Every jurisdiction has two kinds of dates: the ones that cost a late fee, and the ones that compound — unremitted payroll withholding, missed super, uncollected sales tax you owed anyway. This calendar covers the standard cycles for companies in the four countries we work in, current as at late 2026.
Use it as a map, not a substitute for advice: agent extensions, balance dates and entity types shift individual deadlines.
Australia
- GST registration: required at A$75,000 projected or actual annual turnover, within 21 days.
- BAS (quarterly): due 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July; lodging through a BAS/tax agent generally adds several weeks.
- Payroll: Single Touch Payroll reporting on or before every pay day.
- Superannuation: the rate is 12 per cent, and from 1 July 2026 Payday Super applies — contributions must reach employees' funds within 7 business days of payday. The quarterly cycle is finished; if your payroll process still batches super quarterly, it is now non-compliant.
- Company income tax: self-lodgers generally 28 February following the financial year; most agent-lodged companies fall between 28 February and 15 May.
The compounding one: super. Miss the window and the Superannuation Guarantee Charge applies — the shortfall plus interest plus administration, and the whole amount stops being deductible.
New Zealand
- GST registration: required at NZ$60,000 of taxable supplies over any rolling 12 months, looking back or reasonably projected forward.
- GST returns: due the 28th of the month after the period ends, with two exceptions — the November period is due 15 January and the March period 7 May. Six-monthly filing is available under NZ$500,000 turnover; monthly is mandatory over NZ$24 million.
- Provisional tax (standard 31 March balance date): instalments 28 August, 15 January and 7 May.
- Payroll: payday filing with IRD within two working days of each electronic payday.
- Income tax return: 7 July following the year end, extended to 31 March of the next year with a tax agent.
United States
- Sales tax: no federal sales tax; registration is per state. Economic nexus commonly triggers at US$100,000 of sales into a state (California, Texas and New York sit at US$500,000), with some states still running 200-transaction tests. Marketplace platforms often collect for marketplace sales, but direct-channel sales remain yours.
- Payroll: Form 941 quarterly — 30 April, 31 July, 31 October, 31 January — with deposit schedules that can be semi-weekly; W-2s and 1099-NEC to recipients and filed by 31 January.
- Income tax (calendar year): S corporations and partnerships 15 March; C corporations 15 April. Extensions move the paperwork, not the payment.
- Common trap for foreign-owned entities: Form 5472 filing obligations carry a US$25,000 penalty per miss — if your US subsidiary has a foreign parent, make sure whoever prepares the 1120 knows.
Canada
- GST/HST registration: required once worldwide taxable supplies exceed C$30,000 in a single quarter or across four consecutive quarters.
- GST/HST returns: annual, quarterly or monthly depending on revenue; annual filers with a December year-end typically file by 15 June with payment due 30 April.
- Payroll: source deductions remitted monthly (more often for large remitters); T4s to employees and CRA by the last day of February.
- Corporate tax (T2): the return is due six months after fiscal year-end, but the balance owing is due two months after year-end — three for many CCPCs claiming the small business deduction. The gap between payment date and filing date catches people every year.
Running this without living in it
The pattern behind every item above: registration thresholds need watching before you cross them, payroll obligations run on days not months, and payment dates often land before filing dates. The mechanism that makes all of it routine is a compliance calendar per entity, maintained by whoever keeps your books, with reminders landing before anything is due from you. That's how we run it for clients: we maintain the calendar and prepare what your registered agent or accountant needs ahead of each date, so what reaches you is an approval rather than a scramble.
Facts above reflect standard cases as at October 2026. Rates and thresholds move; before acting on any single date, confirm it for your entity and balance date.