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Delatoska(Initiate)Initiate
3 July 2023

Hello, I have just started as a private contractor and I am trying to lodge my first business activity statement. I have been trying to use the ATO portal, but all I can find is where to pay, not where to lodge my income and other information. The ATO website has lots of broken links and guides saying to go to areas that don't exist. Finally I got to the online services for businesses, and after login in with my mygov id I was directed to RAM to link my ABN. It says I will receive and email code, which I never do. I have tried clearing my cache, logging in and out. Can anyone help with this process and tell me if I am doing the right thing? There seem to be many convoluted unclear paths to do something I was hoping was a 10 minute task.

6,757 views
7 replies
6,757 views
7 replies

Most helpful response

Most helpful reply

EdenATO(Community Support)Community Support
6 July 2023

Hello there @Delatoska,


We're sorry to hear you are having trouble with lodging your BAS.


If you are a sole trader you can lodge BAS on your online services.

You find this section by selecting tax > Lodgments > Activity statement.


If there is nothing here, a BAS has not been generated yet.

There are a few reasons why your BAS may not be available to lodge.


You only lodge a BAS when you have registered for a business role. Have you registered for GST or PAYGW for example?


If you have registered, what date did you register and what cycle? You may not need to lodge a BAS yet. Some people lodge their GST annually.


If you have registered for a business role and you do have to lodge something now we may need to generate it for you.


Linking to RAM yourself depends on your identity strength and business type. You must be a principal authority and have a strong identity strength. If you only have a standard identity strength you will need to consider other ways to link your business.

All replies

Most helpful reply

EdenATO(Community Support)Community Support
6 July 2023

Hello there @Delatoska,


We're sorry to hear you are having trouble with lodging your BAS.


If you are a sole trader you can lodge BAS on your online services.

You find this section by selecting tax > Lodgments > Activity statement.


If there is nothing here, a BAS has not been generated yet.

There are a few reasons why your BAS may not be available to lodge.


You only lodge a BAS when you have registered for a business role. Have you registered for GST or PAYGW for example?


If you have registered, what date did you register and what cycle? You may not need to lodge a BAS yet. Some people lodge their GST annually.


If you have registered for a business role and you do have to lodge something now we may need to generate it for you.


Linking to RAM yourself depends on your identity strength and business type. You must be a principal authority and have a strong identity strength. If you only have a standard identity strength you will need to consider other ways to link your business.

Delatoska(Initiate)Initiate
6 July 2023

Hi Eden, thanks for the reply!


I have not registered for GST as I am under the threshold, nor PAYGW as I have no employees. Maybe I should register for GST to make things easier with this?


I'm not sure about the identity strength points, I am a sole trader with one ABN doing consulting so assumed that was all I needed.

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