Australian Business Tax Deadlines 2026: The Complete Calendar for SMBs

Missing a tax deadline costs Australian small businesses thousands of dollars every year — in late lodgement penalties, failure-to-lodge penalties, and interest charges. And unlike forgetting a birthday, the ATO does not send you a reminder.

This guide is your complete tax deadline calendar for 2026. Bookmark it. Share it with your bookkeeper. Add the dates to your calendar.

How ATO Deadlines Work

The ATO has different deadlines depending on whether you lodge and pay directly ("self-lodgement") or use a registered tax agent. Tax agents typically have access to extended lodgement programs that push deadlines by weeks or months.

Where tax agent deadlines apply, they are noted below. However, you must be an active client of a registered tax agent to benefit from those extensions — and you need to be engaged before the standard deadline.

Deadlines that fall on a weekend or public holiday are typically pushed to the next business day.

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January 2026

21 January — Monthly BAS (November reporting period) If you lodge BAS monthly, your November activity statement is due.

28 January — Monthly super guarantee If you pay super monthly, payment for the December quarter or November month is due. (Note: from 1 July 2026, super moves to payday frequency — see below.)

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February 2026

21 February — Monthly BAS (December reporting period) Monthly BAS lodgers: December activity statement due.

28 February — Quarterly BAS (Q2: October–December) Self-assessment: BAS for the October–December quarter is due. This is one of the most commonly missed deadlines because of the summer holiday period.

28 February — Quarterly super guarantee payment (Q2) Superannuation for the October–December quarter must be received by your employees' funds by this date.

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March 2026

21 March — Monthly BAS (January reporting period)

31 March — End of FBT year The 2025–26 FBT year ends on 31 March 2026. Compile your records for fringe benefits provided during the year.

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April 2026

21 April — Monthly BAS (February reporting period)

28 April — Quarterly BAS (Q3: January–March) Self-assessment BAS for the January–March quarter.

30 April — Quarterly super guarantee payment (Q3) Superannuation for the January–March quarter must be received by employees' funds.

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May 2026

15 May — FBT returns (tax agent lodgement program) Businesses using a tax agent to lodge their FBT return have until 15 May (or the tax agent program date — confirm with your agent).

21 May — FBT return self-lodgement If you lodge your own FBT return, it is due 21 May and payment is due at the same time.

21 May — Monthly BAS (March reporting period)

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June 2026

21 June — Monthly BAS (April reporting period)

25 June — FBT return (tax agent extended date) Tax agent extended FBT return lodgement date. Check with your agent.

30 June — End of income year The Australian financial year ends 30 June 2026. Ensure all income is recorded, deductions are documented, and records are in order.

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July 2026

1 July 2026 — PAYDAY SUPER COMMENCES This is one of the biggest payroll changes in decades. From 1 July 2026, superannuation must be paid on the same day as wages (or within 7 days). Quarterly super payments will no longer meet the law. Ensure your payroll system is configured to process super on every payrun.

14 July — STP finalisation Single Touch Payroll income statements must be finalised for all employees for the 2025–26 year by 14 July 2026.

21 July — Monthly BAS (May reporting period)

28 July — Quarterly BAS (Q4: April–June) Self-assessment BAS for the April–June quarter.

28 July — Quarterly super guarantee payment (Q4) The last quarterly super payment — for the April–June quarter — must reach employees' funds by 28 July. This is the final quarterly payment before payday super commences.

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August 2026

21 August — Monthly BAS (June reporting period)

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September 2026

21 September — Monthly BAS (July reporting period)

30 September — Tax return: individuals with investment income Individuals with investment income (e.g., rental income, dividends) who lodge their own returns: due 31 October (see below). Via tax agent: may be extended.

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October 2026

21 October — Monthly BAS (August reporting period)

28 October — Quarterly BAS (Q1: July–September) First quarter BAS for the 2026–27 year.

28 October — Quarterly super (Q1) Under the new payday super regime, this date only applies if there were any edge-case corrections needed. Regular super should now be paid on each payday.

31 October — Income tax returns (individuals and small businesses) Individual tax returns and many small business returns (sole traders, some partnerships) are due 31 October if self-lodging.

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November 2026

21 November — Monthly BAS (September reporting period)

30 November — Company/trust/partnership tax returns (via tax agent) Many company, trust, and partnership returns lodged through a tax agent have a November or later due date under the tax agent lodgement program. Confirm with your agent.

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December 2026

21 December — Monthly BAS (October reporting period)

1 December — Company income tax payment (prior year) Companies with a tax liability from the prior year may have a payment due in December if they are on an instalment program. Check your ATO payment schedule.

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Key 2026 Deadline Summary

| Date | Obligation | | ------ | ----------------------------------------------- | | 28 Feb | Q2 BAS + Q2 super payment | | 21 May | FBT return (self) | | 30 Jun | End of financial year | | 1 Jul | Payday super commences | | 14 Jul | STP finalisation | | 28 Jul | Q4 BAS + Q4 super (last quarterly) | | 31 Oct | Individual/sole trader income tax return (self) | | 28 Oct | Q1 BAS (2026–27) |

Payday Super: The 2026 Game Changer

The switch from quarterly to payday superannuation from 1 July 2026 is the most significant payroll compliance change in years. Under the new rules:

• Super must be paid on each payday, not quarterly
• Super must be received by the employee's fund within 7 days of the payday
• Failure to pay on time results in a Superannuation Guarantee Charge, which is not tax-deductible and carries substantial additional charges

If you run payroll fortnightly, that means 26 super payment obligations per year instead of 4. Your payroll software and bank account processes must be configured to handle this.

Businesses using manual super payment processes (e.g., logging into each fund's employer portal) will find payday super extremely difficult to comply with. Now is the time to switch to automated payroll with super clearing house integration.

The Cost of Missing Deadlines

The ATO applies a range of penalties and charges for missed obligations:

• Failure to lodge (FTL) penalty: $330 per 28-day period (or part thereof) that a document is overdue. For significant entities, the penalty is higher.
• General interest charge (GIC): Applied to unpaid tax debts. Currently approximately 9–11% per annum, compounding daily.
• Shortfall penalties: For under-reporting tax (30%–75% of the shortfall, depending on whether the error was careless, reckless, or deliberate).
• Super Guarantee Charge: For late super, you pay the SGC (which includes a nominal interest component and an administration fee) instead of the standard super amount — and the SGC is not tax-deductible.

How Reguladar Helps

Tracking Australian tax deadlines across BAS, super, FBT, income tax, and STP is complex and time-consuming. Reguladar pulls all of your applicable obligations into a single, personalised compliance dashboard — with alerts before each deadline falls due.

Instead of maintaining your own spreadsheet of dates, you get a live view of what is due and when, tailored to your specific reporting periods and tax agent arrangements.

Stay ahead of every tax deadline. Start your free compliance check at Reguladar and never miss an ATO obligation again.