- Closing a business follows an order: cease trading and notify stakeholders, lodge your final BAS and tax return, cancel GST and your ABN, deregister the company with ASIC, then keep your records for five years.
- Finalise your obligations before you cancel registrations. The ATO will not let you cancel an ABN with outstanding tax debts, and skipping a final lodgement leaves a penalty waiting on a business you thought was closed.
- A company adds a step a sole trader does not: deregistering the Pty Ltd with ASIC via Form 6010, with an A$52 fee. A sole trader’s exit is mostly cancelling the ABN and GST.
To close a business in Australia, work through the steps in order: cease trading and tell your stakeholders, lodge your final BAS and tax return, cancel your GST registration and then your ABN, deregister the company with ASIC if you have one, and keep your records for five years.
The sequence matters because each step depends on the one before, and the ATO expects all obligations to be finalised before you cancel registrations. This guide walks through each step. If you are still deciding whether to close at all or just keep the company dormant, see the related guide on dormant company versus deregistration linked at the end.
How do you close a business in Australia?
Closing a business cleanly is a sequence, not a single act. The order below works for a company; a sole trader follows the same logic with fewer steps and no ASIC deregistration. The golden rule throughout is to finalise before you cancel: lodge and pay everything outstanding before you switch off the registrations, because cancelling first can strand an obligation you still have to meet.
Here is the full sequence at a glance.
|
Step |
What you do |
Cost |
|
1 |
Cease trading, notify stakeholders, collect debts |
Nil |
|
2 |
Lodge final BAS and tax return |
Nil (your time or accountant) |
|
3 |
Cancel GST, then cancel ABN |
Free |
|
4 |
Deregister the company with ASIC (Form 6010) |
A$52 |
|
5 |
Keep records for 5 years |
Storage only |
Step 1: Cease trading and notify stakeholders
Start by formally stopping business activities and setting a clear cessation date, because that date drives every final lodgement. A business is treated as closed when its activities stop, all assets are sold, scrapped or repurposed, and obligations are met. Raise and send any final invoices, collect outstanding payments while you still can, and pay what the business owes.
Then tell the people who need to know: customers and suppliers that you are closing, employees (with their final pay, leave entitlements and superannuation settled), and anyone you have contracts or subscriptions with. Cancel ongoing supplier accounts and advertising. If you lease premises, plan the exit in line with your lease. Getting the cessation date right here matters, because a wrong date means chasing corrections with the ATO later.
Step 2: Lodge your final BAS and tax return
Before you cancel anything, bring all your lodgements up to date and file the final ones. Lodge any outstanding business activity statements, then a final BAS covering your last trading period up to the cessation date, and lodge the business’s final income tax return. If you had employees, finalise payroll through Single Touch Payroll for the year to date and pay any outstanding superannuation.
Do not skip this: an unlodged final BAS or tax return does not disappear when you stop trading. It sits there accruing failure-to-lodge penalties and interest on a business you thought was closed. The ATO also will not let you cancel your ABN while tax debts are outstanding, so clearing these is what unlocks the rest of the process.
Step 3: Cancel GST and your ABN
With final lodgements done, cancel your registrations, GST first, then your ABN. To cancel your GST registration, set the cancellation date and lodge a final BAS covering up to the day before cancellation within 21 days of that date.
If the business holds trading stock or capital assets on which you claimed GST credits, you may need to include an increasing adjustment, effectively repaying credits on assets leaving the GST system. (De minimis thresholds apply to some acquisitions, confirm the treatment for your assets.)
Then cancel your ABN, which is free and done online through the ABR or myGov. If you are permanently closing, you must cancel the ABN within 28 days of ceasing business. Check first for any final GST credits or refunds you are entitled to, because once the ABN is cancelled you cannot claim them. Cancelling the ABN does not automatically cancel everything, so confirm GST, PAYG withholding and any other roles are each closed.
