Look at the next few months:

• Wednesday 28 October 2026: quarter 1 BAS for quarterly lodgers who aren’t using an agent.
• Wednesday 25 November 2026: the later quarter 1 date for eligible clients lodging through a registered agent.
• Monday 23 November 2026: October monthly BAS, because 21 November falls on a Saturday.
• Monday 21 December 2026: the November monthly BAS (21 December is a Monday, so no shift).
• Monday 1 March 2027: quarter 2 BAS, because 28 February 2027 is a Sunday.

The agent dates have a catch. The ATO applies its lodgment program only to statements that generate after the client’s previous statement was lodged electronically, and a new client’s first statement may carry an earlier date. Online lodgers may qualify for extra time too, though the ATO describes this as something you “may” get, so check what your own account shows. Don’t build your cash plan around an extension you haven’t confirmed.

What about super, STP and the annual items?

Super has changed shape. Since 1 July 2026, Payday Super means the super guarantee is paid with each pay cycle and has to reach the fund within 7 business days. The old quarterly dates still matter only if you have arrears from earlier periods. If you want the detail, read super guarantee and cash flow under Payday Super.

The annual items are less frequent but often larger:

• Single Touch Payroll finalisation. Employers finalise each employee’s year through their payroll software, with a due date in mid-July. Missing it creates problems for employees’ tax returns, not only for you.
• Taxable payments annual report (TPAR). Building and construction, cleaning, couriers, security and some other industries report payments to contractors, normally by late August.
• Income tax returns. Dates depend on your structure and whether a registered agent lodges for you. Sole traders and partnerships generally follow the individual timetable, with a self-lodgement date at the end of October and extended dates through an agent.
• Fringe benefits tax. The FBT year runs from 1 April to 31 March, and the return and payment come due in May.

State taxes sit outside the ATO. Payroll tax, land tax and stamp duty run on state revenue office calendars. Our guide to payroll tax by state shows how different they are from one state to the next.

How do I turn dates into a cash plan?

A calendar tells you when the ATO wants money. A cash plan tells you whether you will have it. The simplest method has three steps.

1. Put every date in the calendar with an amount. Use last year’s equivalent as a first estimate and update it when the figures firm up.
2. Work backwards to a transfer date. If quarter 1 BAS is $18,400, set a transfer on each payday or each week so the sum is waiting in a separate account.
3. Watch for collisions. Two obligations in the same fortnight, such as BAS and a lease bond payment, are what push a healthy business into overdraft.

A collision happens most often at the end of October. Quarter 1 BAS lands just after the first super payments under the new rule, just before Christmas stock buying, and at about the time that the annual insurance renewals roll in. If your business is seasonal, the guide to funding seasonal swings is worth reading before the Christmas rush.

A practical test is the 13-week view. Our guide on building a 13-week cash flow forecast shows how to lay out each ATO date as a line, so you can see the week where the balance dips.

A worked example

This is an invented example. A Newcastle electrical contractor has 6 staff, reports quarterly, and bills on 30-day terms. Quarter 1 BAS comes to $21,600: $11,200 of GST, $8,100 of PAYG withholding and $2,300 of PAYG instalment.

On 28 October the account holds $14,000, because two large invoices from a builder are due on 4 November. The owner has three choices:

• Pay what they can, ring the ATO, and ask for a short plan to cover the rest.
• Ask the builder to pay early, perhaps with a small discount.
• Draw on a business line of credit for the gap and repay it when the invoices land.

The best answer is the first or second, because an unplanned ATO debt can be fixed with a conversation, and the interest on a general ATO debt is not small. The third works too if a facility is already in place. What doesn’t work is waiting until after 28 October to find out. A lodged BAS with a payment plan is a far better position than an unlodged BAS.

Next time the owner moves 8 per cent of every invoice receipt into a “tax” account on the day the invoice is paid. By the next 28 February the account holds the BAS, and the question never comes up.

What do lenders see in the tax calendar?

Lenders aren’t reading your calendar, but they do read your statements. Regular ATO debits that clear on time show a business that sets money aside. Missing or late debits, ATO payment plan instalments, and overdrawn days around the 28th suggest the opposite. Our guide on how lenders read your bank statements explains what stands out.

If you have lodged late or fallen behind, you are still not out of options. Banks are often the cheapest funding and will take your application seriously when your lodgements are current and your cash flow supports repayments. If a bank has already declined you, a specialist lender will look more at the underlying business than at a single missed date. See how to deal with an ATO debt for the order in which to tackle it.

If a date is coming and the cash isn’t there, talk to us about a short-term funding option before the deadline, not after it.

Getting ahead of the next ATO date

The best time to arrange funding for a tax date is when you can see it coming, which is now. Whether you need a facility to smooth the next BAS, a loan to clear an overdue amount, or just a straight answer on what’s realistic, we can help.

Our enquiry form takes about a minute, and nothing happens to your credit file when you submit it. We don’t pass your details around to a list of lenders, so you won’t get a flood of calls. A real person reads what you’ve written, thinks about the dates involved, and phones you. The more accurately you describe the amounts and deadlines, the more likely the first option we raise will be the right one.

Check your options before the next ATO date →