I have recently been required to lodge IAS returns (August and September) on behalf of my employer and it pre-populates with the PAYG W (employee withheld amounts) do I need to lodge an IAS in October for September or is this months figure to be entered in the BAS and no IAS lodged for October as both are due on different dates.
Hi @Mary_E,
It sounds like your employer is registered to lodge monthly BAS with PAYG withholding and quarterly IAS. The monthly PAYGW as you've said is amounts withheld for employees whereas the lodgements of IAS (instalment activity statements) are for your employer to pay their tax. So, all BAS and IAS will need to be lodged as required.
Hi @Mary_E,
It sounds like your employer is registered to lodge monthly BAS with PAYG withholding and quarterly IAS. The monthly PAYGW as you've said is amounts withheld for employees whereas the lodgements of IAS (instalment activity statements) are for your employer to pay their tax. So, all BAS and IAS will need to be lodged as required.
Hi AnitaATO
Now I'm completely confused my understanding is the IAS is to report PAYG, in my employer case currently the only PAYG withheld is from employees and not a tax instalment payment of the employers? My employer still is only required to lodge BAS quarterly. So do I need to lodge IAS every month and exclude wages and PAYG from the quarterly BAS?
Hello @Mary_E,
The easiest way to think about this is to take a look at the activity statement you are working on. If it states PAYG withholding it is talking about the tax withheld from the employees salary that needs to be passed onto the ATO on there behalf. When it states PAYG installments amount or rate then you are dealing with amounts that put aside for the future tax return of the business.
It is rare that someone has PAYG installments monthly and doesn't meet the requirements for PAYG withholding monthly. I would suggest if you have access to ATO Online Services for Business that you go to the tax registrations section and make sure as to what roles the business is registered. If it is monthly PAYG installments check the communication history and see why you were put in that frequency. When your business doesn't meet the requirements for PAYG Installments monthly you can request it to go back to quarterly if you meet those requirements.
15 Apr 2026 · 4 min read time
16 July 2025 · 5 min read time
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