Step 4: Deregister the company with ASIC
If you operate through a Pty Ltd, the final step is deregistering it with ASIC, which is what actually ends the company’s existence. You apply for voluntary deregistration using Form 6010, with an A$52 fee. The company must be eligible: all members agree, it has assets worth less than A$1,000, it has no outstanding liabilities, it is not party to legal proceedings, and all tax and other obligations are settled.
Transfer out every remaining asset before you lodge, because anything the company still owns at deregistration can vest in ASIC or the Commonwealth and be lost. Time the lodgement for at least two weeks before the next ASIC annual review fee is due, so you are not charged another year’s fee on a company you are closing. Sole traders skip this step entirely, since there is no company to deregister.
Step 5: Keep your records
Closing the business does not end your record-keeping duty. You must keep your business records for at least five years, and this applies to tax records, invoices, receipts, financial statements, employee records and contracts. The five-year clock generally starts from when you prepared the record or completed the transaction it relates to, whichever is later, which in practice usually means five years from the end of the relevant financial year.
Some records must be kept longer, for example where they relate to an assessment with an extended review period. Store everything securely; digital copies are fine, so you can produce documentation if the ATO reviews a past year. This is the cheapest step to get right and an expensive one to get wrong if records have been discarded.
How closing differs for sole traders
A sole trader’s exit is simpler because there is no separate legal entity to wind up. You still cease trading, settle obligations, lodge your final BAS if registered for GST, and report the final business figures in your personal tax return. You cancel your GST registration and your ABN, and finalise PAYG and STP if you had employees. There is no Form 6010 and no ASIC deregistration, because a sole trader is not a company. If you want a hand with the final return, a sole trader accountant can take it off your plate.
Step | Company (Pty Ltd) | Sole trader |
Final tax | Company tax return | Business income in personal return |
GST / ABN | Cancel both | Cancel both |
ASIC deregistration | Required (Form 6010, A$52) | Not applicable |
Records | Keep 5 years | Keep 5 years |
How Sleek can help you close your Australian business
The risk in closing a business is not the steps themselves; it is missing one and leaving an obligation open. For existing Sleek clients, we can help with the close-down as part of a consultation: your final BAS and tax return, payroll and super, cancelling your GST and ABN in the correct order, and deregistering the company with ASIC.
Working with an accountant on the cessation date, the final lodgements and the deregistration together can help reduce the chance of an obligation being missed.
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FAQs on how to close a business in Australia
What are the steps to close a business in Australia?
Cease trading and notify stakeholders, lodge your final BAS and tax return, cancel your GST registration and then your ABN, deregister the company with ASIC if you have one using Form 6010, and keep your records for five years. Finalise all tax obligations before cancelling registrations, because the ATO will not cancel an ABN with outstanding debts.
Do I have to lodge a final tax return when closing a business?
Yes. You must lodge any outstanding activity statements, a final BAS up to your cessation date, and a final income tax return before closing. If you had employees, finalise Single Touch Payroll and pay outstanding super. Skipping these does not clear the obligation; it leaves failure-to-lodge penalties accruing on a business you have stopped running.
How do I cancel my ABN when closing my business?
Cancel your ABN online for free through the ABR or myGov, within 28 days of permanently ceasing business. First settle any tax debts, since the ATO will not cancel an ABN with amounts owing, and claim any final GST credits before cancelling. Cancel your GST registration and lodge the final BAS before or alongside the ABN cancellation.
How much does it cost to deregister a company with ASIC?
Voluntary deregistration costs A$52, lodged on ASIC Form 6010. The company must have assets under A$1,000, no liabilities, agreement from all members, and no legal proceedings against it, with all tax obligations settled. Lodge at least two weeks before the next annual review fee is due to avoid paying another year’s A$342 fee.
How long do I need to keep records after closing my business?
At least five years. This covers tax records, invoices, receipts, financial statements, employee records and contracts. The five years generally run from when you prepared the record or completed the related transaction, whichever is later, often meaning five years from the end of that financial year. Some records must be kept longer where an extended review period applies.
